String Music: The Rise and Rivalries of SEC Basketball - Hardcover

Dortch, Chris

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1574884395 ISBN 13: 9781574884395

Publisher: POTOMAC BOOKS, 2002

Synopsis

Although the basketball teams of the Southeastern Conference dominate the national college rankings, it wasn’t too long ago that the SEC was mostly recognized for football. Today the SEC has displaced the Big Ten and the Atlantic Coast Conference as the premier conference of college basketball. Beginning with Rick Pitino’s revival of the University of Kentucky from the perdition of probation to the University of Arkansas’s entry into the conference and subsequent national title, Chris Dortch chronicles SEC history up to its present pinnacle.The twelve conference teams play for high stakes, competing fiercely for coaches and players and for coveted spots at the NCAA tournament. Join Dortch as he talks to the coaches, players, and fans who have turned the SEC into the home of all that is best in college basketball. String Music also explores the traditions and history that bring SEC hoops to life, including the rivalries, the history, the players, and the coaches. It sets the standard for analyzing the state of college basketball today and provides the best coverage of the rich heritage of SEC basketball.

About this title

About the Author

For fifteen years, Chris Dortch has covered college basketball as a sports journalist. Editor of the bestselling Blue Ribbon College Basketball Yearbook, he’s also written for Sporting News, including its College Basketball Yearbook, Lindy's College Basketball Yearbook, Dick Vitale's College Basketball Yearbook, ESPN Magazine, and Preview Sports College Basketball Yearbook as well as several internet sites, including AOL, CNN/SI, CBS Sportsline, ESPN.com, and Fox Sports Online. He lives in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Reviews

With the exception of the storied program at the University of Kentucky, the most important sport at the colleges that make up the Southeastern Conference had historically been football, not basketball. But that began to change in the 1991-1992 season when Kentucky won yet another national basketball championship and the SEC added two more schools to its ranks, including the basketball powerhouse the University of Arkansas. In this smoothly written account, Dortch (editor of Blue Ribbon Basketball Forecast) devotes a chapter on how each of the basketball teams at the 12 colleges in the SEC fared in the 10-year period that began in 1991-1992. As basketball steadily grew in stature within the SEC, Dortch tells of the bruising recruiting battles for top talent and the fierce rivalries that developed among the schools. Dortch also charts the highs and lows of each program, including the myriad coaching changes that took place in the decade as each school jockeyed to improve its basketball fortunes. Because the schools competed for many of the same players-and obviously battled each other on the court-there is some repetition of events in what is otherwise a winning look at how basketball came to share with football a place in the hearts of SEC followers.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: POTOMAC BOOKS
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1574884395
• ISBN 13: 9781574884395
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320