The Final Four
Wed., Mar. 28, 2007

I had the pleasure of playing in two Final Fours and coaching in another. My assistant, Mike Garland, coached in three Final Fours at Michigan State and won one title. As far as I am concerned, there is no sporting event as magical as the NCAA Tournament. The energy you get as a player, coach, and fan is remarkable. The buildup is amazing as each week teams advance while others are heartbroken. One bad game and you are out. One fantastic game and you advance. Heavy pressure on the favorites as the underdogs prepare to take aim at the big dogs.

David's slingshot can strike Goliath any day!

What other event captures the minds and souls of sports fans across America for a month like March Madness?

Here are a few memories from my Final Four experiences:

The 1981 Final Four at The Spectrum in Philadelphia:
UNC's All-American Al Wood gets 39 points vs UVA and 7'4" Ralph Sampson in the semi-final game. What a show! "Your's truly" goes for 11 points, I believe...all from the foul line. (They must have been focusing on me, freeing up Al to score all those points. Kidding! I don't think I was even in their scouting report.)

We beat UVA, an ACC rival, after losing twice to them in conference play! Huge victory, to say the least! Party on Franklin St in Chapel Hill!

NCAA Championship Game:
Indiana and Bob Knight. We beat them in December of that year in Chapel Hill. I didn't play that game as I was injured. They had a point guard named Isiah Thomas, a Sophomore from Chicago. Maybe you heard of him? He lights us up like a Christmas Tree! I think he had 26 pts. He was the fastest player I can remember playing against. Indiana's defense was stifling!

Many of you old enough to remember where you were when Kennedy got shot? When Reagan was shot I was in the lockeroom of the Spectrum waiting for the tip-off of our championship game. It was a weird feeling as I sat there on the floor, not knowing if our President was going to live or not. I remember it vividly. Finally, we received word that the President was going to be OK. He even made reference to the fact that he wished he was in Philadelphia for the title game.

The show went on......and we got smoked. James Worthy's three early fouls didn't help much as he was an unbelievable player. We needed him against IU's big and strong front line.

1982 Superdome in New Orleans. I remember seeing 63,000 fans in the stands! CBS's first coverage of the event as NBC had it the year before. Bourbon St, Georgetown, Patrick Ewing, John Thompson, Worthy, Sam Perkins, Dean Smith......and a kid named Mike Jordan! What a collection of stars!

"The Shot!" Coach Smith calls time-out with 32 seconds to play and talks calmly to us as we were down one point.

63,000 people, CBS, Dean Smith...he never won a title up to this point....

We break the huddle.....the Hoyas go zone...we swing the ball to Jordan.....17 seconds....he pulls the trigger from about 18 feet.....swish!!!!! We are up one point!!

We run back on defense.....10....9....8....Georgetown throws it away......Worthy has the ball and gets fouled w 2 seconds to play. He misses both and the Hoyas shoot from 3/4 court and miss.

The Tar Heels are National Champions!

Do you know how cool that was?

That game had an impact on the rest of our lives. 25 years ago!!

To have a goal shared by about 20 people. To sacrfice. To deal w setbacks. To trust. To compete. To take instruction. To give instruction. To execute under duress. To fail. To succeed. To share. To accomplish a goal that everyone knows you want. A goal you have as a kid. That's satisfying...rewarding....special!

March Madness is truly unique. I was blessed to be a part of it!

By the way....I want to be a part of it again....as the head coach of SMU.

Now that would be special!!

Thanks for reading.

Sincerely,
Coach