By Mel Greenberg
On a day that Connecticut's Geno Auriemma was announced as one of four finalists for the annual Naismith coach of the year award, his own high school coach Buddy Gardler announced he was leaving the profession.
The other three finalists are Rutgers' C. Vivian Stringer, Tennessee's Pat Summitt, and LSU's Van Chancellor.
Meanwhile, we forgot to mention the other day that return of Virginia to the Associated Press poll for the first time in several seasons blocked Ohio State's Jim Foster from moving up a notch in teams with total appearances.
Foster, who also coached at St. Joseph's and Vanderbilt, had moved to within one spot of the Cavaliers' Debbie Ryan, who in one place has made 293 appearances.
In local news here in town, Drexel's win down at Georgia State in Atlanta to finish the regular season Thursday night gave the Dragons a tie for third and the dreaded fourth-seed in the Colonial Athletic Association playoffs next week in Newark, Del.
Dreaded because Old Dominion looms in the semifinals, although Drexel came very close to shocking the Monarchs in the semifinals in 2005.
Drexel was picked eighth and recovered from a shaky nonconference start.
That said, here's Friday's competition:
Atlantic Coast: The quarterfinals arrive as the heavyweights get involved. Fourth-seeded Virginia meets Georgia Tech a week after the Cavaliers escaped with a double-overtime victory.
North Carolina, which is gunning for a No. 1 seed in the NCAAs as is Maryland, meets Clemson, which upset North Carolina State, 65-60, in overtime and may have ended the Wolfpack hopes for another dance trip.
Maryland meets Boston College, certainly a bubble team that could make a name for itself with an upset of the Terrapins. Finally, Duke meets Florida State. The Blue Devils are looking to improve their position, NCAA-wise, while the Seminoles are seeking to gain access.
Atlantic Sun: East Tennessee State is the No. 1 seed and begins play in the semifinals against No. 5 Lipscomb. Gardner-Webb meets Jacksonville in the other semifinal in a one-bid league is which the wrong loser goes elsewhere.
Atlantic Ten: There's still basketball to be played here in Philadelphia before St. Joseph's Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse undergoes its renovation. We'll be here through Monday and will attempt to enhance our print duties.
In the first round, Duquesne and first-year coach Suzie McConnell-Serio begins action at noon against Richmond. Dayton, one of the most improved teams in the league, which earned Jim Jabir the coach of the year, will meet Massachusetts. St. Bonaventure, another improved team, meets Rhode Island, before the host Hawks meet Saint Louis with each looking to advance against Xavier, which has a bye. Temple, George Washington, and Charlotte also have byes.
Big Ten: Having dispatched Wisconsin, Illinois moves on against top-seeded Ohio State as new Illini coach Jolette Law seeks to make a little noise in Indy. Iowa, which is probably a near NCAA lock, will try to put a stop to Michigan's hopes.
Michigan advanced by dispatching the Nittany Lions of Penn State with their 12th straight loss.
Purdue meets Indiana in a battle of bubble teams, while Michigan State and Minnesota wrap up the day's action. The Spartans will need to beat the Gophers to have NCAA hopes, while that kind of setback only worsen's Minnesota's seed potential.
Conference-USA: SMU, trying to catch attention, hosts Tulsa, while UAB and Marshall meet before Houston goes against Southern Miss. Texas-El Paso, the conference regular season champ, meets Rice with bubble teams elsewhere pulling for UTEP to run the table and limit the action here to a one-bid situation.
Metro Atlantic: It's a one-bid league, but attention is on the MAAC unbeaten champ Marist, which will probably be rescued. But bubble teams want the St. Bernard's to stay off the slopes and one way is for Brian Giorgis' team to get things going with a win over Canisius.
Ohio Valley: It's the semifinals in a one-bid league. Top-seed SE Missouri meets Eastern Illinois, while Samford goes against Murray St.
Pac-10: A quiet day in the outbracket competition, although each of the teams is hoping to obviously pull a surprise or two. Anyone staying up late to get results, Oregon meets Washington State for the right to meet California, while Oregon State meets Arizona for the right to play Stanford.
Southeastern: In the quarterfinals, top-seed LSU meets Mississippi as coach Van Chancellor goes against the Rebels he coached in yester-year before the WNBA was born. Auburn, on the bubble, meets thirs-seed Vanderbilt, Kentucky will play bubble ball against Georgia, and Florida goes against Tennessee as Candace Parker begins her farewell SEC appearances.
Southern: It's a one-bid league, so top seed Chattanooga needs to beat UNC Greensboro. Western Carolina completes the quarterfinals against Wofford.
Meanwhile, the seeds were determined for next week's Big 12 fiesta. Oklahoma, once thought of as a potential No. 1 NCAA seed, will open against Missouri, while Iowa State will meet Colorado, Texas will meet Texas Tech, and Nebraska will meet Kansas.
The top byes went to top-seed Kansas State, No. 2 Baylor, No. 3 Oklahoma State, and No. 4 Texas A&M.
-- Mel
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