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Win 20 Times and We
Think You’re Pretty Special
20 wins.
It’s not necessarily the sign of greatness in college basketball, but posting 20 victories in a season has become the standard when evaluating success and failure on the collegiate level.
In the minds of fans, it truly is amazing what the difference in winning just 19 times versus finding that extra victory to push your total to 20 can mean to them. Win 19 and you’re just average, but get your hands on a 20th win and you’ve accomplished something.
If indeed winning 20 is what we’ve come to expect, then I suppose you could say that college basketball in Springfield during the 2009-2010 season has been a pretty good one. As we head to print with this issue of Big Sports, and with some important post season games still to be played, the three largest college programs in Springfield, men and women, have managed to hit that magic number.
Our cover headline in the November issue of Big Sports pointed out that both Cuonzo Martin and Nyla Milleson faced critical seasons ahead for the Bears and Lady Bears programs. Getting back to winning on a regular basis was going to be important for both programs and their fan base. Well, Martin in his second season and Milleson in just her third, were able to guide their teams to that magical plateau of 20-plus wins and each was hoping for more in the post season arena.
Across town at Drury University it’s been a similar result for the Panthers and Lady Panthers. Both spent most of the season ranked among the nation’s best NCAA division II schools and when the regular season battles were complete, Steve Hesser and Steve Harold had their clubs above the 20-mark once again and both played their way into the NCAA Tournament picture.
At Evangel University, Steve Jenkins, 8 years removed from an NAIA national championship again guided the Crusaders to another 20-plus victories and had them headed to the national tournament, while Leon Neal and his Lady Crusaders hit the mark once again while setting their sights on another visit to the NAIA post season.
It goes without saying that 20 win seasons make the fans happy. It should be noted that it’s not bad for coaching job security as well. Just ask any of the 6 we just mentioned how much better they’ll be sleeping in the off season.
They say that statistics are usually for losers. When you don’t win, you at least have numbers to show why you didn’t, or at least help you see how close you came. I think when you win 20 times in a long and challenging season that stretches from mid-October to the middle of March, you should be able to step back and take a small sense of pride, knowing that 2 out of 3 times you took the court, you were a little better when the final buzzer sounded.
Congratulations to all those 20-plus winners this season. Any of you care to challenge yourselves to win 30 next year?
Win 20 Times and We Think You’re Pretty Special
Article from the March/April 2010 Issue
 20 wins.
It’s not necessarily the sign of greatness in college basketball, but posting 20 victories in a season has become the standard when evaluating success and failure on the collegiate level.
In the minds of fans, it truly is amazing what the difference in winning just 19 times versus finding that extra victory to push your total to 20 can mean to them. Win 19 and you’re just average, but get your hands on a 20th win and you’ve accomplished something.
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Anytime I see a basketball player pull up with a left-hand jumper from about fifteen feet out, I remember seeing him do it so well, so many times.
season that was well worth forgetting about. After posting an remarkable 13-1 record in 2007 and just missing out on the league championship, the Lasers last season slipped to a disappointing 5-9 mark, due largely in fact to a series of injuries that saw them never take the court as the unit that was put together on draft day.
