The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The East Regional took place in Washington, DC last weekend and we could not have been more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD was all over it and is still covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our coverage by chatting with 3 members of the champs right after they upset Duke in the Elite 8 last night.
JR SG/SF Kyle Ahrens did not see any action while recovering from a lower-leg injury he suffered in the Big 10 tourney title game but that was not enough to wipe the post-game smile off his face. He knew that Kenny Goins’ last-minute 3-PT shot to give his team the lead was going in because he had been making those shots all year long. He considers Cassius Winston the best PG in the country, which is why the team was definitely confident and ready for Duke. Even while in some pain it was awesome for him to climb the ladder and cut down a piece of the net…and he hopes to have 1 more net to cut down next Monday night. He is not a doctor but is taking it day-by-day and hopes to play on Saturday against Texas Tech in the Final 4:
FR SG Brock Washington had a pretty good weekend: he received some birthday gifts on Saturday and earned a trip to the Final 4 on Sunday. He got to spend some time with his parents in DC on Saturday and they gave him some EarPods for his big day. Beating Duke left him at a loss for words: it was even better than he expected it to be and was amazing to do it with his current group. They just never gave up, always stuck together, and the result was 4 fingers in the air and this shiny new trophy:
The only family having a better weekend in Washington than the Washingtons were the Hoibergs: Fred signed a $25 million deal to replace Tim Miles as Nebraska men’s basketball head coach, which will come in handy because he has to buy some plane tickets/hotel rooms for a trip to Minneapolis to see if his son Jack can win a title next week. Jack said it felt great to win the Elite 8 and that he was excited to see his family after the big win. There was no X-factor: the key was just having his guys make plays down the stretch. He said Zion Williamson was a monster and played even better than he thought he would. He feels that every shot Goins takes will go in, so even though Kenny was 0-4 from behind the arc in the 1st half the team just kept telling him during timeouts to keep shooting. It might not be an over-sized $25 million check but it is the next-best thing to hold up in front of a camera:
That’s all for now, check back later for continuing coverage.