I feel like I have been watching this seemingly unending mini-series since mid-March as it reaches its conclusion. And there was a four part final act over three nights to reach the end.
Of course, I am referring to the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments. This weekend the Final Four was pared to two in each bracket before the women declared a champion on Sunday and the men determined who was the best on Monday night.
First there were opening acts—the play-in games. Once taken care of, the action took off in the main draw. There were upsets and routs. Buzzer beaters and unthinkable endings. All playing to a crescendo this past weekend.
Maybe this is why America loves the tournaments. The spectrum of teams covering the entirety of the country coupled with the unmatched drama makes for quite a spectacle.
Sure, there are many people who identify with a certain school. Allegiances aside, if you are a fan of sports and college basketball in particular, then you will routinely side with or against teams.
From this weekend alone, the viewership of the games involving Iowa’s Caitlin Clark in her final collegiate contests broke ESPN viewership records. And as much as the defending champion, the University of Connecticut and Purdue University, the other surviving seed on the men’s side were favorites in their Saturday games, there were plenty of fans rooting for #11 seed North Carolina State University and #3 seed the University of Alabama to knock out the big boys (literally and figuratively).
UConn seemed dominant heading into the championship game where the school hoped to join other legendary programs with back-to-back titles (Florida was the last to accomplish this feat in 2007 & 2008). Purdue was a bit more enigmatic in its route to the Monday finale—the team tolerated NC State for awhile in Saturday’s first game before handily dispatching the Wolfpack.
In fact, it was a bad weekend for NC State fans. Not only did the men not advance, but the women were easily defeated by a hungry, undefeated squad from the University of South Carolina, seeking its second crown in the past three years.
Still, it was a very exciting and unexpected finish to the seasons for both Wolfpack teams. People in Raleigh and in the A much-maligned Atlantic Coast Conference should be proud of how both NC State teams did to get this far.
As for the UConn women, a questionable screen was called a foul with a tick over three seconds left against Iowa. Even with that, somehow the Huskies could have had one more chance to win. They didn’t capitalize and Iowa was on to the finals against top-seed South Carolina, a team seeking redemption for its shocking loss to the Hawkeyes in last year’s semi-finals.
Clark and Zach Edey of Purdue were National Players of the Year in both 2023 and 2024. They were seeking to further define their college legacies in their respective final games.
Except that their teams were flawed. And those flaws were exposed by two teams which were dominant in their wins.
When Iowa went out to a quick 13-2 score behind the shooting of Clark, it was going to be a matter of time before the taller and more athletic Gamecocks came back. Dominating the boards and inside play, Head Coach Dawn Staley’s women sealed the deal on an undefeated season and the second championship in the past three seasons by making Clark and her team look mortal.
In the men’s contest, Edey was dominant. He was sinking shots and swatting away balls near the rim. The problem for the Boilermakers wasn’t Edey—it was that the rest of the team didn’t match up with the quicker, stronger and more determined Huskies.
The guys from Storrs, Connecticut played with the intensity of their fiery coach. He’s the first coach I have ever seen push his player onto the court—while play was still ongoing. His ferocity was evident and the talent of his players shined with the tremendous preparation the coaching staff gave them.
The outcome was probably a foregone conclusion—Connecticut went into the match 5-0 in title games. In this tournament, the Huskies were the most dominating team in the long history of the NCAA Men’s Championship. Dan Hurley’s name is mentioned with the greats who had teams win back-to-back crowns: Wooden, Iba, Rupp and Coach K led their squads to victories in consecutive seasons.
Can there be a third win for UConn? Most likely not, given the volatile nature of the college scene with NIL and the transfer portal. For the younger brother of Duke great Bobby Hurley, Jr., who played on back-to-back winners at Duke, his place in history has been made. If he continues to coach like he has with the players and resources the school has at his disposal, Dan Hurley could some day joining his father in the Hall of Fame.
As for Clark and Edey, they should not be ashamed of what they have accomplished. Clark has redefined women’s basketball for the ages—much like Steph Curry did for the NBA. Clark has set every scoring and assist record in her storied career. Interest in women’s basketball reached record numbers when her games were televised. Her style and shooter’s mentality captured America’s heart.
As for Edey. He is the best player to don a Purdue uniform. The center’s performance in the finals—37 points and 10 rebounds placed him in the company of Lew Alcindor and Bill Walton as the only players to score like that in a championship game. He gave a heroic performance versus an all-time team; he could not shoot threes from the perimeter to help his teammates who were shut down by the swarming UConn defense.
What is the future for the duo? Clark is almost a certainty to be drafted #1 in the upcoming WNBA Draft. Her charisma will translate well in marketing the league.
Will she lift the Indiana Fever to the upper echelons of the WNBA? Not unless there is a significant supporting cast. It was clear how South Carolina, with its athletic and tall lineup, reduced Clark’s effectiveness.
What also might hamper Clark’s development is her frustration with no calls when she believes she has been fouled. The WNBA is a rougher league than college, and that seemed to be pretty rough itself.
But I also believe that she will adapt to the different style of play in a way not too dissimilar to others like her—Sabrina Ionescu comes to mind, who came out of college as the only Division I player to racked up 2,000 points, 1,000 assists and 1,000 rebounds in her career. Ionescu is 5’11’ tall, while Clark comes in at 6’0”.
Give her a team to lead, Clark might go on to a legendary professional career if she stays free of injury. For the sake of the WNBA, we can hope for that to happen.
As for Edey, he has gotten stronger. The Purdue senior is a decent free throw shooter. He does not possess a jump shot. His hands are suspect. His passing ability is not very good. Plus his mobility is not at the pro level. His defense is good around the rim; Edey will be swallowed up by quick NBA guards and forwards if he moves too much away from the rim; I think about how much better players such as Chet Holmgren, Victor Webanyama, Joel Embiid, Karl-Anthony Townes, Anthony Davis and Nikola Jokic are. He is more comparable to a stay-at-home defender like Rudy Gobert, and I think Gobert is more athletic than Edey. Consider Zach Edey to be a project for whatever franchise takes him.
Edey is projected to be a late first round pick in the 2024 NBA Draft. In comparison, UConn center Donovan Clingan, a much more mobile center with three point shooting ability, is a projected lottery pick. While he had difficulty at times guarding Edey, his agility is much better.
UConn guard Cam Spencer, the former Rutgers player, showed his grit along with his shooting from three-point range and in the paint. I never thought of him as a NBA player until recently. He just might make it into the league. I wish he had never left RU, but Cam did exactly what he needed to do for himself.
Dan Hurley is likely to stay at UConn. With John Calipari departing Kentucky after 15 years of disappointing the Wildcats’ fans, grabbing the big bucks of NIL at Arkansas, Hurley’s name has been mentioned as a successor.
At another time, Kentucky might have been the place to go. No longer. Alabama’s Nate Oates said he’s not interested. Jay Wright, the former Villanova coach turned TV host took his name out of consideration. Nobody seems to be chomping at the bit.
Why should Hurley be tempted to jump ship from what is now one of the premier college programs of all time? Hurley has the opportunity to make history at the right place, in the league he grew up with (Big East) and close to New Jersey roots shared with his wife. Jim Calhoun set the environment; Hurley has the chance to enhance the school’s basketball recognition. This appears to be a no brainer to me.
Lastly, I want to recognize the brilliance of Dawn Staley. The former Virginia standout, Olympian, also a WNBA All-Star as a player, is in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame for a reason. She can flat out coach. A three-time NCAA winner at South Carolina, her name and record is there with the icons of women’s hoops: Auriemma, Summitt and VanDerveer. For good reason.
When she decides to call it quits, she will have more championships under her belt, along with having taught a lot of life lessons to the young women she has coached. Not bad at all for a 5’6” point guard out of Philly with the tenacity of a lioness.
In a weekend with an earthquake and an eclipse, college basketball shook the earth and shined brightly.
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