McDonald's All American Madness

It is a bittersweet Madness this March at the Yard. Our picks in the Yard pool have performed admirably but our Bruins did not make the second weekend of the event. We saw it that way as well but it still pains the Yard to be painted into that difficult intersection where DNA meets reality. We made the right choice but it still feels hollow.

Duke getting spanked by Villanova did ease some of the pain. Duke has seven McDonald’s All-Americans and has never been a Yard favorite. NBA legacy guard, Gerald Henderson, shot 1 for 14 in the loss to Villanova. If he went 7 for 14, Duke still loses but missing 13 of 14 was not only disastrous, it is a difficult thing to do. Duke has lost to a lower seeded team each of the past five years. If there is a silver lining in these turbulent times, it is that.

Why do Duke and North Carolina get so many McDonald’s All-Americans? Both schools recruit well and have respected programs run by legendary coaches. In basketball, most top recruits commit before their senior year. It has been suggested by more than one source, that a recruit to either school has a better chance of being selected as a MCD All-American during their senior year because said recruit accepted a scholarship at either school during their junior year. And how does the corporation who super sized a fast food nation become synonymous with basketball excellence?

Duke lost in the 1999 finals to the Richard Hamilton lead UCONN Huskies. The Blue Devils were lead by sophomores Elton Brand, Corey Maggette and William Avery. With those returning stars, Duke would have been back to the Finals in 2000 to secure legendary Mike’s 3rd championship. Back then, all the little Dukies drank the Coach K blue Kool aid, got treated like rock stars by the Cameron Crazies, and stayed four years.

Elton Brand became the first Duke sophomore to declare early for the NBA draft. Corey and William followed him right out of the Blue Devil cocoon. That was the day the music died for Coach K. That 3rd championship would come in 2001 and another Final Four in 2004. But five years of early exits from the tournaments to teams like Virginia Commonwealth underscores the value of a Mickey D All-American these days. Do you want fries with that power forward?

The Yard applauds USC’s fine run through the Pac-10 tournament and into the second round of the tournament. The Trojans have three future NBA players and that is the magic number for collegiate success. Demar DeRozan will declare and be selected in the top half of the draft. Taj Gibson should declare because he is not going to survive another year in the class room.

Daniel Hackett may declare. He has started for two years at USC since walking on as a non-scholarship athlete at this $50,000 a year school. Daniel’s father was hired by USC the year before he graduated from high school. As the son of a USC employee, Daniel received a free scholarship and USC did not have to waste one of these precious scholarships on their starting point guard. Hackett walking on was fortuitous because USC did not have another scholarship to waste. Lil’ Romeo became the scholarship to be named later in DeRozan recruitment deal. The Yard is researching our data but we could not find too many other BFF Scholarships deals at other D1 schools. These are maneuvers within the NCAA rules. It just reeks a bit, that’s all!

The Yard salutes the unprecedented and steady efforts of this UCLA senior class. These seniors played in 18 NCAA tournament games. Their class played in three final fours in their four years. They never won the big game but this group accomplished more than any other class since the field expanded to 64 teams. Alfred already graduated and is in graduate school. Josh and Darren will walk with their class. May the returning UCLA freshman and sophomores embrace this legacy and finish what these blue and gold warriors re-ignited.

All Time March Madness Pool Winner: Rick Neuheisel. University of Washington coach Nehheisel wins the athletic department office pool for $5,000. Rick gets fired by UW for lying about winning the office pool. Rick sues UW and wins $4.5 million for being wrongfully terminated for lying about winning the office pool. $4.5 million is sweet but winning the office pool…priceless.