RJ is A-OK: HoopsHD interviews McDonald’s All-American RJ Davis

Posted on April 8, 2020 by Jon Teitel

If you want to win an NCAA title you need a good coach, a great resume…and a McDonald’s All-American. Only 1 championship team since 1979 has not had such a player (Maryland in 2002). The 43rd annual McDonald’s All-American Game was scheduled to take place last week in Houston but was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, if you do not think these guys can make an immediate impact in the fall, just ask Coach Tony Bennett how he liked having 2016 honoree Kyle Guy on his roster last spring at Virginia! North Carolina will be getting 4 more in the fall when 2020 honorees RJ Davis/Day’Ron Sharpe/Walker Kessler/Caleb Love all head to the Dean Dome. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with RJ about becoming a McDonald’s All-American and winning a state title.

As a sophomore you helped your team win the 1st Class AA state Federation title in school history: what did it mean to you to win a title? It meant a lot to win a title! My sophomore year was a “revengeance” year after being cheated during my freshman year in the semifinal game. I felt like I had to redeem myself. My team and I wanted to prove that we were the best team in New York…and we did that.

Last April you were ranked 197th nationally in your class: how have you been able to move so high up the list during the past 10 months? Remaining in the gym. I did not pay too much attention to rankings and all of the political stuff: that was not my priority. My priority was perfecting my craft and letting my game do the talking. I had a goal set in my mind going into AAU this past summer: to dominate every session and every top guard that was ahead of me. My confidence and mentality allowed me to move up high on the ranking list.

Last October you signed with North Carolina (over several other schools including Indiana/Kansas/Louisville): what made you choose the Tar Heels? UNC felt like home. The environment/teammates/coaching staff: I was able to bond with all of them! I chose UNC because I felt like they were the school that will help me get to the next level and will help me develop my overall game. Plus, the ACC is the best conference in the country so I will get to play on a big stage. I like moments like that and I love challenges so why not?

What makes Roy Williams such a great coach, and what do you think of his preference to play with 2 PGs? Coach Roy cares for his players. Besides the basketball part he cares about his players’ character and responsibility. I think the preference to play with 2 point guards will be great! He had success with Marcus Paige/Joel Berry in the backcourt together (when they won the 2017 NCAA title). 2 point guards is a win-win situation.

You recently became the leading scorer in the history of Westchester County: what is the key to being a great scorer? The key to being a great scorer is to not let anyone dictate the way that you play. The player has to be in control of the game and dictate to the defender where he is going.

In January you were named a McDonald’s All-American: what did it mean to you to receive such an outstanding honor? Becoming a McDonald’s All American was always a dream of mine growing up. To receive the award and have my name on the list brings a smile to my face! It is something that I will never forget.

UNC has 3 other incoming McDonald’s All-Americans in Day’Ron Sharpe/Walker Kessler/Caleb Love: how well do you know the other guys, and do you think that you will all have a chance to get some major minutes next fall? I know the guys pretty well and we have had the chance to communicate with one another. I understand that it is a big transition from high school to college and I hope that all of us will have an opportunity to play.

Last year’s Tar Heels team had 1 of its worst seasons in the past 2 decades: have you been able to watch any of their games, and if so then what do you think has been the biggest problem (talent/injuries/other)? I was able to watch all of their games and I feel like they have a good unit. Sometimes you can have great games and other times there are just holes…but that is basketball!

I have seen you listed anywhere from 5’11” to 6’1”: what is the key to being a good PG? Being a point guard is about being that extra coach on the floor and making the right decisions. The coach and players should trust you!

All 7 of your uncles played college basketball and your father Robert was an All-American at Mercy College: who is the best athlete in the family? I am the best athlete in the family by far!

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The Tournament That Wasn’t – Final Four, National Championship

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD finishes its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t) with the final game of the season — the National Championship.  After seeing tons of surprises and lots of great game throughout the conference tournaments and the NCAA Tournament, there are only two teams left.  The Kansas Jayhawks and Oregon Ducks are meeting in Atlanta — with the trophy and a chance to cut down the nets on the line.

 

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP – FINAL FOUR – ATLANTA, GEORGIA

(1) Kansas vs (4) Oregon

The national championship game is set.  There is one final game left on the 2019-20 calendar.  The winner would cut down the nets and celebrate their One Shining Moment that would last in the minds and hearts of their fans forever.  To see that the Kansas Jayhawks had advanced to the title game was no surprise, as they were the #1 overall seed in the tournament.  Even then, KU had its naysayers.  Kansas’ road to the title game had come against a 16-seed (Robert Morris), an 8-seed (Arizona), a 12-seed (Liberty), an 11-seed (Wichita State) and another 12-seed (Yale).  By seeding at least, having to face 4-seed Oregon was going to be the Jayhawks toughest test yet during this entire event.  However, the path to a national championship simply requires a team to win against the six foes that they face in the bracket and does not require teams to go through every possible opponent.  Kansas had done what was needed each step of the way, and with one more win, Bill Self’s squad would claim their fourth NCAA Tournament national championship and second under Coach Self.

The Oregon Ducks had won the NCAA Tournament once before as well, though that title came all the way back in 1939 in the first ever tournament.  Although the Ducks had been in the Final Four three years ago, they had not played in the championship game since that 1939 season – giving them an undefeated record in title games (1-0).  The Ducks’ path to the finals this year had not been an easy one at all.  After defeating 13-seed Bradley, they had to win tough, close games against 5-seed BYU, 1-seed Gonzaga and 2-seed San Diego State.  Perhaps one of the easiest games they had, amazingly enough, had been the national semifinal win over 1-seed Baylor.  Unlike Kansas, there was no doubt that Oregon had earned its spot in the championship game, with a pair of 1-seeds, a 2-seed and a 5-seed all having fallen to Dana Altman’s squad along the way.  To cut down the nets, however, Oregon would have to defeat yet another 1-seed, and this one would be the toughest foe they had faced all season.

With the fans packed in the stadium, the national championship game got underway on the evening of Monday, April 6.  Kansas head coach Bill Self was looking for his second career national title, but Dana Altman’s team was ready to take it themselves.  Oregon came out strong in the first half, opening the game with a 12-4 run to take the early lead.  The Ducks continued to extend that lead throughout the first half, answering every run that the Jayhawks threw at them.  A Will Richardson 3-ball with just under 90 seconds left to play gave Oregon its biggest lead at a commanding 49-30.  KU was able, however, to score the last five points of the half, but still went to the break trailing 49-35.

Kansas may have been down at halftime, but they were by no means out.  A rejuvenated Jayhawks team came out of the locker room and promptly put together a 15-5 run to cut the Oregon lead down to 6 in less than six minutes of game time.  Oregon tried to regain their first-half momentum, but Kansas had an answer every time the Ducks tried to make a run.  Finally, with 5:55 left to play, Christian Braun hit a jumper to give KU its first lead of the game, 70-69.  The teams exchanged shots for the next 3 minutes until Chris Duarte knocked down a jumper on the pass from Payton Pritchard to put Oregon up a point.  The Ducks drew an offensive foul on Udoka Azubuike, and an Anthony Mathis shot from beyond the arc extended their lead.  Azubuike cut the lead to 3, 84-81, on a layup with 38 seconds left, but Duarte made two free throws to extend it back to 5.  Marcus Garrett’s layup a few second later cut the lead back down to three and the Jayhawks fouled Oregon’s Francis Okoro.  Okoro missed the front end of a one-and-one, giving KU a chance to tie the game.  Ocahi Agbaji got a 3-pointer away with 9 seconds on the clock, but the shot did not fall.  A free throw by Okoro was the final point of the game, and the Oregon Ducks, behind Tournament MVP Payton Pritchard’s 35 points, had won the game by a final score of 85-81.

The Oregon Ducks had done it.  The 4-seed and Pac-12 regular season champion had found a way to defeat three 1-seeds and a 2-seed on their path to the national championship.  The Tournament That Wasn’t was over, and the One Shining Moment belonged to the team from Eugene.  It was an amazing tournament, featuring amazing games, Cinderella stories, and an unlikely champion.  We here at HoopsHD thank you for joining us on this journey and hope that you and all your loved ones stay safe and stay healthy.  We will talk to you again real soon!

Final Score: (4) Oregon 85, (1) Kansas 81

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The Tournament That Wasn’t – Final Four, National Semifinals

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next it is time to move to the Final Four in Atlanta with the national semifinal games.  The first game matches the #1 overall team, and favorite to win it all, Kansas Jayhawks against the Tournament’s Cinderella story, the 12-seed Ivy League champion Yale Bulldogs.  After that, 1-seed Baylor will be taking on 4-seed Oregon in a battle between two schools that seem to believe that neon is an appropriate color for a uniform.  The two winners will meet in our national championship game, coming Monday evening.

 

NATIONAL SEMIFINALS – FINAL FOUR – ATLANTA, GEORGIA

(1) Kansas vs (12) Yale

History is being written in the Final Four this year as, for the first time ever, a 12-seed has moved to within two wins of the National Championship.  The Yale Bulldogs made a run through the East Region that will likely be discussed for decades to come, upsetting Butler, Maryland, Dayton and Seton Hall on the way.  It was a run that pretty much no one had expected, even though the Bulldogs had played well in their biggest non-conference challenges this season, such as a 2-point loss at Penn State back in November.  But to have made it this far, and won three of their four games by double-figures, has simply been amazing to watch.  The national semifinal, however, would give the Bulldogs a lot tougher test than any they had faced yet this year.

The Kansas Jayhawks entered the Final Four with 34 wins already under their belts.  Since the start of the 2020 calendar year, the only team that had found a way to defeat Rock Chalk was Baylor, doing so once in Lawrence, Kansas and again in the Big 12 championship game.  Other than those games, this team had been simply dominant.  Of course, the pundits were quick to point out that Kansas was facing the easiest route (in terms of seeding at least) to the national title game that any team had ever faced.  Kansas had defeated a 16-seed, an 8-seed, a 12-seed and an 11-seed so far, and now only had another 12-seed to get past to play for the title.  At the end of the day, however, the Jayhawks could only play and beat those teams that were in front of them, and their national semifinal game against Yale still had to be played and won if they wanted a chance to cut down the nets.

The Yale Bulldogs could have been happy – thrilled even – to simply be playing in the Final Four in Atlanta.  Yet, that did not seem to be the case during the first half.  The Bulldogs struck early, and when Azar Swain knocked down a 3 just over 5 minutes into the game, Yale had a shocking 9-2 lead.  Kansas tried to fight back, but another Yale run, highlighted by long-balls from Eric Monroe and Matthue Cotton, suddenly had the Ivy League champions up 20-10 on the #1 team in the nation.  KU was certainly not going to go away, however, and by scoring the last five points of the first half, the Jayhawks were able to trim the Yale lead down to a single possession, 30-27.

The Yale lead was gone completely 17 seconds into the second half when Devon Dotson knocked a shot down from beyond the arc to tie the game at 30.  Added to their 5-0 run to end the first half, the Jayhawks were able to eventually make the run 15-0 and build a 37-30 lead just 5 minutes into the second period.  Yale would not go away, however, and a jump hook by Paul Atkinson followed by another 3-ball from Cotton gave the Bulldogs a 4-point edge with 11:22 left to play.  The game remained close, with the lead being exchanged back and forth, until a Dotson jumper put Kansas up, and an Ochai Agbaji layup extended the lead to 3 with 5 minutes left to play.  After Yale’s Jordan Bruner made a pair of free throws to cut the lead back to 1, Bill Self called his final timeout, with 4:48 still left to play, and did all he could to rally the Jayhawks.  It worked.  Kansas promptly went on a huge 14-0 run, thanks in part to a pair of huge shots by Dotson, and the game was suddenly blown open, 68-53, with only 2 minutes left to play.  The run was the huge knockout punch the Jayhawks desperately needed, as they advanced to Monday night’s National Championship game by a final score of 70-58.  Devon Dotson scored 23 points and Udoka Azubuike had yet another double-double.  The Yale Bulldogs had given all they had and more, but one of the most amazing NCAA Tournament stories in recent memory ended in the semifinal.  Rock Chalk moved on and would have a shot to win it all against either their conference rival Baylor or Oregon.

Final Score: (1) Kansas 70, (12) Yale 58

 

(1) Baylor vs (4) Oregon

The second National Semifinal featured the team that had beaten Kansas twice this season, the Baylor Bears, taking on the Pac-12’s Oregon Ducks.  Baylor had an amazing season in 2019-20, being one of the top teams in the nation all season long, including going to Lawrence, Kansas and defeating the Jayhawks back on January 11 by a score of 67-55.  The Bears’ NCAA Tournament run had started with a blowout of Texas Southern followed by a hard-fought 9-point win over Houston.  Things got really interesting as they snuck past Louisville by only a single point and defeated Creighton in the regional final by only 2.  In order to win their first ever national championship, Baylor would have to defeat Kansas for a third time (despite losing at home to KU back in February, they did defeat the Jayhawks for a second time in the Big 12 Tournament title game).  Before they reached that game, however, the Bears would have to first get past Oregon.

The Oregon Ducks had won the Pac-12 regular season title but fell in the conference tournament championship game to UCLA.  Their path through the NCAA Tournament had not been easy by any means.  After taking care of Bradley in the first round, Oregon fought off BYU to win by 3, upset Gonzaga by 6 and then defeated San Diego State by 7 points.  Just as their opponent, Baylor, had experienced, a few balls bouncing in other directions could have easily sent the Ducks home from the Big Dance a lot earlier.  However, Oregon had found a way to win four games already, and that put this team only two wins away from being able to hoist the trophy and cut down the nets.

The lights were bright and the stadium was packed in Atlanta for the second national semifinal game, and it was head coach Dana Altman’s Oregon Ducks that came out on fire, building a quick 8-0 lead over Baylor.  The Bears, after a well-timed timeout, got themselves under control and were able to tie the game at 19 at the exact midway point of the first half.  With the game tied at 21 a few minutes later, it was Oregon that got hot again.  A 9-0 run, highlighted by three-pointers from both Payton Pritchard and Chris Duarte, put the Ducks up 30-21 with just under 5 minutes left.  Oregon kept their foot on the gas pedal the rest of the first half, and by the time the break came about, the Ducks had extended their advantage to 13 points, 45-32.

This was the national semifinal, and a game between two of the top teams in the nation.  The underdog Ducks were up by double-digits at the half, but this was a script that plenty of people had seen before.  Baylor would surely come out of the locker room on fire and the game would end up being decided in its final minutes.  Well, that is how games like this typically go, but that was not the case tonight.  The Oregon Ducks simply refused to allow Baylor back in the game at all in the second half.  When the final horn sounded, Oregon has won by a comfortable 82-59 score and was moving on to the championship game against Kansas.  Payton Pritchard was once again the star of the game, scoring 21 points to lead his team to Monday night’s finals.  For the Baylor Bears, the season had been amazing, but it was now over.

Final Score: (4) Oregon 82, (1) Baylor 59

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Champions Week: HoopsHD interviews 1986 NCAA women’s champ Jody Conradt

Posted on April 6, 2020 by Jon Teitel

In any other year early-April would be a time for reflecting on the Elite 8 and looking forward to the Final 4, but this year is not like any other year. Instead, we will spend the week reflecting on champions of the past, from a famous coach who won the 1947 NCAA title as a player to a Hall of Famer who led her team to a perfect 34-0 season in 1986. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel concludes our 8-part series with Jody Conradt, who talked about winning the NCAA women’s tourney in 1986 and going undefeated in conference play for more than a decade.

You averaged 20 PPG as a player at Baylor: how good a player were you back in the day? The older I get the better I was! The game has changed quite a bit since I played: I grew up playing 3-on-3 because that is what the rules were in Texas. It was wonderful to stay involved with the game as it has grown.

Your mother Ann played softball and your father Charles played semi-pro baseball: who is the best athlete in the family? I would have to say that my mom might have been the best. She took up golf well after my dad did and she was good at that too. She was always very competitive while fending for herself in a family of several boys. It helps to have parents who are into sports when you grow up in a town of 1500 people.

When you were hired to be head coach at Texas in 1976 you introduced tactics such as full-court pressure, double low-posts, and a transition game: why did you take the job, and how did you develop your own coaching style? I never thought that I would coach: I wanted to be a teacher and when I had a chance to teach sports that was just a plus. It was a unique opportunity because the men’s and women’s sports at Texas had different departments. I felt that it was a sleeping giant because the women were capable of doing what the men did. Most of my role models were men because all of the games I watched on TV at the time featured male coaches. I learned a lot of things from my own coach in school growing up. We had a lot of quickness on our team so pressing was important, and we wanted to play a style that people could appreciate like pushing the ball up the court and turning defense into offense.

In the 1982 AIAW tourney title game Patty Coyle scored a career-high 30 PTS in a 6-PT win by Rutgers to snap your 32-game winning streak: how close did you come to winning the last-ever AIAW tourney game? We came pretty close but Rutgers had a veteran team that was very good. It was a totally new experience for us to travel and play on the big stage, and we relied heavily on the 30 PTS of freshman Annette Smith. I consider Annette to be the cornerstone of what we built: she was our 1st superstar and we just grew from that point.

In the 1985 NCAA tourney Lillie Mason made a bank shot at the buzzer in a 2-PT win by Western Kentucky: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? It was absolutely devastating for a lot of reasons. We were ranked #1 and the Final 4 was going to be in Austin so we had sold thousands of tickets to people who thought we were going to be playing at home. It was tough to see someone else playing on our court and cutting down the nets but it gave us motivation for the following season because we only lost 1 senior so most of the team was coming back.

In the 1986 NCAA tourney title game, tourney MOP Clarissa Davis scored 25 PTS off the bench and your team set a title-game record with 97 PTS in a win over USC to become the 1st undefeated team in women’s history: how on earth did you destroy a team featuring Cheryl Miller/Cynthia Cooper, and what did it mean to you to win a title? We just steamrolled people all year long. I had a rotation of 11 players who could have started for anyone in the country: I still say that our best competition that year was during practice. It was the easiest coaching job I ever had because they were all grumpy from losing the previous year. Everyone wants to win a national championship and at the time you think it is the best thing that has ever happened. I always think about how great it was, but I also know how hard it was.

From January 1978 to January 1990 you won 183 straight conference games: how were you able to dominate the league for more than a decade? Really good players who were competitive/motivated. It is a lot harder to win every game you are supposed to win than the 2-3 games you are not supposed to win. I remember so many close games that we won: after those games there was more relief than jubilation.

You were a 6-time national COY and your 900 wins remains in the top-10 all-time: what made you such a great coach? It is redundant but really good players! Texas is a world-class institution with a great history of success in sports and that played into me being in the right place at the right time. You cannot build everything that we have built without a grand plan.

You graduated 99% of your players during your career: how much importance did you place on academics? Texas is a really competitive institution: we have more than 36,000 applicants for 6,000 spots so it is a challenge to recruit talented athletes who can also be competitive in the classroom. Back in the day the focus of every female athlete was to get a degree because there were not many opportunities to become a professional athlete, which made them focus on their studies.

In 1998 you were inducted into the Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? I am the answer to the trivia question of who went into the Hall of Fame with Larry Bird! It is still unreal to me to be included with the greats of the sport and it was a tremendous individual honor.

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The Tournament That Wasn’t – East Regional Semifinals and Final

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Chad

HoopsHD continues its simulation of what would have happened in TTTW (The Tournament That Wasn’t).  Up next it is time to award the fourth and final spot in the Final Four with the East Regional Semifinals and Finals.  The 1-seed Dayton Flyers were trying to become the third top-seed to advance to the Final Four.  However, they first had to get past the Cinderella Yale Bulldogs.  Another Cinderella team was trying to make a run in the bottom half of the bracket, as Mick Cronin’s UCLA Bruins were looking to knock Seton Hall out of the Tournament.  It is time to find out what happened and who joins Kansas, Baylor and Oregon in the Final Four!

 

REGIONAL SEMIFINALS – EAST REGION – NEW YORK CITY

(1) Dayton vs (12) Yale

Madison Square Garden in New York City was the site for the East Regional in this year’s NCAA Tournament, and it gave us a pair of matchups between teams that had been strong Final Four contenders all season and teams that were clearly Cinderellas.  In the first game of the evening, the top-seeded Dayton Flyers were in action.  Dayton had gotten past a tough Siena team in the first round and then had taken care of USC fairly easily to punch their ticket to the Sweet 16.  The Flyers now had their eyes set on the Final Four in Atlanta, but first had to get past a Cinderella Yale team.  Yale had been a huge surprise in the first two rounds, upending both Butler and Maryland by double-digits.  The Bulldogs had only one NCAA Tournament win all-time prior to this season, so they were already in unchartered territory heading into this game.

The first half was back-and-forth early, with the gritty Bulldogs refusing to allow Dayton to pull away from them.  The Flyers did maintain a small edge the entire way, and a Rodney Chatman 3-pointer with only 1 second left to play suddenly pulled Dayton in front by its biggest margin so far, 42-33.  With the lead up at 9 at the half, it looked like Dayton was ready to take control of the game and run away in the second.  However, with Dayton up by 10 early in the second, Yale put together a very fast 8-0 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Paul Atkinson and Jalen Gabbidon, to cut the lead down to two points just 6 minutes in.  Yale responded to every Dayton push the rest of the way, as the Flyers kept trying to build a lead and the Bulldogs kept answering back and staying tight.  August Mahoney’s 3-pointer with 1:39 left to play cut the lead to one and, after Chatman was called for an offensive foul, the Bulldogs got the ball back.  Atkinson promptly took the ball and slammed it home on a great pass from Eric Monroe with 56 seconds left to give Yale its first lead since early in the game.  The Flyers would get several chances in the final minute to tie or take the lead, but a short miss by Obi Toppin had them still down a point with 3 seconds left, and Yale heading to the line for a one-and-one.  Azar Swain missed the front end and the Flyers quickly moved the ball to half-court and called timeout, setting up one final play with 2 seconds on the clock to try to win.  The ball was inbounded to Crutcher who got a good look – but the ball bounced off the rim, fell to the floor, and another major upset was in the books.  The Yale Bulldogs, behind 19 points from Paul Atkinson, had slain another giant and were moving on to the Elite Eight!

Final Score: (12) Yale 70, (1) Dayton 69

 

(3) Seton Hall vs (10) UCLA

Another Cinderella, albeit one from a power conference, was playing in the second regional semifinal of the night.  The UCLA Bruins, a team that had been pretty much given up for dead in December and January, had put together an amazing second half to their season, finding a way to finish in second place in the Pac-12 and win the Pac-12 Tournament.  Head coach Mick Cronin, who had often been criticized for his inability to get his Cincinnati teams past the first weekend of March Madness, suddenly had his new team playing in the Sweet 16 after upending Florida and squeezing past a tough Winthrop team that had knocked out Florida State in the first round.  UCLA would certainly have their hands full in New York City, however, as their opponent was the Seton Hall Pirates.  Seton Hall, although landing on the 3-seed line while conference-mates Villanova and Creighton had both been 2-seeds, had certainly looked like the best team in the Big East for a good portion of the season.  The Pirates could prove that in the East Regional if they could become the Big East’s representative in the Final Four in Atlanta by defeating a pair of Cinderellas – first UCLA and then Yale.

The UCLA Bruins had missed the NCAA Tournament each of the last two seasons before this one, but they seemed determined to make up for that, especially when they jumped out to an early 12-4 lead that they held and extended throughout the first half.  Seton Hall seemed unable to stop the Bruins, and by the break the lead was up to 15 at 41-26.  UCLA may have won the first half easily, but Myles Powell and company were far from done.  The Hall came out looking like a completely different team in the second, and by the under-12 media timeout the game was tied at 49.  The Pirates did not stop there either.  They continued to dominate the balance of the game, leaving Mick Cronin’s team looking like they had no idea what hit them.  Seton Hall cruised home for an 84-74 win led by 27 point from Powell.  With one double-digit seed defeated in the East Regional, Seton Hall now had to get ready for another – a battle against the Yale Bulldogs for a spot in the Final Four.

Final Score: (3) Seton Hall 84, (10) UCLA 74

 

REGIONAL FINAL – EAST REGION – NEW YORK CITY

(3) Seton Hall vs (12) Yale

Seton Hall had been a popular pick to win the East Region and advance to the Final Four, so seeing them in the Regional Final was certainly no surprise to most.  The same could certainly not be said of their opponent.  The Yale Bulldogs, a team that had a solid season in the Ivy League, had already pulled off three major upsets, eliminating Butler, Maryland and top-seed Dayton.  Head coach James Jones’ squad was clearly playing over their heads, evoking memories of recent mid-major runs to the Final Four like the one we had seen just two years ago from Loyola-Chicago.  Five double-digit seeds had advanced to the Final Four in NCAA Tournament history, though four of them (including Loyola) had been 11-seeds and the fifth had been a 10.  The 12-seed Bulldogs were therefore on the verge of truly making history.  However, one of the top teams in the nation, the Seton Hall Pirates, clearly stood in their way.

The easy pick in this game would be to predict a Seton Hall blowout victory.  Yale had made an amazing run, but this was surely where it would end.   However, the Bulldogs hung tight throughout the first half.  When an Azar Swain 3-pointer tied it up with just under 3 to go until the break, Pirates’ fans began to sweat.  When three more points, these from Paul Atkinson, put Yale up 46-43 at the break, alarm bells were going off throughout the State of New Jersey.  However Seton Hall had been down big at halftime against UCLA and dominated the second half to win.  A performance anything like that one would certainly end the Cinderella run and send Seton hall to Atlanta.

The second half, in a manner similar to the second half of UCLA vs Seton Hall, was not nearly as close as the first had been.  Although the teams played tight for the first five minutes, a 14-1 run midway through the period turned a 1-point Seton Hall edge into . . . a 71-59 Yale lead!  The Bulldogs were simply unstoppable in the second half, led by 24 points from Swain and 15 from Atkinson.  Never before had a 12-seed made the Final Four.  Never before . . . until now.  History was made in the 2019-20 season, and the Ivy League champion Yale Bulldogs could now add an NCAA East Regional title to their list of accomplishments.  It was time for the 2018 Loyola-Chicago Ramblers to step aside.  Something even more remarkable had just happened.  Yale was headed to the Final Four!

Final Score: (12) Yale 85, (3) Seton Hall 75

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Champions Week: HoopsHD interviews 1982 NCAA champ Buzz Peterson

Posted on April 5, 2020 by Jon Teitel

In any other year early-April would be a time for reflecting on the Elite 8 and looking forward to the Final 4, but this year is not like any other year. Instead, we will spend the week reflecting on champions of the past, from a famous coach who won the 1947 NCAA title as a player to a Hall of Famer who led her team to a perfect 34-0 season in 1986. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel continues our 8-part series with Buzz Peterson, who talked about winning the NCAA tourney as a player in 1982 and the NIT as a coach in 2001.

In the 1981 McDonald’s All-American game Michael Jordan had 6 STL and set a game-record 30 PTS (including 2 FT with 11 seconds left) in the East’s 1-PT win over the West: how on earth were you named 1981 North Carolina high school POY over Jordan (who averaged a triple-double for Laney High School in Wilmington: 29.2 PPG/11.6 RPG/10.1 APG)!? Michael always says that the only reason I won the award is because there were 7 major newspapers in North Carolina and my dad owned 6 of them…but there is no truth to that at all! I always ride him and let him know that he was not Player of the Year. I do not know how I won it: neither of our teams won the championship that year. That is really my only claim to fame over him.

Jordan became your roommate at UNC and was later the best man at your wedding: what was he like as a roommate, and what do you remember about your bachelor party? When we went to school he was just another freshman coming in and nobody knew how good he was going to be. He was driven, a hard worker, and a very determined person so he became better and better every year. Once Coach Dean Smith worked on his defense he became a much better ballplayer. He had the size, the length, and all the skills to become a very good player. MJ was in my wedding along with Davis Love III and Brad Daugherty: we had a good time and played a lot of golf with Davis that week.

You won 4 ACC regular season titles while playing for Coach Smith at UNC: what made him such a great coach, and what the most important thing you ever learned from him? Coach kept everything pretty simple: there was not a lot of complicated stuff but he really taught discipline both on and off the floor. Whether you were the 1st man or 16th man no one was treated differently. He always corrected the little stuff and paid attention to detail.

In the magical 1982 NCAA tourney title game Jordan scored 16 PTS including a jumper with 17 seconds left in a 1-PT win over Georgetown: why did Smith trust a freshman to take the final shot, and was everyone just stunned after Fred Brown accidentally passed the ball right to tourney MOP James Worthy at the end of the game? What is interesting is that Georgetown coach John Thompson had been 1 of Coach Smith’s assistants at the 1976 Olympics. They were very close friends and he knew what we were going to run in our zone offense. He knew that Sam Perkins or James Worthy was going to the elbow block so he was not going to let either of them take the shot. We made a skip pass to Michael and I was actually surprised that he took the shot, but that is just how he is. He was determined to hit the winning basket and he knocked it down. I think everyone was stunned with Fred Brown’s pass. After James missed his FTs there was kind of a scramble: James was way behind the play and Fred just threw it back to him before he realized that it was a guy in a different-colored jersey.

In Jordan’s final home game in 1984, Matt Doherty took an inbounds pass the length of the court and hit a 15-footer with 1 second left in regulation en route to clinch a 2-OT win over Duke (as the Tar Heels became the 1st ACC team in a decade to go undefeated in conference play): how do you explain the intensity of the Duke-UNC rivalry as someone who has seen it up close and personal? It is a fun game. It was not as intense during my 1st year because Virginia was our rival and they had Ralph Sampson, but toward the end of my career it became Duke. I have always felt like the fans were involved in it more than anything else and they made it a bigger thing than it was. We played a lot of pickup ball with each other and knew each other well. It is quite a game now: Coach K made Duke better and better and it has become pretty intense.

You were named SoCon COY twice in a 3-year span at Appalachian State: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? We just had good players and good assistant coaches who recruited great players for us. They did a great job and we were very fortunate to win the league. We were so close in the final year: it was tough to get by Davidson/Charleston.

What are your memories of the 2001 WAC tourney title game in your 1st/only year as coach at Tulsa (freshman Carl English scored 25 PTS including a leaner with 1.8 seconds left in regulation in a 6-PT OT win by Hawaii)? That was a gut-wrenching loss. You have some tough losses in your career and that was one of them. I thought that we were going to the NCAA tourney and we were right there but they hit a shot at the buzzer. It was so close: Hawaii was playing really good basketball at that time.

Take me through the magical 2001 NIT:
Kevin Johnson had 22 PTS/10 REB in a 3-PT OT win over Minnesota: how were you able to keep your team focused after blowing an 18-PT lead in the 2nd half? We were up and playing pretty well but we knew they would make a run. Kevin was a heck of a ballplayer. That group was tough-minded and were not going to go down easy. It was an interesting run that year. We changed the offense a little bit: Coach Smith helped us do some different things and then we tweaked it. After we beat UC-Irvine at home I remember Coach Smith telling me that in order to beat teams from better conferences we would have to play a different type of basketball so we changed our offense altogether. Our kids were determined/hard-nosed and we shot the ball pretty well.

Greg Harrington scored 14 PTS and made a basket with 2.6 seconds left in a 2-PT win over Mississippi State: did you think that Derrick Zimmerman’s 3-PT shot at the buzzer counted, and what was the reaction like in your locker room after a video review showed that the basket did not count? I knew that he was out-of-bounds because I saw it happen right in front of our bench. I remember referee Larry Rose called it. The call on him stepping on the line was big: there was a delayed response but we were very excited. A lot of those young men had never been to New York. It all happened so fast: I had to go up a couple days later and then the team came up after that.

NIT MVP Marcus Hill scored 24 PTS to beat Alabama and win the title: what did it mean to you to win the title, and how were you able to hold the Tide’s leading scorer Rod Grizzard scoreless for most of the game? Our kids played hard-nosed defense and would grind it out most of the time. Marcus had a great game. We had different players stepping up on different nights: they were just a determined team.

In 2007 you became Director of Player Personnel for the Charlotte Bobcats: why did you take the job, and how did you like working for Jordan? Michael and I had talked about it before: he said he was going to buy the team and wanted me to think about taking the job. I had coached all of my life and was intrigued by it. I enjoyed it, but after coaching college kids for so long and having the academic side and influencing the lives of young men I just missed being around a team. It was a great experience being in an NBA front office. I enjoyed being around Michael and it was like we were back in college as roommates. It was pretty neat working hand-in-hand/side-by-side with other people in the organization.

In 2010 you were hired as coach at UNC Wilmington after having winning records at each of the 4 previous schools where you were a head coach: how did you like the job? I enjoyed my time in Wilmington: I just wish there were more wins. We had some APR issues and lost some scholarships when I 1st took over so it was a little bit of a struggle but I feel like the program is headed in the right direction. I was very encouraged by our younger kids and was glad to be there: they just need to keep grinding it out.

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