I hate to be clich and write about March Madness, but give me the benefit of the doubt. I'm not going to talk about how unknown teams beat the obviously superior teams, such as Northern Iowa University and Butler University shocking the world by taking down number-one seeds Kansas University and Syracuse University. I also won't go on about how freshman players, like John Wall from Kentucky University, are younger than me, which makes me realize that I'm getting old. Once renowned athletes are younger than you, creaky knees and low stamina are soon to follow.
I digress. I'm sure everyone must have noticed that the school from Ithaca, N.Y., made it to the promised land of basketball, the Sweet Sixteen. It was the first time since the dinosaur era that an Ivy League school made it that far.
Every Ivy League student and fan lived vicariously through the Big Red until its anti-climactic loss to Wall and his teammates from Kentucky.
Therefore, the question should become, "If Cornell was able to get that far, why can't Dartmouth?"
Then, however, reality hits. The Dartmouth men's basketball team does not have a player with alpha dog instincts a player that can put the team on his back when push comes to shove. It does not have a frantic coach that runs up and down the sideline looking as if he's going to have a heart attack at any moment. Dartmouth also does not have the raucous crowds that the big state schools have at every home game.
So it starts with getting a premier player. Top high school players want to go to schools with great basketball programs and get facetime with professional scouts. The fact that the number of Dartmouth basketball players who have made it to the big stage can be counted on one hand is a glaring reason why the Big Green is missing an All-star player.
But honestly, what can Dartmouth provide that only seven other schools can match? Pong?
No, the real answer is an Ivy League education.
If Florida State University could find Myron Rolle, a top defensive back who also became a Rhodes Scholar, why can't Dartmouth provide a LeBron-type player with the same opportunity? I say the particular student just has to be convinced.
In order to persuade the next Wall to come to Dartmouth and put his skills on display for the hopefully growing Big Green fan base, the player must be confident the coach can lead the team to a conference title. The role that the head coach plays in determining a recruit's choice was seen when several recruits withdrew their commitments to play for Memphis University following the sudden departure of John Calipari.
I'm not saying there should be drama in the recruiting of a top prospect. We don't need a storyline for the next episode of Gossip Girl.
But, let's say Dartmouth hires an aging NBA player who is ready to relay his experience and knowledge to eager Dartmouth players who want to win. Please note, however, that this article takes nothing away from what Mark Graupe did when he stepped in during the middle of the season to coach the Big Green squad after Terry Dunn stepped down.
He did a great job considering the sudden situation, but what if someone like Hall of Fame ex-coach Bob Knight was hired for a two-year stint to get the Dartmouth program on the right track? Of course, there would need to be a clause in his contract that stated he would not be allowed to throw chairs during games, but couldn't that attract at least a top-50 recruit to play at Dartmouth?
The last ingredient needed would be loyal fans. This is probably the easiest to fulfill since most students would want to see the bundle of joy that is this most-coveted recruit. This player would come up in conversations in no time following his arrival at Dartmouth.
Once someone sinks a cup in a pong game, a student could say, "Yeah, I just sunk that the way "Player X" did against Cornell." You can see it happening, can't you?
Dartmouth can go dancing in March 2011. It can be the next "Cinderella" story. All we need is a dominant, reliable player and a coach with intense antics.
With those two pieces in place, everything else will follow. You can say this talk about Dartmouth representing the Ivy League in next year's NCAA Tournament is absurd, but, after all, there's a reason it's called "March Madness."
