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- Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun is 68 years old, something he was reminded of many times during the 2011 Final Four.
HOUSTON - In case anyone has forgotten, Matt Howard finished the 2010 national championship game flat on his back at midcourt. Duke players, delirious from their victory over Butler, surrounded the forward. Multi-colored confetti streamed down from the ceiling to blanket the court.
- No one understands what makes Jim Calhoun tick better than Connecticut associate head coach George Blaney. They share a friendship and a basketball philosophy. They are golf buddies and fierce competitors. And for the past 10 seasons, when Calhoun has missed a game, Blaney has been UConn’s relief ace.
- Freshman point guard Brandon Knight undoubtedly is using the Kentucky basketball program as his stepping stone to the NBA. It’s likely he will add his name to the growing list of college stars who stay in school one year, only to move on to the professional ranks.
HOUSTON - This isn’t just the Final Four any more. Since Sunday, when Virginia Commonwealth toppled mighty Kansas, the event has experienced expansion. Not in the number of teams, just the naming rights. It now is more commonly known as the Unlikely Final Four, or the Unexpected Final Four.
HOUSTON - Connecticut’s Jim Calhoun insists he’s still the same grumpy, sarcastic guy he always has been during his coaching career.
University of Richmond fans got a taste of this last year, when they almost lost Chris Mooney to a bigger school.
Wisconsin’s Bo Ryan has been coaching basketball more than a quarter of a century and has more than 600 wins. His teams have become a model of consistency, perhaps not as well known nationally for that characteristic as Duke or Kansas or Michigan State, but very much an equal.
In this age of social media, it wasn’t surprising that Big East commissioner John Marinatto issued a celebratory e-mail Sunday night after his conference made NCAA Tournament history.
Avid college basketball fans can rattle off all the familiar names of coaches high on the victory charts. And they can do so without looking at any list or record book. Mike Krzyzewski, Jim Boeheim, Jim Calhoun, Bob Huggins, Roy Williams, Bo Ryan and Rick Pitino are just a few of the household names who have become symbols of success during this high holiday known as March Madness.
The Atlantic Coast Conference championship game Sunday seemed like a big deal to most of us. It was Duke vs. North Carolina and that’s always an attention getter, especially along Tobacco Road. But there was a national focus on Selection Sunday.
Selection Sunday can’t get here fast enough for fans in New York and Los Angeles. The same is true in Chapel Hill and Storrs and Tucson, locations that are familiar and famous on any college basketball map.
We have arrived at the best part of the season. Only 10 more days until Selection Sunday and between now and then automatic bids will be won and bubbles will be busted.
The ballots are starting to arrive. Soon it will be time to vote on everything from Player of the Year, to Defensive Player of the Year, to Most Improved Player, to Coach of the Year, and all the All-American teams.
The world of college basketball has been bombarded with negative news this week. Suspensions and penalties were announced for . The NCAA accused Tennessee’s of unethical behavior. Kansas suspended starting guard . There’s news of a lawsuit involving unsavory behavior at . And UTEP coach had to be escorted off the floor by police after he was ejected from a game at East Carolina.
Reminders of Indiana’s legendary basketball greatness seem to be everywhere these days.
Repeat after me: It doesn’t matter who is ranked No. 1 in the polls. This isn’t college football. College basketball decides its national championship with a playoff system called the NCAA tournament. The best team will be the one that wins six games in the tournament.
If it wasn’t obvious then, it should be pretty clear now why Alabama only interviewed one candidate during its search for a new basketball coach. The Crimson Tide identified Anthony Grant as their man, then reeled him in and rewarded him with a seven-year contract worth about $1.8 million per year.
All eyes are on Madison, Wis. this weekend. Ohio State’s undefeated season will be challenged at the Kohl Center. A lot of people think the Badgers will drag Jared Sullinger away from the basket and the Buckeyes will tumble. If Ohio State survives, they only go on the road twice more in the regular season — at Purdue and Penn State.
Watch the Duke Blue Devils on television and at least once a game there will be a predictable cutaway camera shot to the Duke bench.
Can you imagine the Final Four without Michigan State? Oops, pardon me. I meant, could you imagine the NCAA tournament without Michigan State?
People say journalists have forgotten the needs of our readers. Yet consider what the fine people at syracuse.com did last week. They posted a panic button on their web site. That just proves the producers, the editors, and the reporters there are in touch with the people of Upstate New York.
Fredette Mania is sweeping the nation. Is it here to stay, or just a passing (or should that read shooting) fancy? Somehow I think Jimmer Fredette is here for the long run. But right now it’s time to answer your questions:
The race for national player of the year is starting to heat up. With that in mind, we have a rare opportunity Tuesday night and Wednesday night to observe the top candidates in action. Each one faces a different test and the results should shed some light on our eventual winner.
Maybe it’s the snow. Maybe it’s the frigid temperatures. Maybe it’s just the stress of the conference play. But strange things are happening.
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