Gary Payton never saw himself becoming “The Glove.” He wanted to be “The Gun.”
Basketball
Rick Pitino became the first coach in NCAA history to win men’s basketball championships with two teams, as his Louisville Cardinals defeated Michigan in the championship game in Atlanta 82-76.
LOUISVILLE (34-5)
vs. MICHIGAN (31-7)
ATLANTA — The idea was to not miss left. If he did, Tim Henderson would be forced to retrieve the basketball by running down the long ravine that bordered the driveway of his family home, the one sitting on 10 acres of rural Louisville land, the one with a backdrop of nothing but open space and woods, the one where a Final Four hero was born from thousands of jump shots launched into another bright orange sunset.
This is what one coach in tonight’s national championship of college basketball was asked about Sunday:
This is what becomes a common theme in such times: That when you consider what Wichita State did in college basketball this season that it should give hope to hundreds of teams around the country that such a journey is possible.
Spencer Haywood is still on the outside looking in at the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame after all. The 63-year-old Las Vegas resident admitted Saturday he did not make it into the Class of 2013.
Finally, Jerry Tarkanian has made it. After more than 20 years of trying, Tarkanian, who led UNLV to the 1990 national championship and four Final Fours, has been voted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of its Class of 2013.
ATLANTA — He wanted the life of a small town, a place to play basketball and be educated and become a man. His was a goal to experience a calmer, quieter existence when it came time to select a college.
ATLANTA — Syracuse is brimming with confidence, largely because of its suffocating style when the other team has the ball.
ATLANTA — Louisville already had the bigger names, the better team and some unfinished business after coming up short in last year’s Final Four.
Twelve years ago, Rick Pitino pulled the plug on his plans to become UNLV’s basketball coach. Of course, he landed in Louisville instead, and the story of how that scenario unfolded is old news.
Glenn Robinson III is a freshman at Michigan. One of his classes is a humanities course titled “The Cultures of Basketball.” Earlier this year, a certain team was covered in the curriculum, one whose style and attitude altered the game forever.
The Findlay Prep boys basketball team saw its 54-game winning streak come to an end Friday. Now, the Pilots must wait to find out if their chances of winning a mythical national championship disappeared with it.
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