K-oach Q thats pretty amazing being an All American in swimming so many times and congratulations to you and the wife. Just out of curiosity could you tell me how is All American status awarded or achieved so many times. Is it determined by finish times, semesters, meets or what?
Derryck Thornton Is Going To Give Me An Ulcer
- Thread starter Mark Gastineau
- Start date
In NCAA swimming and diving, athletes and relay teams who make the championship final (top eight) are considered First-Team All-Americans. Athletes and relay teams that qualify for the consolation final (determines places 9–16) are considered Honorable Mention All-Americans.[12] All-American teams are selected by the College Swimming Coaches Association of America (CSCAA).
This is based solely in qualifying for NCAA Championships and placement in this meet. Qualifying for the meet is based on a qualifying standard and then placement within the championship. The standards change year to year based on the previous years times within the championship...the NCAA likes to then take a percentage of those times like say top 10% to determine qualifying for the next year.
In short it gets faster to qualify year to year and much harder....much like any sport athletes seem to just keep getting better and better. When you think it can't possibly become any faster....it does.
It's not much different than a basketball team having to qualify for the NCAA Tournament and then your placing within that tournament. In swimming you can qualify your relay teams or individually by meeting qualifying standards. Qualifying relays IMO is much more gratifying and exciting doing it with your teammates. Only about 16 relays make NCAA Championships and roughly 30 individuals per event. And that's in the entire NCAA.
We have conference championship meets like ACC Championships...they are huge!! And then dual meets throughout the season. UVA's women are the cream of the crop in the ACC and ranked first Nationally currently. Georgia's women won the NCAAs last year and the Texas Men won theirs.
Team scores and National Championships are awarded based on points earned by placing within the meets. Relays are considered a High Priority for NCAA Teams because they are awarded double the points of an individual performance within the championships. Needless to say if your fast enough to improve a teams relays you can get some serious scholarship money because you are also most likely fast enough to score individually.
Scholarships are much more lucrative for females in swimming within the NCAA than men....much much more difficult for men. This is due to Title IX restrictions which I have plenty of thoughts about........
I went to a small school in PA...Clarion University which was a powerhouse swimming and wrestling school at the time (not so much now with swimming which is disappointing as an alumni). We've had some pretty famous people come through...1)Kurt Angel (wrestling) 2) Frank Edger (huge in MMA) and this will be funny...3) John Calipari played BBall from 80-82 for Clarion.
Last edited:
I appreciate you taking the time to explain this K-oach Q. I guess most sports fans don't pay great attention to swimming but interestingly my local newspaper had the area high school conference champions listed in the newspaper today with a 1/2 page article, so I learned something new.
Really impressed with Derryck last night. He definitely seemed more in control during the game. Hope he keeps building on that performance.
He would have had an A+ performance from me if not for the final couple of minutes. Because of that I probably drop him to a B+. He played like a freshman then.
My only glaring issue with his performance last night was the 3-pointer he jacked up right before halftime when we had plenty of time left to set up a good shot.
Also, did I imagine something, or did Grayson push him when he came to the bench after fouling out? Anyone know what I'm talking about?
I didn't see the push, but I did see Grayson say F-You to someone after he came to the bench. couldnt tell who it was though. I'm sure that kinda stuff happens a lot more than we think though
Last edited:
Yep. Grayson said "Shut the F up" and then pushed him in the chest as Grayson came to the bench after fouling out.
I loved DT's play until the final 3 minutes of the game. The entire team looked like they were panicking at the end, other than Matt and Luke. The second half saw probably their best 12-15 minutes of the season (since at least Indiana), followed by 3-4 minutes of their worst.
I loved DT's play until the final 3 minutes of the game. The entire team looked like they were panicking at the end, other than Matt and Luke. The second half saw probably their best 12-15 minutes of the season (since at least Indiana), followed by 3-4 minutes of their worst.
DT still making some bad mistakes, however, he is improving. He made some gutsy plays and I was really happy for him. I love his mid range jumpers, they are sweet.
Thornton was excellent on Tuesday night. The last 2:30/3 min of the game were atrocious by him and everyone else. He gets a bit of a pass for me being a freshmen, but it was awful. Hopefully he and the rest of the group continue to learn and mature. We've got to be better at closing out halves. Was a big win for us- all of them are now.
How is that to his credit? Every PG in the country is at some time asked to do that....it's what point guards have to do. Besides, do you remember the wide open, left-handed layup down the lane that he missed in the final two minutes?
Two things from Derryck's play on Tuesday night....1) He was spectacular for the first 37 minutes. Probably the best game he played of his short career, but 2) he wasn't good the last three minutes. And he's not the only one.
Good experience though for DT to be out there at the end. This game may have been the turning point this team needed.
I had a flashback to a similar missed bunny by Nolan Smith against Butler in 2010.
In the GT game I think several bunnies were missed by others also. It was probably 3 or 4 but seemed like 10 at the time.
That wasn't my point. A poster said something that I was insinuating meant Thornton was held back from playing stall ball. He wasn't held back. Then I just reminded him that the "stall ball" tactic did result in a wide open, but missed layup by Derryck.
I'll say it again....Derryck played his best game of his career, but he, like his teammates, were awful the last three minutes. Thankfully Derryck and Grayson were spectacular most of the night or we don't win.
^^^ Hey Mark, good point, and look at it this way, only a few of us are getting ulcers from him this year, but think of the "epidemic" of ulcers there will be to the opposition in the ACC next year, not to account for the OOC teams unfortunate enough to have to face this kid! Derryck Thornton with a year of experience under his belt, to go along with the team we will have next year!! Nuff said.
Go Duke!!
JC-OFC
Last edited:
I take back everything I ever said about Derryck. He's really turned the corner and was HUGE last night. Love it!
I take back everything I ever said about Derryck. He's really turned the corner and was HUGE last night. Love it!
Super clean block!!!!!!!!!!!