Berry Tramel
Sports Columnist
D.J. Dormu dribbled behind his back to get nearer the middle of the court and launch a 33-foot jumpshot that could extend the Connors State basketball season.
As the buzzer sounded, the ball zipped through the net, giving the Cowboys a 63-62 victory over top-seeded Snow of Utah in the second round of the famed National Junior College Athletic Association tournament in Hutchinson, Kansas, on March 24.
Connors State coach Bill Muse called it a miracle. Not a miracle shot. A miracle. He figures he had someone who helped guide that ball into the hole.
Connie Muse, Bill’s wife of 30 years, died unexpectedly on December 12 at the age of 69. She was Momma Muse to generations of ballplayers who came to the Warner junior college, just south of Muskogee, trying to further their basketball career but ended up enhancing their lives.
The Cowboys rallied around Muse and his son, Bill Jr., 28, who serves as the Connors State assistant coach. The Cowboys went all the way to the NJCAA championship game before losing to Trinity Valley of Texas 69-61.
“A miracle run,” Muse called it.
The Thursday ScissorTales look at Luka Doncic’s game-changing technical foul in the Thunder-Lakers game, view the 2024 Southeastern Conference football standings in a different way and pay tribute to fallen Sooner Patrick Fletcher. But we start with the Connors State basketball program, which found triumph in the wake of tragedy.
Muse, 67, came to Connors State 33 years ago after 11 seasons as an assistant coach at South Alabama, Georgia State, Morehead State and Clemson. Along the way, he met Connie, who had been a star basketball player at Wilburton High School and played at Eastern Oklahoma Junior College.
They formed quite a team. Bill coaching the Cowboys to 11 NJCAA national tournaments (now up to five final fours) and a record that now stands at 803-265, plus Connie serving as mom to a bunch of young guys who came from all over, many of them first-generation college students, chasing a basketball dream.
Connie Muse poses with former Connors State star Mason Jones, who now plays for the Sacramento Kings.
“My best friend and my partner,” Muse said. “So much involved in our program, taking care of our players.”
Muse never moved on from juco ball because he figures they had found their calling. The turnover in junior college is twice the rate of four-year schools. And players on the juco level often need some tender loving care.
There’s not much in Warner. Some Connors State players come from the region. On this team, Jeremiah Johnson (6.5 points per game) is from Edison Prep, and Jaylen Lee (6.3), Dashun Spence (9.1) and Ethan Dietz (7.7) are from the Arkansas towns of Bentonville, Wrightsville and Conway, respectively.
But Dormu (12.4) is from Washington, D.C. Edwin Daniel (12.7) is from the Bronx. Kevin Stubblefield (13.9) is from Omaha, Nebraska. Aric Walls (10.9) is from Allen, Texas.
Connie “was their mom away from home,” Muse said. “Most of my players do come from out of state. They would lean on her for help, advice. An always positive person to keep them motivated.
“They called her Momma Muse.”
When Connie died, it was a blow to everyone in Warner. But most notably the basketball team.
“For that to crush your life, I think it’s a tribute to our players,” Muse said. “They rallied around. Won for her.”
Of course, no one was more crushed than Muse. Bill Jr. came to the rescue, despite the death of his mother.
Connors State coach Bill Muse, right, holds the national runner-up trophy with his son, assistant coach Bill Muse Jr.
“I’ve tried to keep him so extremely busy,” Bill Sr. said. “He coached more of the team, because I was in such a fog and a funk.”
Going to the gym every day was rough for Muse, “because she was always around. Just much more of a reminder of how much we miss her.”
The Cowboys were in the 2024 final four in Hutch, but this was a brand new team. Total roster makeover. And the new guys rallied. Connors State won the Oklahoma Collegiate Athletic Conference, then won the Region II tournament to make nationals.
The Cowboys donned “THIS ONE’S FOR MOMMA MUSE” warmup shirts in Hutchinson, and despite being seeded 17th in the 32-team field, Connors State made it all the way to the finals.
“When you play for something bigger than yourself, these are the results you get,” Muse said. “It’s been a really difficult year, obviously, for me and my son. We’ve had to lean on each other, but the support we’ve got from these players has been phenomenal.”
The big hugs that Bill Jr. gives every player before a game means more than ever.
“Junior’s like a big brother to me,” Dormu said. “That hug before a game helps us realize this is more than basketball.”
The Connors State Cowboys wore “This is for Momma Muse” warmup shirts at the national tournament.
As you can see, basketball has been a family affair for decades in Warner. Muse figures he might have called it quits this year. Spend some time with Connie doing things they’ve always dreamed of doing.
But Muse doesn’t have hobbies. Basketball is his hobby. He now believes he’ll keep coaching the Cowboys, and many of his players are planning to return for the 2025-26 season.
“It’s in my blood,” Muse said. “It’s in my family.” Bill Jr. is still around to help out with the juco grind, from scouting to recruiting to promotions to weight training to academics.
“It’s a lot on two people.”
Used to be three, but “I just love what I do and I do what I love,” said Muse, coach of some ballplayers who played for something bigger than themselves.”
Luka technical helps Thunder
The Lakers led the Thunder 108-107 on Tuesday with 7:40 left in the game, when referee J.T. Orr gave Luka Doncic his second technical foul of the game. Uh-oh. Immediate ejection.
Soon enough, the Thunder went on a 24-4 run and beat the Lakers 136-120, in Paycom Center, denying the Lakers a two-game sweep of their three-day trip to Oklahoma City.
The Thunder was fortunate. Doncic said he was barking at a fan, not Orr, and there’s reason to believe him.
Thunder fan Jeremy Price told ESPN that he was the target of Doncic’s derision, riding Doncic for a missed shot, and Doncic was responding.
Price, a longtime Doncic agitator from the front row of Paycom, clearly engaged Doncic on Sunday.
“I never got a fan ejected,” Doncic said. “Never. But if he’s (the fan) going to talk, I’m going to talk back, like always. That had nothing to do with the ref. So I didn’t really understand.”
But Price’s events of Tuesday night were not accurate. The technical came right after a Doncic basket, not a miss. So who knows?
And Mark Daigneault had a different perspective on the incident.
Turns out, Orr gave Daigneault a technical earlier this season in Sacramento “for a very mild comment,” Daigneault said. “I don’t know exactly what was said (by Doncic), but I can almost guarantee it wasn’t as mild as what I said. And it was good to see him hold the line on the respect-for-the-game standard, from situation to situation, team to team.
“I hope the league has those guys’ back when they do it, but I don’t know if that’s the case, because it looks like an outlier when somebody T’s a guy. There should be a line, if they cross it, should be a technical.
You get what you tolerate. I give that crew a lot of credit for the way they managed it.”
And Doncic is worthy of some lifetime achievement technicals. He’s perhaps the NBA’s biggest whiner, though as a Laker he seemed less caustic toward the refs than in his days as a Maverick.
The Doncic ejection certainly helped the Thunder. The Lakers are much easier to guard when Doncic is on the bench. In Doncic’s 31 minutes of action, the Lakers outscored the Thunder by six. In the other 17 minutes, OKC outscored the Lakers by 22.
The List:
Alternative SEC standings
Brent Venables like to call the Southeastern Conference a one-possession league. Meaning the games routinely are close. But Venables is wrong. Only 21 of the SEC’s 64 conference games in 2025 were decided by eight points or less. And that’s in keeping with recent SEC history.
As I wrote in the Wednesday ScissorTales about the Big 12, close games often determine the quality of a season. They do not determine the quality of a team. The results of close games are random. The results of wider-margined games are not.
Here are the adjusted 2024 SEC football standings, throwing out all games decided by eight points or less:
1. Ole Miss 5-0: The Rebels were 0-3 in close games.
2. Texas 6-1: The Longhorns had an easy schedule; hence, only one close game.
3. Georgia 5-1: The Bulldogs were the best team in the SEC and deserved the title they won.
4. Tennessee 4-1: The Volunteers were 2-1 in close games; losing 19-14 at Arkansas was a serious blow.
4. South Carolina 4-1: The Gamecocks were way better than anyone thought.
6. Alabama 3-1: Only mediocre Vanderbilt and Missouri played more close games than did Bama.
7. Texas A&M 4-2: The schedule was relatively light, but this was a strong season by the Aggies.
8. Florida 3-3: The Gators were tasked with a monster schedule and handled it rather well.
9. Louisiana State 2-3: The Tigers were 3-0 in close games. They weren’t as good as we thought.
9. Arkansas 2-3: What we’re kind of saying is that the Razorbacks were about as good as LSU.
11. Missouri 1-2: Mizzou went 4-1 in close games. Don’t expect that to continue.
11. Vanderbilt 1-2: Playing five close games is a big improvement for the Commodores.
13. Auburn 1-4: The Tigers were overpowered frequently.
14. Oklahoma 1-5: In close games, the Sooners beat Auburn and lost to Mizzou; otherwise, OU was not very good.
15. Kentucky 0-5: The Wildcats were 1-2 in close games.
16. Mississippi State 0-8: Not at all competitive.
OU quarterbacks Patrick Fletcher, left, died Tuesday, in an apparent allergic reaction to food. He was 47.
Patrick Fletcher: A joyful Sooner
Patrick Fletcher was a second-generation OU quarterback. And he was proud of his Sooner ties.
“No one loved the Sooners or loved being a Sooner more than him,” said athletic director Joe Castiglione.
Fletcher died Tuesday, in an apparent allergic reaction to food. He was 47.
Fletcher, who in later years served on the Sooners Helping Sooners board of directors and constantly was helping that organization, grew up in Norman, the son of 1960s OU quarterback Ronnie Fletcher.
Patrick Fletcher was a non-scholarship quarterback but had a couple of big moments, coming off the bench to spark the Sooners’ 37-9 victory over North Texas in the 1998 season opener and converting a fake field-goal play in 1999 against Texas A&M.
“Heartbreaking news today,” Bob Stoops tweeted Wednesday. “We lost Patrick Fletcher last night. An always happy, helpful, full of love, & Sooner through & through. I loved that guy!”
Fletcher, who played 1998-2000, completed 23 of 41 career passes for 364 yards, four touchdowns and four interceptions. The Fletchers were the first father-son quarterback duo in OU history. They since have been joined by the Thompsons, father Charles and sons Kendal and Casey.
Mailbag: Wilt Chamberlain
My Wilt Chamberlain item earlier this week brought out a fan.
David: “Thoroughly enjoyed the Wilt Chamberlain news. I searched, ‘How many NBA records does Wilt Chamberlain currently hold?’ Google AI came back with 72. I enjoy a good sports debate. I have friends who argue Jordan vs LeBron, and I jump in and ask if they are debating who is the second best athlete in NBA history? I try and position the discussion as the best athlete, not the best teammate. Certain athletes might make others around them better. I am more interested in the physical specimen. Of what are they capable? If Chamberlain also won Big Eight track and field titles (high jump) and is in the volleyball Hall of Fame, I want the discussion to be Chamberlain vs Thorpe. I think Chamberlain already won best NBA athlete. My brother was a big Bill Russell fan. He would throw the total championships at me against my Wilt argument. To me, using the championship argument means even the 53rd guy on a roster with Tom Brady can claim being the best with ‘X’ many rings. Thanks for the Chamberlain acknowledgement. More sports fans need that education.”
Berry: Thanks! I love writing about Wilt. I actually don’t really resonate with the “athlete” debate. I don’t care who was the better athlete. Chamberlain was an all-time great player. Better than Russell? Maybe not. Better than LeBron or Jordan? Maybe not. But I know this, if I’ve got the Wilt side of the argument, I’m not going in empty-handed.
