Lance Hartzler

Editor and Contributor at Mid-Major Madness

writing and editing words at a few places. 💜💙

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Articles

NBA Draft: Mid-major players who might be worth your time

3 weeks ago | midmajormadness.com | Lance Hartzler

James Snook-Imagn Images The transfer portal has really messed with the idea of a mid-major player going in the top 10 of the NBA Draft, huh? Long-gone are the days that players that came from the mid-major level like Damian Lillard (Weber State), Obi Toppin (Dayton), Jarace Walker (pre-Big 12 Houston), Jalen Williams (Santa Clara) CJ McCollum (Lehigh) get major buzz in the lottery. Instead, our sons land themselves (generally) later or they explode at a high-major squad.
Mike Bibby, Shaq, Mikey Williams? Something is going on at Sacramento State

1 month ago | midmajormadness.com | Lance Hartzler

Followers of the Big Sky Conference know Sacramento State well. The program with just two winning seasons since the early 1990s is most known for its charming high-school-level of a gym fondly called “The Nest” — which is one of the NCAA’s oldest facilities being in operation since 1955. It sits a whopping 1,000 attendees. The Hornets have often been feisty in a number of Big Sky seasons but have never amounted to much at all. The Nest is rumbling, though, with a run of major moves in 2025.
Way, way, way too early Mountain West Conference predictions

1 month ago | midmajormadness.com | Lance Hartzler

Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images As we look toward the end of the Mountain West as we know it (you can read a bit about that here), we here at Mid-Major Madness decided to take a shot at doing a little way, way, way too early prediction for the 2025-26 season. In the latest SBNation Reacts poll, San Diego State was picked as the early frontrunner with 42% of the votes, followed by Utah State (23%), Boise State (19%) and New Mexico (16%).
Adrian Del Castillo placed on 7-day injured list by Reno Aces

2 months ago | bvmsports.com | Lance Hartzler

The Reno Aces placed catcher Adrian Del Castillo on the seven-day injured list on Saturday, according to the transactions list. Reno Aces placed C Adrian Del Castillo on the 7-day injured list, per transactions list. - Alex Weiner (@alexjweiner) March 29, 2025 Del Castillo was optioned to Triple-A Reno last week, losing the Diamondbacks ' opening day backup catcher spot to Jose Herrera. The earliest Del Castillo can return to action is April 6.
Mid-major men’s coaching carousel: Who’s out, and who’s in?

2 months ago | midmajormadness.com | Lance Hartzler

Hannah Butler Last updated Sunday, March 30. All our dear mid-major teams have come and gone from the NCAA Tournament, and with their departure also comes the coaching carousel.
Adrian Del Castillo placed on 7-day injured list by Reno

2 months ago | arizonasports.com | Lance Hartzler

The Reno Aces placed catcher Adrian Del Castillo on the seven-day injured list on Saturday, according to the transactions list. Reno Aces placed C Adrian Del Castillo on the 7-day injured list, per transactions list. — Alex Weiner (@alexjweiner) March 29, 2025Del Castillo was optioned to Triple-A Reno last week, losing the Diamondbacks’ opening day backup catcher spot to Jose Herrera. The earliest Del Castillo can return to action is April 6.
West Valley city has surprising list of desired businesses

2 months ago | ktar.com | Lance Hartzler

PHOENIX — The city of Surprise released its findings from its 2025 Surprise Retail Survey, which invited residents of the West Valley city to weigh in on their favorite businesses and what they most wanted to see added. The survey, which ran from Feb. 14 through March 16, had more than 4,000 responses, the city said in a Thursday news release.
Fact Check: The Big East is not a mid-major conference

2 months ago | sports.yahoo.com | Lance Hartzler

Every March, as the madness envelops us, so do college football writers who can only write so much about what the Power Four is doing. In theory, it should be good! These are talented, well-read, well-informed sports writers with decades of experience on their pens. But it isn’t always for the better. Unfortunately, we here at Mid-Major Madness need to put on our CNN Certified Fact Checker hats on.
Fact Check: The Big East is not a mid-major conference

2 months ago | midmajormadness.com | Lance Hartzler

Eakin Howard-Imagn Images Every March, as the madness envelops us, so do college football writers who can only write so much about what the Power Four is doing. In theory, it should be good! These are talented, well-read, well-informed sports writers with decades of experience on their pens. But it isn’t always for the better. Unfortunately, we here at Mid-Major Madness need to put on our CNN Certified Fact Checker hats on.
Missing Phoenix man found dead near rocky area

2 months ago | ktar.com | Lance Hartzler |Bailey Leasure

PHOENIX — Phoenix Police detectives are working to determine how a Phoenix man who went missing died, authorities said in a press release Tuesday night. Marcus Freiberger, 45, was reported missing on March 14. Investigators were unable to determine his whereabouts and found no evidence that he wasn’t a victim to any crime at the time. Police officers responded to a call at a rock quarry near 15th Avenue and Broadway Road where they found a body on March 19, authorities said.