It's Maryland's turn in the spotlight. The Terps are off to Hawaii where they
will play Louisville first. Nigerian Muhammed Lasege, all 6-11, has
been ruled ineligible, making the Cardinals pretty small.
Here's the Post on Maryland's
chances. Here's
the Baltimore Sun as well.
Also in the field is Arizona,
minus Loren Woods, whose star-crossed career took him from Wake Forest to
Arizona to back surgery and Valley fever and now to NCAA-
mandated suspension. Greg Hansen, one of our least favorite
columnists, has some harsh things to say in that last link and picks up on our
surprise at Arizona's suggestion that they are playing for
"history." In this column, Bruce Pascoe talks about other
schools in the field with NCAA problems but
confuses Maryland with Louisville. Fairly standard stuff from Tucson,
which remains one of the most parochial sports towns in America. Here's
some speculation on
Loren's latest problem. Here's one
more article, with Eugene Edgerson looking like an extra from Shaft.
Wake
Forest is taking on traditionally underrated Richmond, a team with a
tradition of upsets, and a team which should be pretty good this year.
Under former coach Dick Tarrence, and we're sure we spelled his name wrong, who
was hired by former Duke assistant Lou Goetz when he was at Richmond, the
Spiders developed a tradition of upsetting powerhouses by playing smart ball.
(we once were observing a Richmond practice and heard Tarrence yell "no,
goddamit! I want smart basketball! Play smart, dammit!"). Wake is
more powerful, but Richmond inspires wariness. Wake
is shooting high so this is a key game. Will it be their Charlotte? Let's
hope not.
For you UNC types, here's
another article on that UNC hoops museum. For State fans, the ugliness
of the loss to Charlotte lingers, but for Charlotte,
it's a fresh, crisp day with optimism eveywhere.
And in case you were wondering how Jeff Jones is doing at American...so
far, so good.