A Review: Miami Hurricanes 2017-18 Basketball Season

The 2017-18 basketball season for the Miami Hurricanes is marked by a first-round NCAA Tournament exit, despite the coaching staff and team braving the odds, injuries, and many distractions during the journey. But it’s not one without valuable lessons to bring into the seasons they will face.

The team came into the season as number 12 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, as well as number 13 in the Associated Press Top 25. They leveraged on a weak non-conference schedule and gallantly worked their way to a 10-0 start to the season. Part of the winning streak is an 86-81 win they had on the road against Minnesota during the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. UM also manage to clobber Pittsburgh at home as well as Virginia Tech on the road in January.

Image source: TheMiamiHurricane.com 

Add this to the fact that there trudged along with a limited Lonnie Walker IV, the freshman who was still working his way back into the game after an offseason knee surgery.

The season may not have emerged with the ideal results, but it’s another teaching moment for head coach Jim Larrañaga and his staff in their unyielding quest to build a winning program. For one, it enjoyed significant contributions from the freshman squad of Bruce Brown Jr., DJ Vasiljevic, and Dewan Huell, as well as an exciting game element in the form of point guard Chris Lykes.

Image source: StateoftheU.com

Amid the spirit of resiliency, UM has to grapple with a number of negatives from the season, such as its spate of injuries, inconsistent shooting, recruiting shortcomings, and underperforming for much of the season.

Patrick Dwyer is a financial advisor and avid supporter of the Neuroscience Centers of Florida Foundation, Inc. (NSCFF). He is also a huge fan of the Miami Hurricanes basketball and football teams. Similar reads on this page.

Great National Parks In The U.S. To Visit With Your Kids

While many parks and reserves in the U.S. are great for the family, not all of them are child-friendly, especially those that are riddled with difficult and steep trails. Listed below are some of the best parks to visit for that bonding with your kids and with nature.

Arches National Park

What makes this Utah park most alluring for family visits is that it’s very accessible. Kids will not complain about the distance of the trails much, as the 36-mile loop will already have visitors witnessing the park’s main sights. Kids will love the numerous sandstone arch formations that look like spires and domes, especially since some of them are climbable. Make sure to visit Delicate Arch, the most-photographed monolith jutting out at the corner of a cliff like the feet of a giant or a portal to some magical place.

Image source: visitnc.com

Yellowstone National Park

This famed park is more than just Old Faithful. Kids will love seeing the geyser for sure, as well as the wildlife of bison and wolves, but the park has many programs in place specifically catering to kids, from studying the site’s thermal features while playing with laser guns to tracking earthworms. There’s plenty to do here to keep the kids happy and occupied when the excitement about the scenery has passed.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park

This is the perfect place to bring the children to witness swarms of fireflies as well as 30 species of salamanders. The 500,000-acre park that straddles North Carolina and Tennessee offers ranger- or naturalist-guided training for kids who want to get closer to the various species of amphibians, reptiles, and mammals that call the reserve their home. You can enroll the children in the Smoky Mountain Field School, or even have their try playing junior rangers.

Image source: nationalparktripsmedia.com

Dwyer and Associates will always be for preservation of biomes and other natural environments that exist within national parks. More writings on national parks in the U.S. here.