Section B · Page 2
The University Daily Kansan
Tuesday, March 10, 1998
NCAA Countdown
Nerd's revenge Princeton team gains legitimacy
By Jim Litke The Associated Press
Princeton's most famous basketball graduate was surfing the Internet when the phone rang. Bill Bradley's specialty is international studies, but the only thing he was studying at that moment were the teams sliding into the NCAA tournament draw alongside his own team.
And when the bracket was complete, Bradley, Princeton
Commentary
Class of '65, former senator, former congressman and former New York Knick, fairly groaned.
"Same bracket as North Carolina?" he said. "Connecticut, too? And UNLV to start?"
After all, there is a price to be paid for the success of Princeton this season.
Under Coach Pete Carril for most of the decade, the Tigers were the epitome of pointy-headed basketball. They were kids whose class schedules were more impressive than their jump shots, running an outdated offense with such patience and precision that what opponents feared most was dying from boredom or paper cuts.
Princeton always sneaked into the tournament as the Ivy League champion and a No. 12 seed, always scared the daylights out of basketball factories like Georgetown, Arkansas, Villanova and Syracuse but almost always went home after one round. The consolation prize is that most of the players went home to begin careers as investment bankers or Wall Street lawyers.
Now that has changed — the basketball part, anyway.
Two years ago, Carril's final Princeton team gave the tournament one of its grandest moments, upsetting then-defending champion UCLA, 43-41, on a signature backdoor layup with 3.8 seconds left. Caril took a job as an assistant coach with the NBA's Sacramento Kings after Princeton got beat in the next round.
Carril's assistant of 14 years, Bill Carmody, filled the coaching spot at Princeton. More easygoing than Carril but no less finicky about how to run an offense and defense, he has presided over a two-year run of excellence that resulted in the Tigers, 26-1, being ranked No. 8 in the country. Princeton is the East Regional fifth seed this year.
But these are not — to borrow a phrase — your father's Tigers. Under Carmody, Princeton plays a more conservative defense but gambles much more on offense, particularly with three-point shots.
Bradley has observed this evolution from a distance. He is a lifetime student of hoops but is stuck on the opposite coast from Princeton. He is finishing a one-year appointment as visiting professor at Stanford's Institute of International Studies.
"It is a typical Princeton team in some ways," he said.
"They're demonstrating how much mastery of the fundamentals can be used to advantage in a game where not everybody bothers to learn them any more."
Several high-ranked opponents can attest to the truth of Bradley's observations. The Tigers beat Wake Forest, North Carolina State and Texas and might have topped North Carolina if not for 22 missed three-point attempts. Teams used to hate to draw Princeton in the NCAA tournament as the underdog. Anybody who watched ESPN's selection show Sunday night can attest that Princeton is not welcome as the favorite either.
When UNLV's players were informed on camera that they would be playing the Tigers, their expressions turned blank in a hurry.
Unlike Bradley, who scored 58 points against Wichita State in the 1965 consolation game, there is not an NBA prospect on the Princeton suad.
"We've had good teams here before," Carmody said. "Some could have been as good or better, but they didn't play together as well. I don't care what anybody says. The way this team runs their offense is the best I've seen since I've been here."
Litke is a columnist for The Associated Press.
Oklahoma City to hold first round of regional
The Associated Press
OKLAHOMA CITY — Stanley Draper Jr. started smiling as soon as the NCAA basketball bracket for Oklahoma City unfolded on TV, and
he still was grinning yesterday morning.
ation, which along with the University of Oklahoma, is playing host to the first round of the Midwest Regional.
Draper is executive director of the Oklahoma City All Sports Assoc-
The tournament's selection committee made Kansas the No. 1 seed in the region, which was expected. Then it sent the Jayhawks not to Chicago — the other Midwest first-round site — but to Oklahoma City, where local fans are well aware of the Jayhawks thanks to their ties to the Big 12 Conference.
Kansas' first-round opponent is Prairie View, which virtually has no shot of winning but provides the tournament with a great story. The Panthers needed a 20-point rally to win their conference tournament and thus gain the automatic NCAA bid.
Last year, Prairie View failed to win a conference game. Its football team hasn't won a game of any kind since 1989.
The tournament committee sent three coaches with local ties — Steve Robinson of Florida State University, Rob Evans of University of Mississippi and, last but not least, Billy Tubs of Texas Christian University to Oklahoma City.
And then there's Tubbs, who has spent just about every Christmas season playing in the All College Tournament during his 14 years as coach of the Oklahoma Sooners. He will bring to the Myriad the same kind of team he had at Oklahoma — one that loves to run and, if possible, run it up.
Robinson spent two years at Tulsa, Okla., where he led the Golden Hurricane to an All College Tournament title at the Myriad. Evans used to be an assistant coach at Oklahoma State.
"I've had some calls already this morning from people wanting tickets to that TCU game," Draper said. "Of course, we sell tickets by session and not by individual games. And we're sold out. We were the first venue that sold out."
Texas Christian has the potential to go a long way in the tournament, which would be no surprise given
Oklahoma City received high marks from the NCAA for the way the tournament was run in 1994. Draper expects the same thing this year, even with ongoing renovations at the Myriad.
Oklahoma City's history. In 1977 and 1994, the two time regionals have been here, the eventual national champion started its run at the Mvriad.
The construction means about only half the parking lot below the Myriad will be available. But letters have been mailed to all ticket holders explaining where to park and how to use a shuttle service. The media will be housed at a hotel across the street from the Myriad, so representatives won't have to mess with traffic.
Panthers to try to uproot No.1 seed
The Associated Press
PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas — After a history of athletic starvation. Prairie View A&M now wants more than a crumb.
Make no mistake, this will not be easy. The Panthers, the only team in the NCAA tournament with a losing record, play top seed Kansas in the first round.
"We're going to show them who the No.1 team is," said Prairie View forward Julius Marble, one of nine seniors on the team. "We're going to
goout there to play and have fun." The Panthers (13-16) are playing in the tournament for the
The Panthers (13-16) are playing in the tournament for the first time. They qualified by rallying from a 20-point half-time deficit to beat Texas Southern 59-57 Saturday night and into the Southeastern Athletic Conference.
Opening-round opponent
won the Southwestern Athletic Conference tournament.
Their reward is Friday's game with Kansas (34-3), making its 27th appearance in the postseason showcase.
Coach Elwood Plummer said he thought winning the SWAC tournament was a great milestone for the university.
"Nobody knows too much about Prairie View." Marble said. "This is our chance to show everybody what we have and what we're made of."
"The Big Dance is something every coach looks forward to. I told the guys before we left last Tuesday, we're not going to just win the SWAC tournament. We're going to participate in the NCAA tournament," he said.
Participating is one thing. Moving on is another.
What most folks know about Prairie View, about 50 miles northwest of Houston. is a sports program of frustration.
Prairie View is only the 14th team with a losing record to get into the tournament. Just one — Bradley in 1955 — advanced beyond the first round.
"It's not just a win for basketball," added Tamarron Sharpe, the most valuable player in the SWAC team.
In the 1991-92 season, the basketball team was winless. The following year, the basketball team improved a little — it won one game. Two years ago, in a game against Tulsa, it lost by 92 points.
The Panthers football team has lost 77 consecutive games, an NCAA record.
"I'm excited and ready for the game, and Kansas better watch out."
Prairie View guard
King Whetstone
Wetstone added, "I'm excited and ready for the game, and Kansas better watch out."
Plummer does not want to diminish the euphoria, but he understands what his team now faces.
"We can't enjoy it long, because we have to put in a game plan for Kansas," he said. "We're really going
to have to use our quickness, because Kansas is bigger. Plummer is in his second tour as coach of the Panthers. He left in 1979 after seven years, then returned in 1990, signing on two days before the school scrapped all sports except track and basketball.
"People told me to hang in there, that they would get the program back," he said.
CHAMPIONSHIP WEEK
EAST REGIONAL
First Round
Thursday
At The Hartford Civic Center
Hartford, Conn.
North Carolina (30-3) vs. Navy (19-10),
11:20 a.m.
North Carolina Charlotte (19-10) vs. Illinois-Chicago (22-5), 30 minutes after previous game
Princeton [26-1] vs. UNLV [20-12], 6:40 n.m
Michigan State (20-7) vs. Eastern Michigan (20-9), 30 minutes after previous game
At The MCI Center Washington
Xavier (22-7) vs. Washington (18-9),
11:25 a.m.
South Carolina [23-7] vs. Richmond [22-
7, 30]
Indiana (19-11) vs. Oklahoma (22-10),
6:40 p.m.
Connecticut (29-4) vs. Fairleigh Dickinson (23-6), 30 minutes after previous game
SOUTH REGIONAL
First Round
Friday
At Rupp Arena
Lexington, Ky.
New Mexico (23-7) vs. Butler (22-10),
30 minutes after previous game
Oklahoma State (21-6) vs. George
Washington (24-8), 6:40 p.m.
Duke (29-3) vs. Radford (20-9), 30 minutes after previous game
Syracuse (24-8) vs. lona (27-5), 11:25 a.m.
At The Georgia Dome Atlanta
Kentucky (29-4) vs. South Carolina State (22-7), 11:15 a.m.
Massachusetts (21-10) vs. Saint Louis
(21-10), 30 minutes after previous game
Michigan (24-8) vs. Davidson (20-9),
6:40 p.m.
UCLA (22-8) vs. Miami (18-9), 30 minutes after previous game
MIDWEST REGIONAL
First Round
Friday
At The Myriad
Oklahoma City
Mississippi (22-6) vs. Volpariso (21-9),
11:30 a.m.
Kansas (34-3) vs. Prairie View (13-16), 30 minutes after previous game
Stanford (26-4) vs. College of Charleston (24-5), 30 minutes after previous name
Chicago
At The United Center Chicago
Purdue (26-7) vs. Delaware (20-9), 6:55 Dm
Clemson (18-13) vs. Western Michigan (12-71) 11:30 a.m
St. John's (22-9) vs. Detroit (24-5), 30 minutes after previous game
WEST REGIONAL
First Round
Thursday
At Arco Arena
Illinois [22-9] vs. South Alabama [21-6].
30 minutes after previous name.
Maryland [19-10] vs. Utah State [25-7],
1:42 p.m.
Tennessee (20-8) vs. Illinois State (24-5).
6:50 p.m.
Arizona (27-4) vs. Nichols State (19-9),
30 minutes after previous game
At BSU Pavilion Boise, Idaho
Cincinnati (26-5) vs. Northern Arizona
Mississippi
Temple (21-8) vs. West Virginia (22-8),
11:40 a.m.
Cincinnati (26-5) vs. Northern Arizona (21-7), 30 minutes after previous game Utah (25-3) vs. San Francisco (19-10), 6:55 p.m.
Glen (253) vs. San Francisco (17-10)
6:55 p.m.
Arkansas (23-8) vs. Nebraska (20-11),
30 minutes after previous game
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