Associated Press
The NCAA notebook …
MEMPHIS, Tenn. ó North Carolina coach Roy Williams took a break Thursday from prepping his Tar Heels for their South Regional semifinal by taking part in a Memphis tradition: Acting as honorary duckmaster at The Peabody Hotel.
The Duckwalk is a daily tradition at one of Memphis’ finest hotels. At 11 each morning, amidst great fanfare, the ducks are brought from their penthouse digs on the hotel’s roof. They ride down on the elevator and, as the crowd opens a path exit onto a red carpet that leads to the lobby fountain.
Williams said he has stayed at The Peabody 10 times on recruiting trips over a quarter century and had never seen the duck march. He’s back in town with his top-seeded Tar Heels, who play No. 4 seed Gonzaga on Friday night, and jumped at the chance when asked Wednesday night if he would be the duckmaster.
“I’m corny as all get-out, but I thought that was neat,” Williams said Thursday.
Williams even got to keep the cane he used to herd the ducks and has plans to put it to further use. He told his team that every time freshman forward Ed Davis makes a mistake, the coach will hit senior forward Mike Copeland with the cane.
“Ed Davis told Michael he’s never played the perfect game,” Williams said.
And unlike players sometimes, the highly trained ducks apparently knew their roles without much coaxing.
“Ducks were really coachable,” Williams said. “They went where I told them to go. They didn’t balk at it. They didn’t fake a pass to the open duck. They got to where they were supposed to.”
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TRIPLE DUTY: Last weekend, Kansas’ Cole Aldrich was busy recording a rare triple-double.
On Wednesday, he got a chance to see in person the last man to achieve the feat in an NCAA tourney game: Dwyane Wade.
Wade and Aldrich are two of only six players in tourney history to officially record triple-doubles.
“It gives you the chills,” Aldrich said. “It’s fun to know that I’m kind of in that small little club of people to ever do that.”
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RELAXED ATMOSPHERE: Thursday’s open practices at the South Regional contained the obligatory drills and fundamentals, but the atmosphere was rather loose.
There were a few halfcourt shot attempts from Oklahoma guard Austin Johnson. Syracuse went through a dunk exhibition, the biggest response coming when Jonny Flynn bounced the ball in the lane then went up for his dunk.
Tyler Hansborough of North Carolina got high marks for a spinning dunk during the Tar Heels’ session. Then there was Gonzaga coach Mark Few passing on the traditional basketball shorts or warmups, opting for a pair of khaki cargo shorts.
Oklahoma spent the last few minutes of practice attempting trick shots. Johnson stepped beyond half court and was successful. Oklahoma coach Jeff Capel stood at the corner of midcourt trying to sink one on the bounce.
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BBQ ANYONE? Memphis has a reputation for its pork barbecue. Most people have heard of the Rendezvous and its dry ribs, its entrance in a downtown alley and the underground atmosphere.
UNC’s Williams also is familiar with the Memphis landmark.
“I’ve always loved Memphis. Love the Rendezvous,” he said.
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NOT SO FREE: Top-seeded Louisville has one glaring weakness: foul shooting.
The Cardinals hope it doesn’t wind up costing them in the NCAA tournament.
At 63.8 percent, the top seed in the NCAA tournament has the worst free-throw percentage of all 16 teams that advanced beyond the second round.
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KENTUCKY: Kentucky coach Billy Gillispie says he has no idea if he’ll be back for a third season as the coach of the Wildcats.
Gillispie said during his coach’s show on Thursday taped at WKYT-TV in Lexington that the choice on whether he will return is “out of his hands.”
Kentucky’s season ended with a 77-67 loss to Notre Dame in the National Invitation Tournament quarterfinals Wednesday, dropping Gillispie’s record to 40-27 in two years since he was hired to replace Tubby Smith.
Speculation has grown in recent weeks about Gillispie’s job security and university president Lee Todd said recently he would evaluate the program after the season.
Kentucky center Patrick Patterson expressed his support for Gillispie following the Notre Dame loss and said he plans to return for his junior season.
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UCONN: The University of Connecticut and the NCAA have discussed an investigation into alleged recruiting violations by the school’s men’s basketball program.
An official said the school was in contact with the NCAA Wednesday, after Yahoo! Sports reported that an agent who had once been a student manager at UConn helped steer recruit Nate Miles to the school.
Yahoo reported Wednesday that Miles, a 6-7 guard from Toledo, Ohio, was given lodging, transportation, meals and representation by sports agent Josh Nochimson, and that a UConn assistant coach knew about the relationship.
Miles was expelled from UConn in October without ever playing a game for the Huskies after he was charged with violating a restraining order in a case involving a woman who claimed he assaulted her.
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GOING PRO: B.J. Mullens is the latest “one and done” at Ohio State.
The 7-foot freshman announced Thursday he would declare himself available for the NBA draft, the fifth Buckeyes player in the last three seasons to leave after playing one year.