The Oklahoma Sooners are headed to the Final Four! The past several days Wendy and I have been reading, sharing, and discussing lots of sports articles with each other. There are several great story lines.
The best article was from ESPN about how head coach Lon Kruger is the nicest guy in college basketball. According to an assistant coach, his biggest vice is vanilla ice cream, and the one thing that annoys him most is selfish play. I was especially stunned at how athletic Kruger was. After playing basketball and baseball at K-State in the early 70's, he was drafted by the NBA's Atlanta Hawks, the MLB's St. Louis Cardinals, and was invited to the NFL's Dallas Cowboys rookie camp!!
And then there's Buddy Hield, who grew up in the Bahamas, and, after deciding to come back for his senior year, has become the best and most exciting player in college basketball. Buddy himself wrote an article, More Than Enough, about growing up poor in the Bahamas and having to make his own basketball goals out of milk crates and bicycle tire rims. It's another must read article. When the next NBA season starts, I'm totally buying NBA League Pass so I can watch whatever team Buddy goes to.
Then there's Buddy's mom, who gets too nervous to watch his games, so she wanders the hallways of the arena during the last few minutes of each game.
The best story line, in my opinion, (and the reason I really, really wanted OU to make the Final Four) is of Khadeem Lattin, a sophomore forward for OU, and his grandfather David "Big Daddy" Lattin. 50 years ago, the grandfather played for Texas Western, which won the NCAA tournament. That was a landmark win, because they were the first team with an all-black starting lineup to win the tournament. They beat an all-white Kentucky team. Disney even made a movie about it in 2006 called Glory Road. Now, 50 years later, that team will be honored at this years Final Four. So the grandfather will be there for the ceremony, and now his grandson will be there playing in his own Final Four! Such a great story. This article has more info.
And then there's the tragic story of Akolda Manyang, a junior center for OU. Two weeks ago, shortly after OU's first-round win against Cal-State Bakersfield, Manyang learned his older brother had died unexpectedly. He left the team to be with his family and has been with them ever since. Last I heard, there was a chance he would rejoin the team for the Final Four, but given how much time off he's had, it's uncertain if he would play. The team dedicated their second-round win to him, and want to keep winning so he can return to the team.
Whew! It's been so much fun watching this team play. Four of the five starters have started over 100 games together at OU, which is a rare feat. As this article mentions, just making the Final Four is a heroic feat, and whenever this team plays its last game, it will mark the end of an era for Oklahoma basketball.