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CNN Live Today

Interview of Mike DeCourcy, 'The Sporting News'

Aired March 22, 2002 - 13:26   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Well, if you bet against Duke in last night's NCAA regional semifinal, your friends probably thought you were crazy, that is, until the final buzzer. The top-ranked defending champion Blue Devils toppled in dramatic fashion by Indiana, 75-73 the final. The Hoosiers battled back from a 17-point deficit to reach the regional finals for the first time since 1993.

Indiana's coach, Mike Davis, right there, says, "I'm going to ask for a raise." They can probably do it right now. Jason Williams, there taking a shot at the end. There are one or two other coaches out there with similar ideas, apparently looking for that raise. Mike DeCourcy of "The Sporting News" now joins us from Lexington to about the game last night and the tournament. How are you, Mike?

MIKE DECOURCY, SENIOR BASKETBALL WRITER, "THE SPORTING NEWS": I'm well, Bill. How are you?

HEMMER: What explains this last night?

DECOURCY: I think, first of all, it's the nature of college basketball that a great effort by a team of players that may not be as talented as their opponent, if they put that collective effort together, on given night, that can happen in this game.

HEMMER: Yes, I was reading your article today, based on last night's game. Tell our viewers what happened with Mike Davis with about three-and-a-half minutes to go, time ticking down. He never lost confidence.

DECOURCY: Well I was sitting behind his bench, and he turned to one of the NCAA committee members, who was sitting court side, and he proclaimed to Les Robinson, the athletic director at the Citadel, that they were going to win the game. And then he followed that up three minutes later with the game tied and said we're going to shock the world. And I guess that portion of the world that follows college basketball was shocked.

HEMMER: Now, he replaced Bobby Knight. And really, throughout the season, there were still a number of questions - I want this videotape to keep rolling as we talk, Mike - about his legacy, picking up where Bobbie Knight left off. Is a victory like this good enough to get the monkey off his back there?

DECOURCY: I think it is. For Indiana basketball fans, it certainly is. I can tell you I'm still refusing e-mails from people who will just not believe that Bobbie Knight isn't the greatest coach in the history of the world or the only coach who can coach Indiana. I'm still receiving e-mails from them saying that Mike Davis didn't do a good job last night and that he's not the right man for Indiana. And that when he's recruiting only his own players and not coaching players who came in under Knight, that he will fail. But Make Davis is a terrific basketball coach. To go toe to toe with Mike Krzyzewski, the best in the business, and win, I think that says everything you need to know about Mike Davis.

HEMMER: He flat out proved it last night. I should make mention, too, Arizona went down in the West, the two-seed in the West. So their tournament is over. What do you make of Kent State? They went to overtime last night in another game, this game against Pittsburgh, not the one we're watching there. But here we have the Golden Flashes of the Mid-American Conference right now in the elite eight for the first time ever, truly a Cinderella story here.

DECOURCY: It is an amazing story. Kent State, at the beginning of the year, is under new coach, Stan Heath, who came from Michigan State. And they fought the introduction of a new system. They were four and three after seven games. They lost to a team in Youngstown State that only won four more, five more games the rest of the year. And at that point, they said, you know what? We better start listening to our coach or we're going to blow an entire year. Now, they're 40 minutes away from final four.

HEMMER: I'll tell you, if I'm Maryland or Kansas, playing tonight, I'm a little nervous.

DECOURCY: Good point.

HEMMER: What do you think explains the upsets in this tournament? John Feinstein was on with us last week. He says it's just like any other tournament every other year. But I think this one's a little different yet. Have you pegged it yet?

DECOURCY: I think what you're seeing is because so many college players, especially at the higher levels, are leaving Division I and going into the NBA draft, not only before their eligibility expires, but before they've really accomplished anything in college. As Jamal Sampson, from the University of California, decided he was going to leave yesterday, he averaged six points a game. When that player leaves before he's even accomplished anything, that allows teams that are recruiting guys who are going to play four years to make up the gap. That's why you saw such success from Gonzaga this year, form Western Kentucky. And Kent State's been able to carry that through into the tournament.

HEMMER: We shall see. I agree with your theory, by the way. I've talked about it with other before, but I think you're dead on that. It evens the playing court. That's for sure. Hey, Mike, thanks. Enjoy the rest of the weekend. OK?

DECOURCY: Thank you, Bill.

HEMMER: All right. Mike DeCourcy, SportingNews.com, live in Lexington. A couple more games this weekend, a rough arena there.

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