Evansville Aces guard Ned Cox threw down an awesome alley oop against Drake on Wednesday night. It was so good it made ESPN's Top Ten on Sportscenter at #8.
Here is the video and my audio call.
WUEV Radio Call of Slam. Lance Wilkerson/Scott Shreffler
The Aces land a 6'6" shooting guard Jordan Jahr out of central Texas. Jahr attended Lake Travis high school. Jahr originally committed to Air Force, but before signing day decided he did not want to join the academy.
Last year he played for the Air Force Prep team. It is ironic just yesterday it was announced UE would play at Air Force in the MVC/MWC series in December.
Jahr will join current Ace Ned Cox as another player from central Texas.
Proper credit goes to this website that covers Texas Basketball for the story: link here As well as my Aces buddy Tim Otte.
A season to forget could turn into a season to remember this week in St. Louis for the Evansville Aces. UE is by far playing its basketball heading into Arch Madness.
Despite being the ten seed, the Aces have won three of five in the MVC including wins against the top two teams Northern Iowa and Wichita State as well as a road victory at Drake.
I went out to practice today to interview the guys. Easily this was the best mood I have seen the team all season. Everyone was cutting up with smiles on their faces, even Coach Marty Simmons.
One particular moment struck me when I was talking with Freshman Ned Cox. I asked him about the dream of winning 4 games in 4 days and making it to the NCAA Tournament. Ned's face literally lit up and he smiled. That glimpse on his face really gives you an insight of what the post-season means to the players.
I am very happy for freshman Colt Ryan for getting MVC freshman of the year. That is the first time a UE player has won that award. I thought Ned Cox should have also made the all-freshman team. Denver Holmes is the MVC Most-Improved player.
This team has worked really hard. The Aces have had so much adversity this year with player departures and injuries. Their bench is depleted, yet the coaching staff has them at the top of their game, and are a team that no one wants to face right now.
The Aces first game is against Missouri State. Cuonzo Martin has done a great job with the Bears. MSU has defeated UE both times. Every player we talked to emphasized rebounding and physical play being the key.
Aces radio play by play broadcaster and one of my good friends Brandon Gaudin did a report for NEWS 25 on the MVC. After that, Brandon and I went to the WUEV 91.5fm radio studio to record a MVC Preview podcast. I hope Aces and MVC fans enjoy:
Aces head coach Marty Simmons and his staff did a great job tonight at Illinois State. UE is without one of its best big men in Bryan Bouchie who quit, two other top players James Haarsma and Ned Cox were out due to injury (both are hoping to be back by SIU game on Saturday), and Kavon Lacey is playing on a bum knee.
Despite it all, the Aces busted their tails against an Illinois State team with a lot more firepower. UE was in the game all night.
Coach Simmons refuses to make excuses, but I can. It was going to be a hard enough year with the departures of Shy Ely, Jason Holsinger, Nate Garner, and no senior class. On top of that Kaylon Williams and CJ Erickson quit prior to the season. Then you add Bouchie and the two injuries and I cannot imagine how hard it is to keep the team on course. However, Marty has done so.
6-10 (0-6) is not pretty. No way around that. However, that doesn’t make this Aces team any less prepared or hard working.
Don’t give up on these guys. They are taking their lumps as freshmen, but it will pay off.
Thursday, January 13, 2011 at 11:46PM 
