Jay Bilas says he’ll make good on his promise to out-beard Karnowski

Przemek Karnowski’s NCAA Tournament is not yet over, but the Polish center has already won his March Madness bet.

The player with the most wins in NCAA men’s basketball history is going to have to collect in installments, though. Hundreds of them. One millimeter at a time.

ESPN college basketball pundit and former Duke forward Jay Bilas was issued a challenge on Twitter by an account celebrating Karnowski’s beard in December. The account, @Karnowskisbeard, asked clean-shaven Bilas would he grow his own facial fro if Gonzaga made it to the Final Four.

Bilas accepted before the Zags’ nationally televised contest against Arizona, saying, “I will grow a beard that will be far better than Przemek Karnowski’s if the Zags make the Final Four.”

Bilas, sporting one-day-old stubble, told Michael Eaves on Sunday that he plans to make good on the bet, though he has not yet decided what form the beard should take.

“I think there are going to be small animals living in it,” Bilas said. “Certainly a lot of food is going to be captured by it. That’s how glorious it’s going to be.”

Bilas took to twitter Saturday night to preview his transformation, photoshopping a series of steadily-lengthening beards onto his own protrait.

“With Gonzaga’s trip the the Final Four, looks like The Bilastrator is growing a beard,” he tweeted. “I pay up.”