Lobos Still Yearn For Respect

New Mexico finished the season with 28 wins and its first NCAA tournament victory since 1974, yet the Lobos still feel they ended up short on respect.

“We had nothing to lose,” said David Gibson after Sunday’s 73-62 second-round defeat to Georgetown. “No one really respects us or even knows who we are.”

But Georgetown coach John Thompson does. Noting that all of the Lobos’ starters are underclassmen, he said emphatically he doesn’t plan to put them on his schedule anytime soon.

“When I look to make my schedule next year and see them, I’ll choose St. Leo’s,” Thompson said. “All the media people want a media event, and I’ll have them telling me I’m playing a patsy. I’ll stay away from them; they are going to be damn good.”

Presidential praise

UMass coach John Calipari, whose team is preparing to play Arkansas on Thursday, received a glowing critique from the Razorbacks’ No. 1 fan - President Clinton.

Clinton and Calipari spoke on the phone at a St. Patrick’s Day breakfast hosted by Calipari’s new boss, University of Massachusetts president William Bulger.

“You must be so proud, not only of your record, but of the way you’ve done it,” Clinton told Calipari from Washington. “The teamwork this year to me has been astonishing. It’s really been amazing the way they all do what they do. It’s a great tribute to you and to your coaching staff.”

After Calipari thanked Clinton for his support of college basketball, Clinton asked him to ease up when Arkansas and UMass meet in Atlanta in the East region semifinal.

“Only two of our starters have started to shave yet,” Clinton cracked. “You’ve got to take it easy on us.”

Wide-body White

At 6-foot-9 and 270 pounds, Georgetown center Jahidi White defines the typical wide body. But this year, it got a bit too wide for Thompson.

“He had been playing good at the beginning of the year, but then he went home (for the Christmas break) and when you’re that big, Mama treats you good,” Thompson said.

As a result, White doesn’t get to watch game films. While his teammates are up in the film room watching the scouting clips, White works out with the team’s trainer to stay in shape.

It paid off Sunday: White had 12 rebounds in the victory over New Mexico.

Footwear farewell

Those markings on his shoes weren’t an indication of his pro intentions, Louisville sophomore center Samaki Walker said.

Walker had “Hard to Say” marked on his left sneaker and “Good Bye” on his right for the Cardinals’ first- and second-round games at the Midwest Regional.

But he explained, after a 68-64 victory over Villanova, that it was “a message of thanks and appreciation for the seniors on the team” who helped him get through tough times this year.

Walker, who scored 11 points and helped bottle up Kerry Kittles was withheld from play for 10 games while the school investigated possible violations regarding his father’s purchase of a car and insurance on the vehicle.

Cheeseheads packed

Wake Forest coach Dave Odom, who showed up Saturday in foam cheeseheads along with guards Tony Rutland and Rusty LaRue, said he was shipping his new headgear along to Minneapolis for the next round.

“We just had a team vote. It was definitely the cheese hats that did it, no question about that,” Odom said after Wake Forest escaped with a 65-62 victory over the Texas Longhorns on Sunday.

“The cheese hats have already been boarded, on the plane. I have been assured that cheese works in Minnesota if you’re not playing a Minnesota team,” Odom said.

Neutral site?

Sunday’s crowd at Arizona State’s University Activity Center was 12,441 and only around half of the people were Arizona fans. But to Iowa’s players on the court, it sounded like 60,000 people screaming against them.

“It was tremendously loud. Every time they scored a basket, the place went in an uproar,” said Hawkeyes guard Mon’ter Glasper. “It’s tough for our young guys to adjust to that. They got us rattled.”

“It was like we were playing in Tucson,” Iowa forward Kenyon Murray added. “You can’t call this a neutral site by any means.”

MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: NCAA conference records (Selections in parentheses) Conference W L Pct. Southeastern (4) 8 0 1.000 Big East (5) 8 2 .800 Southwest (2) 3 1 .750 Western Athletic (2) 3 1 .750 Conference USA (4) 5 2 .714 Atlantic 10 (4) 4 3 .571 Atlantic Coast (6) 5 4 .556 Big 8 (4) 3 3 .500 Pacific-10 (4) 3 3 .500 West Coast (2) 1 2 .333 Big 10 (5) 2 5 .286