Dollar Pays Off For Bruins
UCLA point guard Tyus Edney warned Cameron Dollar to be ready.
Dollar didn’t believe him.
“Oh, he kept saying, ‘I’m not joking, you better be prepared,”’ said Dollar, whose heads-up play paid dividends in the Bruins’ 89-78 win over Arkansas for the NCAA championship on Monday night at the Kingdome.
“I was doubting him. This being the championship game, I figured he’d somehow pull it out and score 25 points or something.”
Instead, Edney’s sprained wrist limited him to zero points and one turnover in 2 minutes, 37 seconds of action.
Dollar stepped up with six points, eight assists and a respectable three turnovers in a career-high 36 minutes.
“It’s funny how opportunity knocks,” said Dollar, a sophomore who bounced around at three high schools before coming to UCLA.
“I knew he’s a winner,” Edney said. “I was completely comfortable when he was in.”
“I had a good teacher,” said Dollar, gesturing to Edney.
UCLA coach Jim Harrick said he started Edney in hopes an adrenaline rush would dull the pain in his star guard’s wrist.
As it turned out, UCLA only needed Edney to get to the title game. His teammates were good enough to take it from there.
To a man, the Bruins paid tribute to Edney, who said he spent his time on the sidelines “trying to be another coach and help out any way I could.”
After the awards ceremony, tournament Most Outstanding Player Ed O’Bannon grabbed the public address microphone and, hugging Edney, told the crowd: “This is our real MVP here. Give it up for Tyus.”
Bruins faithful responded with a chant of ‘Tyus, Tyus, Tyus.’
“That made me feel part of it,” Edney said.
Wizard praises Bruin win
Like a monarch saluting the masses, John Wooden waved to the legions of fans and coaches who approached him at the championship game to get a glimpse of the master.
And when he left the Kingdome, with UCLA leading Arkansas 81-71 with 1:25 to go, the crowd stood and cheered once more for the old Wizard of Westwood.
“I’m very proud,” Wooden said while walking away, not needing to see the final points of the Bruins’ victory. “To be honest, I didn’t think they could win it without (Tyus) Edney. He makes that team run. But (Toby) Bailey and (Cameron) Dollar played wonderfully. Dollar didn’t score many points, but his defense was superb.”
Wooden didn’t go to the locker room to congratulate the Bruins, who won even though star guard Edney played only a few minutes because of a sprained right wrist.
“This is their moment,” he said. “I don’t want to get in the way.”
Richardson may depart for NBA
Reports have surfaced that Arkansas coach Nolan Richardson will talk with the NBA’s Toronto Raptors.
SEC writers report that Raptors president Isiah Thomas visited with Richardson at the NCAA conference tournament. Richardson denies the speculation.