4:06 PM PDT April 6, 2024Yes, those are Purdue and North Carolina State — one program here for the first time since 1980, the other trying to write a 21st-century version of college basketball's greatest story ever told.
Back in 1983, North Carolina State needed to win three games in the ACC Tournament simply to qualify for the NCAAs. Then, Jim Valvano and his “Cardiac Pack” won six games over three weeks — including two one-point wins and another in double overtime — before closing it out against Houston's Phi Slama Jama team with Lorenzo Charles' last-second stuff off Dereck Whittenburg's airball for the title.
But Burns has not shot a 3-pointer this year and though he can create from the perimeter — setting picks, cutting inside and making passes — that is not where he does the bulk of his damage.North Carolina State forward DJ Burns Jr. watches during practice ahead of a Final Four game in the NCAA Tournament, Friday, April 5, 2024.
Can Burns, who's listed at 275 pounds, hold up against a player who still has seven inches and 20 or 30 pounds on him? Watching all this from afar — and with a smile — is Russ Turner, the 6-7 coach of UC Irvine, a program that lives near the top of the Big West Conference. In the mid-2010s, Turner brought 7-6 center Mamadou N’Diaye to the program. The coach has never shied away from building around 7-footers.
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Source: AP - 🏆 728. / 51 Read more »