Morning Read: A North Country Sweet Sixteen
Someone in the In Box community must know whether or not we’ve ever had a North Country athlete in the Sweet Sixteen round of the NCAA basketball tournament.
If we have, I don’t know about it. But that’s all changing this week, after Queensbury’s Jimmer Fredette lifted the BYU Cougars past 11th-seeded Gonzaga.
Fredette knocked down an astonishing 34 points. This from the Associated Press via the Glens Falls Post Star.
“He can shoot it from anywhere, as soon as he steps on the floor,” said Gonzaga’s Steven Gray, now on the long list of guards who couldn’t stop Fredette.
BYU (32-4) will make its deepest trip in the NCAA tournament since 1981, the year Danny Ainge went coast to coast against Notre Dame for a last-second game-winner — a play that still holds a special place in the school’s rich sports history.
The question now is whether Fredette’s teammates can give him enough lift to battle past the Florida Gators. A lot of people are putting their money on Florida, but Fredette’s been confounding expectations all year.
He is awesome, what a great player to watch!
BYU was not on t.v. much this year (I think only twice?) so this is the first time the nation has really got to watch him play. I think they can beat Florida.
I can think of at least one other North Country player who made it to Sweet 16–in fact, all the way to the Final Four: Rick Carlisle of Lisbon, NY, in St. Lawrence County co-captained the 1984 University of Virginia Cavaliers; the team lost to Univ of Houston in the Final Four, and Houston went on to lose in the championship game to Patrick Ewing-led Georgetown team. Carlisle is now the coach of the NBA Dallas Mavericks.
Malone’s Missy West made it all the way to the NCAA title game in 1999 with Duke, where the Blue Devils lost to Purdue. She made it to the Sweet 16 three times. After coaching at SUNY Canton, she now coaches at Hartwick College in Oneonta.
Not much attention to the fact that BYU has at least two other guys who can hit 3s when the D is trying to contain Fredette.
But losing their rebounder to his ethics problem will probably doom BYU, if they had a chance. Hope not. Jimmer is great to watch.
Before you get any hate mail, Fredette is from Glens Falls, not Queensbury. Though he did enjoy lighting up Queensbury when he played for Glens Falls HS. =)
Oh sure, oa. Next thing you know you’ll want the news media to pay equal attention to girls’ sports. Who bets on girls?
Dunno who bets, but you can’t say people don’t care.
Check out the No. 1 example for Maryland fans, who rioted after a victory by their women’s squad!
http://www.gq.com/sports/lists/201104/worst-sports-fans-in-america#slide=11
I wish everyone one on every team good luck.