PHOENIX — Notes from the NCAA West Regional in Phoenix:
Washington State coach Tony Bennett played three years for the Charlotte Hornets as backup point guard, a lot fewer than he thought he would before injuries drove him into coaching.
“I got to play against (Michael) Jordan probably about 14 times. One of the my biggest regrets is my rookie year we were playing the Bulls, and a guy came up to me and he gave me a photo of me playing against Jordan and he said, ‘You’re going to want to save that some day.’
And I left the photo in my locker at Chicago Stadium and I remember being on the bus thinking, shoot, I left that photo there and I thought I would have a lot more of them but I didn’t.”
Lofton faces childhood team
Tennessee guard Chris Lofton grew up a Louisville fan in Maysville, Ky., major Kentucky Wildcat country. Neither school recruited him much. Lofton is the SEC’s all-time leading 3-point shooter with 429.
“I think the media and the fans have been way too critical of both Louisville and Kentucky,” Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl said. “If you look at the players that both Louisville and Kentucky were able to sign, at that time they were better than Chris Lofton.”
Williams defends “criticism”
Roy Williams said he wasn’t being critical of Dick Bennett after he watched Bennett’s Wisconsin Badgers lose to Michigan State in the 2000 Final Four, 53-41.
Dick is the father of Washington State coach Tony Bennett who faces Williams today.
“It was 19-18 at halftime. Don’t play games. The number of people that enjoy seeing 19-18 is not as many as the number of people that like to see 61-60. If you were to take a poll, you would pick 61-60. So I made a truthful statement and Dick understood it.”
