Syracuse guard Brandon Triche stirred up chatter at the Final Four on Friday with his proclamation of the Orange’s superiority over Michigan, their Saturday opponent.
“We think we’ve got mismatches at every position,” Triche told media members. “We feel like not too many teams can stay in front of us.”
He particularly noted Michigan guard Nik Stauskas matching against forward C.J. Fair, who has a two-inch advantage on Stauskas. Fair, Triche said, will “definitely go at him. That’s one thing we’re going to do.”
Stauskas, informed of the comments, played it cool.
“They’re going to say what they want to say,” he said. “We’re confident in our abilities.”
Warming to the ACC: Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who has been critical of his school's move to the ACC from the Big East, struck a more receptive tone Friday.
“I think the way the Big East has changed, it’s not the great conference it was,” he said. “It’s completely different now. It’s much more of a national-type conference. I think the ACC, the good thing for us, most every game we play is an hour-and-a-half flight, so I think that’s a good thing.”
In 2011, shortly after Syracuse accepted an invitation to the ACC, Boeheim railed against conference realignment and the loss of conference rivalries. He has also belittled the ACC conference tournament being held in Greensboro, N.C., bemoaning having to eat at Denny’s. On Friday, he noted that Syracuse’s rival before joining the Big East was St. Bonaventure.
“You create new rivals when you go in,” he said. “It’s who you play. Within five years, we’ll have several rivals in the ACC, and everything else will be forgotten.”
Syracuse could be back in Atlanta next season to play Georgia Tech.
Hall of Famer? According to multiple reports, Louisville coach Rick Pitino will be one of the inductees into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame when the next class is announced at 11 a.m. Monday.
Pitino was not asked about it during his Friday news conference.
“He has been doing this forever, so he deserves it,” Cardinals forward Chane Behanan said. “Seven Final Fours, won a national championship, I’m excited for him and happy to be playing for him.”
Pitino is the only coach to have taken three schools to a Final Four. Reports have former University of Houston coach Guy Lewis, former UNLV and Fresno State coach Jerry Tarkanian and NBA player Gary Payton also being selected for induction.
Homecoming for Shockers: Wichita State was going to practice at Whitefield Academy in Mableton on Friday after fulfilling its media obligations at the Georgia Dome. Instead, the Shockers practiced at Oglethorpe University.
Shockers guard Tekele Cotton, could have been the navigator for the 20-minute drive if Wichita State had stuck with its original plan. Cotton is a Whitefield Academy graduate, one of two Georgians on the roster, both starters. Forward Carl Hall, from Cochran, is the other.
“I’ve gotten so many calls and texts,” Hall said. “I’ll have a lot of family members here at practice (Friday). I’ll have a lot of family members at the game. It’s just like playing at my old high school.”
Both were recruited to Wichita State by former assistant coach Chad Dollar, now an assistant at Georgia Tech.
Final Four payday: Reaching the Final Four for the first time has been professionally satisfying for Wichita State coach Gregg Marshall and Michigan's John Beilein — and also financially rewarding.
Beilein’s contract calls for a $25,000 bonus every time his team makes the NCAA tournament and an extra $25,000 for each tournament win. That’s an extra $125,000 thus far on top of his $1.8 million salary.
Marshall receives $36,000 for each NCAA tournament game played, $60,000 for a Sweet 16 appearance and another $100,000 for the Final Four. To this point, that’s $304,000 with another $36,000 guaranteed for the semifinal game and at least $65,000 for meeting other incentives. The national championship would earn a $200,000 bonus.
Marshall makes about $1.2 million in salary.
One year later: Louisville's Russ Smith said there is one big difference between last year's Final Four in New Orleans and this year's.
“It was just too much fun, beads were getting thrown everywhere,” he said. “I think this trip is more serious, more business-like.”
While eventual champion Kentucky was the overwhelming favorite last year, Louisville received the top overall seed and is the favorite to win. Smith said it would be frustrating to lose.
“At the end of the day, it’s about who’s playing the best basketball,” he said. “I wouldn’t call (the season) a disappointment (if Louisville were to lose). I would just say the better team won.”
Shining bright: With this the 75th anniversary of the NCAA tournament, the NCAA presented its selections for its top 15 all-time players, the all-time team and the all-time moment. Duke forward Christian Laettner's buzzer-beater in the 1992 East regional final was voted best moment, and the 1976 Indiana team that finished the season 32-0 was named the top team.
The all-time players: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Larry Bird, Bill Bradley, Patrick Ewing, Grant Hill, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, Laettner, Jerry Lucas, Danny Manning, Hakeem Olajuwon, Oscar Robertson, Bill Russell, Bill Walton and Jerry West.
“It was a very special time,” said Manning, who won a national title at Kansas in 1988. “Regardless of whatever we have going on in our lives, I think this tournament, the memories, will always bring some type of smile to your face.”
