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CNN Live Saturday

Interview With Jay Wright, Seth Davis

Aired March 30, 2002 - 12:46   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.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The feisty former owner of the Cincinnati Reds is being honored. Marge Schott will get a lifetime achievement award during the Miss Cincinnati Pageant tonight. You'll remember Major League Baseball suspended Schott for her offensive remarks toward minorities and women. Back in 1999, Schott was forced to transfer her control of the Reds to other partners in the ball club.

And in college hoops, the contest has come down to the final four teams going head to head right here in Atlanta. The NCAA men's semifinals get underway later today at the Georgia Dome. Underdog Indiana takes on the Oklahoma Sooners at 6:07 PM Eastern Time. And the top seated teams, Maryland and Kansas, face off around 8:47 tonight.

With a preview of the match-ups, I'm joined by Seth Davis of "Sports Illustrated," and the head coach of Villanova, Jay Wright -- thanks for joining us, you guys.

JAY WRIGHT, HEAD COACH, VILLANOVA: Good to be here, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: All right, well ladies first. Let's just talk about the history-making potential for Oklahoma...

SETH DAVIS, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": You're looking at me, I thought that meant me...

WHITFIELD: No, no, no, no, for the Oklahoma teams.

DAVIS: Yes.

WHITFIELD: That's right. You've got the women's and the men's both in the final four. This could be history making for that school if both end up being championships or taking the championships.

DAVIS: It would be great. It would be a first. Although I have to say, I think the women's game does itself a disservice by holding its final four the same weekend as the men holding the NCAA tournament the same weekend as the men's tournament. I think they'd do well to find a different time to do it to really establish themselves, because the women game has never been healthier. They had a record crowd in San Antonio last night.

WHITFIELD: All right. Let's talk men's ball, because I know that's what you guys are antsy to talk about. All right, coach, Indiana, you know, it potentially may be losing one of its number-one scorers, Coverdale. He's got a sprained knee, is that right? You know, without him playing, do they still have a pretty serious shot at, you know, at least taking this game?

WRIGHT: Well, at this point in the season, to play this big a game without a guy that has that much impact --you know, we saw how they struggled when he went out of the previous game with his ankle injury, and -- it's going to be tough. But it could lend us to one of those situations where you have the Cinderella without their star. If they can find a way to get everybody together and everybody step up a notch, it could be one of the great upsets. But without him, it's going to be tough.

WHITFIELD: Seth, your eyes are going to be on which match-up? Which one do you think is going to give the...

DAVIS: Well everyone is talking about the second game...

WHITFIELD: Yeah.

DAVIS: ... which I think is probably a little bit of a surprise to Oklahoma, which beat both Maryland and Kansas this season. And the sort of buzz around the press room has been over the question: Well whoever wins that second game tonight have to expend so much energy -- physical, psychological, emotional -- to win that game. But maybe it counts against them on Monday night if Oklahoma gets by Indiana. And, of course, everyone's just assuming that Oklahoma is going to get by Indiana, which might surprise the Hoosiers. So that's why you play the game.

And, you know, University of Maryland has never one like this before.

DAVIS: Right.

WHITFIELD: I mean this really is a grand journey into the final four. But, wow, how sweet it would be if they were to take the entire tournament. What are the chances of that really happening given the fact that they really go into it as the favorites?

WRIGHT: Well they are the team that is returning. And there's no substitute for that experience having done it before...

WHITFIELD: OK. Let me interrupt you real quick, because we have a breaking story now.

(INTERRUPTED FOR CNN COVERAGE OF BREAKING NEWS)

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