I cringe when I hear high school coaches say, "You've got to have the players."
True, to win championships, you've got to have talent. But let's not fool ourselves here. Coaching separates programs.
Consider girls volleyball on the D-I level in the Central Section:
Buchanan won 7 titles in 11 seasons from 1997-2007. Why? Talent, dedication, athletes from homes with resources and, oh, let's not forget -- coach Marian Battles.
Why, then, did neighbor Clovis West -- with virtually identical demographics and resources -- not win a section title in 29 years until the past two? Simple: Rhonda DeRuiter.
Seattle University handed Fresno State its first loss, 85-84, Thursday at KeyArena in front of Lakers great Elgin Baylor, who was on hand for ceremony to dedicate the court in his honor.
Sophomore forward Paul George and freshman center Greg Smith of Edison each had 24 points and 10 rebounds for the Bulldogs (2-1). Mike Ladd, a former high school star from the Seattle area, missed 6 of 7 shots and finished with just two points in 32 minutes in his homecoming.
It was a combination of Seattle's full-court press and Fresno State turnovers that decided the game. The Bulldogs committed 20 turnovers, including the last by guard Steven Shepp as he drove the lane for a potential winning shot in the final seconds.
Adrian Wiggins recruited two more guards in the November signing period, which is good thing for the Fresno State women's basketball team's motion offense.
But what the Bulldogs really need is a couple good bigs.
They might have one in 6-2 junior Veronica Wilson, a transfer from Boston College who's sitting out this season. The next tallest is freshman Jeanna, a project that might take three years to develop. After that, Fresno State has no one taller than 6-1 Hayley Munro, who has one season left after this one.
What's become obvious is Fresno State's height handicap against the good teams from the better conferences -- like USC, Cal, Stanford, TCU.
Lemoore High's Nick Sierra became the second Fresno-area wrestler to sign a national letter of intent during the early signing period when he agreed to a scholarship offer from NCAA Division II Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
Sierra, who placed sixth at the state tournament last season at 140 pounds, joins Clovis West's Zach Zimmer as early signees. Zimmer, fourth in the state at 112 pounds last season, is headed to nationally ranked Indiana of the Big Ten Conference.
I'm having a little trouble with Clovis and Madera choosing not to participate in the Division I playoffs.
The section playoff format allows everyone to compete in the postseason. The weakest of the weak generally choose not to, avoiding not only a rout, but one also on the road.
Clovis (3-7) and Madera (4-6) don't qualify as the weakest of the weak. Weakest in the Tri-River Athletic Conference? Yes. But that's no embarrassment, given the league's No. 1 status in the section.
Had they joined the postseason pool, Clovis, as a No. 10 seed, would have played at No. 9 Clovis East, and Madera, as a No. 11 seed, would have visited No. 8 Centennial.
Southwestern Oklahoma State looks a lot like Fresno State on the basketball court this season and a certain Kelsi Bond has a lot to do with that.
The former assistant to Adrian Wiggins is in her first year there and Bond's Bulldogs are mimicking Fresno State's Bulldogs at the offensive end -- firing 3-pointers from the hip and running up the score.
SWOS made 17 of 31 treys in its opener and scored 90 points. Too bad the defense isn't there yet. Oklahoma Panhandle scored 100 in the win.
Bond brought in former Fresno State guard Cophie Moore (2001-05) as an assistant coach and current junior guard Natasha Brown, a standout from Central and Fresno
I thought UCLA's Ann Meyers was the best basketball player I ever saw growing up in the '60s.
Then Old Dominion's Nancy Lieberman came along in the '70s, followed by USC's Cheryl Miller and Texas Tech's Sheryl Swoopes (as in Hoops) in the '80s, Tennessee's Chamique Holdsclaw in the '90s and UConn's Diana Taurasi at the turn of the Century along with Candice Wiggins out of Stanford and Candace Parker from Tennessee.
What set Parker apart was this: she could dunk.
But you ain't seen nothing yet.
Western Athletic Conference Commissioner Karl Benson suspended Louisiana Tech freshman safety Chad Boyd for the first half of the upcoming Fresno State-LaTech game as a result of a flagrant foul he committed against an LSU receiver in last weekend's 24-16 Tech loss.
On the play, which occurred close to the 13-minute mark of the third quarter with the Bulldogs leading 13-10, Boyd leapt into LSU receiver Terrance Toliver and appeared to lead with his helmet.
The play made YouTube, but went undetected by the game officials.
"A flagrant personal foul should have been called by the game officials, and Boyd should have been ejected from the game at that time," said Benson.
"By NCAA rules, I am required to review these types of situations and it was determined that the player clearly committed a flagrant foul, and thus will be suspended. Protecting a defenseless player from a hit to the head has been a point of emphasis for two years and cannot be tolerated even if it goes undetected by the game officials."
The suspension should hurt Tech, who is already suffering from a number of injuries, including the loss of senior All-WAC safety Antonio Baker for the season.
You've no doubt heard the rumors. Fresno State football coach Pat Hill is a possible candidate for the same position at UNLV. At least that's what you can read here. And here. And here.
Never mind that we have no idea if Hill will get a contract extension at Fresno State. We don't even know if he wants a contract extension at Fresno State. We have no real idea if UNLV is even interested in Hill, or whether Hill would be interested in UNLV, or whether his name has been brought up only because he's waiting on an extension, is perceived as disgruntled, or simply has UNLV connections since he was an assistant there once upon a football season.
I'm getting mixed reports on the health of Clovis West running back Kendal Brock.
Some say he has a high ankle sprain and is questionable for the Golden Eagles' quarterfinal game against unbeaten Bullard Nov. 27 at McLane.
But his own coach, Coby Lindsey, says he's fine, that he ran with the team today and that "nothing" will keep him out against the second-seeded Knights.
What's not in question is this: I've had several sources not associated with Clovis West, including Bullard coach Donnie Arax, who say Brock is the finest running back in the Central Section.
