Unbracketed: Big-Time College Basketball Done The Right Way

by Graham Honaker, Jerry Logan

The NCAA men's basketball tournament manufactures the Cinderella story like clockwork, but most Cinderellas come and go. When next year's bracket is revealed, the boxes are all blank once more and a fresh pack of underdogs crowds the edges of the field. Yet, over time a small group of one-time Cinderellas have broken the mold to become something more, and their blueprints are stunningly similar. With inside stories featuring some of college basketball's most recognizable personalities, "Unbracketed" explores how Villanova, Gonzaga, Davidson and Loyola-Chicago have pulled the biggest upset: turning the Cinderella story into a lasting narrative of big-time college athletics done the right way.

Genres: Sports, Basketball

256 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2022

Reviews

[Jake Fine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book isn’t just about the success of basketball programs, as it’s also about the success of the institutions. You don’t need to enjoy basketball or sports to enjoy this book about the unity of four separate institutions that happen to have successful basketball programs. While I originally got the book for the basketball, I enjoyed the moments in the book with little to no relation to basketball, which took up a good portion of the book. I also enjoyed the overall progression of the book with different points along the way to show how and why these smaller institutions have proven successful, on and off the court. Overall, very well-done.

[Max Potter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The concept of "unbracketing" basketball, or athletics as a whole, at non-autonomous institutions is a great concept and an apropos analogy of what every school across the country should be seeking to attain. In a bracket, there is a winner and there is a loser, and with any zero-sum game, someone leaves the table unhappy. The unbracketed institution however uses success and builds on it continually, leveraging the successes of a team or individual to level up every part of the school, be it development, academics, alumni or community.

This book provides lots of examples for how you can reach this synergy between athletics and university and much of it is not as complicated as it may seem, but it requires complete buy-in from your major parties.

The most important quality, it seems, of unbracketed institutions and athletics departments is complete and total commitment to the University Mission Statement and being a part of the greater community. Anyone can say they are a part of the university community, but this book uses real life examples at Davidson, Gonzaga, Loyola Chicago and Villanova to show how the basketball programs can actually be a part of the university. It takes diligent work to get there, and it doesn't happen overnight, but with the right pieces in place, a committed university can capitalize on its One Shining Moment and likely propel itself into the ranks of these Unbracketed schools.

[Wayne Evans · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book delves into 4 NCAA Basketball "Cinderellas" teams and their "successful" academic and sports programs.

The 4 schools are Villanova, Gonzaga, Davidson and Loyola Chicago.

These basketball programs have been well established after their "run(s)" into the NCAA Tournament based on their progress off the basketball court which in turns helps the basketball program.
There are 8 Key Points for theses 4 programs - Belief, Doubt, Program, Community, Singularity, Continuity, Business and Mission.

This isn't a book in which these schools competed in the NCAA tournaments. This is a book on how these Cinderella Teams have established a long time athletic program.

Enjoyed it - as it is an easy read.

Also, didn't realized until reading this book that one of the authors is from Indy.

[Christoph Weber · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did not read the blurb correctly and expected something different. But I grabbed the book because it was signed. And it was well-written, even though I can't really use a lot of the things they show that universities should use should they want to capitalize on a cinderella run in march.