Part Seven: From Old South to New South, 2012-2022

The previous decade has seen the expanded SEC proceed to thrive on the heart of the story of school basketball in America. John Calipari has continued the custom of excellence at Kentucky, main the Wildcats to 4 Men’s Final Four appearances together with a nationwide championship in 2012. That similar yr, Missouri and Texas A&M joined the convention, a season after head coach Gary Blair led the Aggies to the Women’s Final Four and a nationwide title. In 2016, the basketball world mentioned goodbye to at least one of its biggest legends with the loss of Pat Summitt after a five-year battle with early-onset Alzheimer’s illness. In 2017, Vic Schaefer led Mississippi State to the primary of two consecutive nationwide title video games after knocking off top-ranked and undefeated UConn within the semifinals, earlier than falling to Dawn Staley’s South Carolina Gamecocks led by A’ja Wilson. It was the primary NCAA championship for Coach Staley, with the second title...