Well the NCAA tournament once again has proven to be the best post-season out there. If your sweet-sixteen bracket included St. Mary’s and Northern Iowa, then you are doing a lot better than me.
On the other hand, if you had Kansas winning it all, you are in the same boat as me. Its seems like every couple years there is a Cinderella story that defines the NCAA Tournament, that gives small schools across the country hope. We all remember George Mason, Davidson and Gonzaga shocking the basketball world with upsets that we will never forget. Then there are the players that lead these David’s over the Goliaths. We all remember the Stephan Curry, Dan Dickau, Brice Drews, and Wally Szczerbiak becoming stars during the tournament.
Well this year is the year of the underdog. As for the first time ever 8 double digit seeds moved on to the second round and 3 made it all the way to the Sweet 16. Can Northern Iowa, Cornell or St. Mary’s make the elite 8 or final four? If you don’t know by now, they have the ability to play with anybody. So when somebody says the names Ali Farokhmanesh, Gordon Hayward, Omar Samhan, and Ryan Wittman you should already have a good idea of who they are –
Ali Farokhmanesh – 6 foot senior guard for the Northern Iowa Panthers hit the game winning shoot in the first round against UNLV and hit the 3 point that sealed the victory for the Panthers over top ranked Kansas on Saturday.
Gordon Hayward- The 6’9” Sophomore Forward leads the Butler Bulldogs in points, blocks and rebounds per game. He can play both the forward and guard position and should be a match up problem for there upcoming sweet 16 game against Syracuse.
Omar Samhan– The 6’11” Red Shirt Senior Center leads the St. Mary Guels in points, block and rebounds per game this season. Samhan is currently ranked 36 on ESPN’s NBA draft prospect list and with his size has a great chance to play at the next level. So far in the NCAA tournament Omar has racked up 61 points and 19 rebounds in his first 2 games of the tournament. The matchup between Samhan and Baylor’s Udoh should be a good one.
Ryan Wittman- The 6’7” senior forward lead the Big Red in scoring this season. He was also named Player of the Year in the Ivy League. So far in the NCAA tournament he has scored 44 points in the first 2 games, leading the Big Red over Temple and Wisconsin.
