Happy Hour with John Gaskins

In a re-release of a conversation from a Happy Hour last summer, the current Iowa State head coach looks back on his three-year tenure in Brookings that started rocky — a 1-6 record and a seat in the basement of the Summit League in his first season — and finished with two SLT championships and two regular season titles before he fled for the desert and UNLV, then to Iowa State, where he has piloted the Cyclones to four NCAA berths and two trips to the the Sweet 16. 
 
Get ready for some Mike Daum and Michael Orris stories!

Are we there yet?
 
Summit League Tournament enthusiasts have the same eager restlessness of little kids on long road trips.
 
Just hours before the first SLT games tipped off — those 8 vs. 9 "first round games — Happy Hour did a special edition of "Thirsty Thursday" from just off the floor in the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center on Wednesday afternoon.
 
We'll call it "Pre-SLT last call!"
 
Who beyond NDSU is best equipped to win the men's event? Who are the best and most fun players to watch? What must the USD women do to pull off a semifinal win over SDSU? 
 
Will the lights be too bright for the NDSU women? Could the feel-good USD men's story end on Friday night vs. Denver?
 
Few humans are better equipped to provide a last-second cram session than Brad Newitt, who will be working his 14th SLT for Midco Sports. The former University of Sioux Falls assistant coach breaks down the best players and all the intriguing matchups for both the men's and women's side.
 
Newitt also weighs in on who he voted for Player of the Year and Coach of the Year on both sides, plus his predictions on how everything will shake out.

All the Coyote women did this season was double Carrie Eighmey's first-year win total from 11 to 22 and give USD a shot at a No. 2 seed in the regular season finale.
 
Not bad for an almost entirely new roster. Eighmey brought in transfers from all over the country, including four seniors who had one last stop and one last chance at glory in their college careers.
 
That chance is in front of them in Sioux Falls. Robles is at the forefront of the transfer crew. The point guard is the Yotes' second-leading scorer at 10 points per game and leads the team in assists and swagger. 
 
A San Diego native who spent her first four seasons at Summit League opponent Denver, Robles walks through a basketball life that started as the offspring of a professional hooper from the Philippines. She explains how her collegiate plane landed in Vermillion, a far cry in so many ways from Southern California and Colorado, but a place she appreciates.
 
She offers reflection on the late January win over South Dakota State — the program's most relevant since Dawn Plitzuweit's crew beat SDSU for a third consecutive SLT title, then reeled off two NCAA Tournament wins in 2022 — and explanation of the 82-49 loss to the Jacks on Saturday. How does she see the Yotes stemming that tide in a likely Round 3 in Sioux Falls, a potential Saturday semifinal?

Who is under more pressure to win the ol' SLT — the No. 1 seed and regular season champion North Dakota State women, looking to become the first Bison squad to ever hoist the hardware, or perennial and nearly-annual favorite No. 2 South Dakota State because of its home court advantage?
 
Who deserves Player of the Year — NDSU's Avery Koenen, the best player on the best team and the leading scorer who won the award, or SDSU's Brooklyn Meyer, a dominant machine in several statistical categories.?
 
South Dakota coach Eric Peterson has said that someone should make a movie about his Coyotes if they cut down the nets. Well, what is the realistic possibility of that?
 
Should Peterson be the Coach of the Year? Why did Sioux Falls Live's Matt Zimmer vote USD's Cameron Fens as the men's Player of the Year? Did Denver's Carson Johnson deserve it?
 
What kind of a matchup is St. Thomas for the Jackrabbits men in the first round? Is there less pressure on SDSU than usual because of its No. 7 seed — and, if so, does that mean the Jacks are more of a threat than most No. 7 seeds?
 
The March Madness cliche: Guard play. Guard play. Guard play. Who has it? Who doesn't have enough? Who might not have enough but still win?
 
What do we make of Augustana's NSIC semifinal loss, but second-best season since the Vikings' national title 10 years ago? 
 
And what do we make of the best players in both the Summit and NSIC, all of whom we likely won't see on their respective teams next season?
 
So many questions. So many (attempted) answers from Zimmer and the Happy Host from the Gateway Lounge on one of the biggest shows of the year.
 
So big, the South Dakota's attorney general, the Sioux Falls police chief, and the Minnehaha County sheriff were all there... and they, too, chimed in. 
 
Well, kind of, in a cameo sort of way.

It's Christmas in March in Sioux Falls.
 
The Summit League men's and women's basketball tournaments are back in town and the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center will turn into a hot cauldron of do-or-die, one-bid-league hoops. 
 
Both the SDSU women and USD men are coming in hot thanks to "State vs U" rivalry wins on Saturday and some Midas touch coaching throughout February.
 
The Happy Hour host breaks down how Aaron Johnston constructed colossal turnarounds in SDSU's second go-rounds with regular season champion North Dakota State and No. 3 seed South Dakota. 

Then, how did Eric Peterson move mountains to push USD's men to 8-8 and a No. 4 seed despite losing six players to season-ending injuries, including Summit League leading scorer Isaac Bruns? Specifically, how did Peterson jump start his Coyotes back from 17 down to sweep SDSU for the first time in 29 years?
 
Meanwhile, Augustana's men moved on thanks to some (last day before) March magic on Saturday night, but the host explains why it was no fluke.
 
Missy Heidrick, CBS Sports Network & Midco Sports analyst
Now about to call her fourth Summit League tourneys — she'll be in the analyst chair for all the women's games (including semifinals and final) and work sidelines for select men's games — the former Kansas State guard sizes up both the men's and women's fields and how both SDSU and USD teams stack up.
 
Are the Bison the women's favorite, or do the keys still belong to three-time defending champion SDSU? What is her interpretation of the Jacks' late-season surge? How can the Coyotes overcome a nightmare outing in Brookings on Saturday and beat SDSU in a (likely) Saturday semifinal? 
 
On the men's side, how many teams can realistically win three games in three or four days? 
 
In both cases, who deserves the honors of Coach of the Year and Player of the Year?