DES MOINES, IOWA - For Drake men's basketball coach
Mark Phelps the ride was one to
remember. But his run in the "Shots from the Heart" campaign, a
function of the American Heart Association and CollegeInsider.com in an effort
to generate more awareness for the growing problem of heart disease, came to an
end in the Elite Eight this past week.
Facing Arizona's Sean Miller in the West Regional final,
Phelps connected on 24 of his 25 attempts, with his lone miss coming on shot
No. 15. Miller, though, did him
one better going a perfect 25-for-25 to move into the Final Four.
There are two 64-coach fields (one for head coaches and one
for assistant coaches) and the participating coaches competed in a bracketed free
throw shooting contest. Starting in mid-November, coaches
competed against one another with winners advancing to the next round.
Phelps defeated Tom Moore of Quinnipiac in a first-round
match, making 23-of-25 attempts, and advanced to face Butler's Brad Stevens in
the second round, who bested Phil Martelli of St. Joseph's. Phelps again
moved on over Stevens, connecting on 23 of his 25 attempts.
In the Sweet 16 he again came away victorious, hitting
24-of-25 attempts to best Milan Brown (Holy Cross), who made 23-of-25.
Drake assistant coach Kareem Richardson bested Wisconsin assistant coach Greg Gard in the
first round, hitting all 25 of his shots, and moved on to meet Eric Eaton of
Quinnipiac in the second round. In the second round, despite making 24 of
25 attempts, Richardson was defeated by Eaton, who made all 25 of his shots.
Each coach shot 25 free throws at his location and a member
of the athletics department tallied the results with the coach with the most
makes advancing. The finals will take place at the Final Four in Houston,
Texas, in March, 2011.
To find out more about this program and for ways to help in
the battle against heart disease, log onto www.collegeinsider.com/shots or
contact your local chapter of the American Heart Association. You can also log
onto www.heart.org for more information on the American Heart Association.
