NCAA Tournament Tidbits: 04.01.11
Posted by Brian Goodman on April 1st, 2011Throughout the NCAA Tournament, we’ll be providing you with the daily chatter from around the webosphere relating to what’s going on with the teams still playing.
Butler
- Butler has proven this season that last year’s championship run was not a fluke. The leadership of the Bulldogs has been a key in getting back to the championship game.
- Matt Howard has been a star his entire career on and off the court. Howard carries a 3.768 GPA in finance, which is unbelievable considering the amount of time his commitment to basketball consumes.
- Ronald Nored is known for being Butler’s toughest defender, but he is also known for being the nicest guy on the Bulldog roster.
- Matt Norlander thinks that Butler can and should win it all. We think this might be a bit of an overstatement, but if you’re going to go out on a limb, there are far worse things you could do than hitching your wagon to Brad Stevens.
Connecticut
- Kemba Walkerhopes to have his picture alongside Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton and Emeka Okafor on a wall inside Gampel Pavilion which features UConn’s NBA Draft selections. Assuming the NBA holds its draft as planned despite a looming work stoppage, Walker doesn’t have much to worry about.
- If you’ve seen footage of Jim Calhoun at a microphone, you can detect his Boston accent without much effort. Calhoun isn’t the only UConn fixture on this season’s team to hail from Beantown, though: Alex Oriakhi, Jamal Coombs-McDaniel and Shabazz Napiereach graduated from high schools in the Boston area.
- There’s no love lost between Calhoun and John Calipari. While it’s rare for them to face off against one another on the court anymore, the waters run back to 1993, when Calipari beat out the UConn coach for the services of Marcus Camby, who chose UMass.
- Caron Butler, one of UConn’s brightest stars now in the NBA, is amazed by Kemba Walker’s spectacular month. Walker’s ability to lead a young team has also left several coaches in awe of what UConn has accomplished.
- Shabazz Napier may not stuff the box score on a nightly basis, but his fearlessness is just one component that makes UConn a tough nut to crack. It takes some confidence to speak your mind when your coach is Jim Calhoun.