RICK DANCES WHILE L’VILLE SITS
Louisville was the first team left out of the field of 68, but former Cardinals coach Rick Pitino is back in the NCAA Tournament —- this time with Iona.
Meanwhile, Patrick Ewing, who had more trouble walking Madison Square Garden’s hallways than his Hoyas did in the Big East Tournament, is dancing again as a No. 12 seed in the East. The Hoyas will take on No. 5 Colorado.
Pitino was fired by Louisville in 2017 as part of the fallout from the FBI investigation into college basketball. He was hired by Iona last year.
Pitino is the fifth coach to lead five teams to the NCAA Tournament, joining Lon Kruger and Tubby Smith.
The Gaels are a No. 15 seed and will face Alabama in the first round in the East Region.
Louisville will only get in if a substitute team is needed in the field because of COVID-19 issues.
Meanwhile, Gonzaga’s road to perfection will be filled with familiar faces.
The Bulldogs were the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament bracket announced Sunday as they try to become the first team in 35 years to complete a perfect season.
Gonzaga is the top seed in the West Region for the all-in-Indiana bracket that starts this week and the next three seeds are teams it has already beaten — all by double digits.
The Zags (26-0) beat No. 2 Kansas, 102-90, to open the season and took down No. 2 seed Iowa, 99-88, a month later. Gonzaga also beat No. 4 seed Virginia, 98-75, in late December.
Gonzaga won every game this season by double digits except for one — when star freshman Jalen Suggs was injured — and has a school-record 30-game winning streak over two seasons.
The Zags are the first team since Kentucky in 2015 to enter the tournament undefeated and have their sights set on the 1975-76 Indiana Hoosiers, the last team to finish a perfect season.
“We finally acknowledged this is a big deal,” Gonzaga coach Mark Few said. “It puts us in some incredible company. It’s a heck of an accomplishment.”
Gonzaga opens the tournament Saturday against the First Four winner between Norfolk State and Appalachian State. Get by that and the Zags will play the winner between No. 8 Creighton and No. 9 Missouri.
Kansas and Virginia have to be thankful the NCAA not only pushed back the start of the tournament but put them in a region that begins on Saturday.
Both teams had to bow out of their conference tournaments before the semifinals due to positive COVID-19 tests and the extra time should allow them to have their full rosters available.
Kansas held out David McCormack and Tristan Enaruna before the Big 12 Tournament started due to positive tests, then had another before it was supposed to play No. 13 Texas.
All three players remained in Kansas City after the tournament, but McCormack and Enaruna are expected to rejoin the team this week. The third, unidentified player will have to miss the first weekend of the tournament.
“Since that’s the draw we got, I might as well be comfortable with it and like it,” Kansas coach Bill Self said. “I certainly don’t dislike it.”