Thursday, January 10, 2013
- by B.B. Branton
Chattanooga men’s basketball coach John Shulman takes his Mocs on the road (Charleston, S.C.) tonight against a familiar foe in The Citadel and a coach with a nationally-recognized last name.
Tonight, it’s Shulman v. Chuck Driesell with one win each in their short rivalry, but the UTC coach has also done X’s and O’s battles with the dad, hall of famer Lefty Driesell.
Tonight, the Mocs (6-9, 1-1) look for their fifth win in six games and Shulman hopes to go 9-2 overall against the Bulldogs in nine seasons.
While the Mocs have turned it around – 4-1 since a 2-8 start – the Bulldogs (3-9, 0-2) need a win for the first time since mid-November.
“The Citadel is a real tough place to play as they run a very deliberate style offense and the cadets are right on top of you yelling for 40 minutes,” said Shulman who is 4-1 in McAllister Field House.
“Playing at The Citadel is like going through root canal surgery. It’s no fun.”
While Shulman and Chuck Driesell are 1-1, Shulman has the upper hand on Lefty, who coached four schools in the NCAA tournament and is the only coach to win 100 games at four different schools (Davidson Maryland, James Madison and Georgia State).
As an assistant at East Tennessee State in the early 1990s, Shulman and the Bucs edged the elder Driesell and James Madison, 68-65 and 110-90, in back-to-back years.
A decade later, Shulman – then an assistant coach to Jeff Lebo and a year from the duo coming to UTC – helped Tenn. Tech to a 64-62 first round National Invitational Tournament win in 2002 against Lefty who was then in his next to last year as head coach at Georgia State.
Coach Driesell does have a pair of NCAA tournament wins against UTC in 1981 and 1983 during the Mocs Murray Arnold Era, while Shulman was developing his basketball skills as a young player in his hometown of Johnson City, Tenn.
Tonight: UTC (6-9, 1-1) vs. The Citadel (3-9, 0-2)
Coaches UTC, John Shulman (138-136) … The Citadel, Chuck Driesell (19-55 at The Citadel, 107-127 overall)
McAllister Fieldhouse, Charleston, S.C. … 7:05 p.m. … ESPN The Zone, 105.1 FM
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net