Nailing Down Ncaa Tourney To The Letter

The 1996 NCAA tournament, from A to Z:

A is for Austin Peay, which claims Bubba Wells is the next Charles Barkley. Did we really need another one?

B is for Belarus, the former Soviet republic that sent center Alexander Koul to George Washington. Koul played his headband off in GW’s upset of UMass. “He’s a man-child, the best I’ve played against,” said St. Joseph’s Reggie Townsend, who played against Marcus Camby.

C is for Cancel, which Rick Pitino had to do to his post-victory party in Birmingham, Ala., last year. Kentucky was that sure it would win the Southeast Regional, but North Carolina intervened. Don’t expect advance deposits from this year’s Wildcats.

D is for Jerry Dunn, who took over Penn State when Bruce Parkhill unexpectedly quit and led the Nittany Lions to a Top 10 ranking. And nothing about his career was a Dunn deal. The grandson of a North Carolina sharecropper, and a casualty of knee problems when he played at Casper (Wyo.) Junior College, Dunn was 42 when his chance arrived.

E is for Georgia Tech center Ed Elisma, who now blocks shots, hits free throws and does what Rod Baker once hoped he’d do for UC Irvine.

F is for Tim Floyd, who lost eight of his top nine players at Iowa State and still won the Big 8 tournament. He should edge Dunn for national coach of the year.

G is for Green Bay. The Wisconsin-Green Bay Phoenix is the perennial nightmare first-round opponent. The leader this year is Jeff Nordgaard, who should have inherited some hops from his mother Eleanor, but didn’t. She had a 36-inch vertical leap as a cheerleader at Minnesota-Morris. “She could get up there,” he said.

H is for Howard Porter Jr. of Central Florida, whose father led Villanova to the 1971 NCAA championship game but had signed with an agent before the tournament. For that reason the record book says “Vacated” instead of “Villanova.”

I is for Allen Iverson, the Georgetown phenomenon who has upped his field-goal percentage to 49 percent, trimmed his mistakes and is easily the nation’s most improved player.

J is for Jerod Haase, the Kansas workaholic who must shoot the consistent “3” for the Jayhawks to find destiny. Tony Rutland and Rusty LaRue must do the same for Wake Forest.

K is for Gene Keady. Another Big Ten title is behind him. Another NCAA minefield awaits him. Can the Purdue coach get the Boilermakers through the first weekend?

L is for Left Out. I can hear Minnesota’s Clem Haskins screaming now. Fresno State and Davidson deserved better. And how did Oklahoma and Kansas State get in?

M is for Mater Dei High of Santa Ana, Calif., well-represented by Arizona’s Reggie Geary and Miles Simon and San Jose State’s Marmet Williams.

N is for North Carolina, which squeezed out 20 victories despite losing Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace to the NBA lottery. The Tar Heels hit the wall about four weeks ago and might not stagger through the weekend.

O is for Olivier Saint-Jean, probably the best Big West player since J.R. Rider. He led San Jose State’s fun run through the Big West Tournament. Did you ever think the NCAA would include Saint-Jean but no St. John’s?

P is the Puerto Rican Express, aka the UMass backcourt of Edgar Padilla and Carmelo Travieso. They were born on the same day - May 9, 1975 - in Puerto Rico, although they didn’t meet until high school basketball in New England.

Q is for Quit, the preferred behavioral mode of Kentucky’s opponents. Until the Mississippi State loss, only three teams had played the Wildcats within 10 points - UMass (which beat them), Georgia and Indiana.

R is for Malik Rose, Drexel’s 6-foot-7, 250 pounds who is in his third consecutive NCAA tournament. The Dragons are something of a subterranean dynasty - 98 victories the past four years.

S is for Southern California, that esteemed basketball institution. Brian Hammel used to be an assistant there and now leads Northern Illinois into the tourney. Stan Morrison once won the Pac-10 there and now takes San Jose State onward. With Mike Garrett around, there might be a lot more ex-USC coaches.

T is for Toronto, birthplace of Micheal Meeks, the 6-foot-9 Canisius star who challenged Ed O’Bannon’s U.S. team at the ‘93 World University Games. Canada lost that one, but the 24-year-old Meeks became a three-time All-Metro Atlantic forward.

U is for UCLA, 8-12 against the spread since Jan. 1, but is the Pac-10 champ - not that it seems to matter, since the NCAA shipped the Bruins to Indianapolis to face prickly Princeton.

V is for Valparaiso, which goes to its first NCAA tournament and takes Kareem Abdul Jabbar Jr. with it.

W is for Wedding. Western Carolina coach Phil Hopkins got so carried away by upsetting Davidson in the Southern Conference final that he proposed to his girlfriend - over the PA system at the Greensboro Coliseum. What if he’d lost?

X is for X-ray, which is how you pronounce Maryland’s Exree Hipp, one of three senior starters on a team that was supposed to do better than this.

Y is for Yikes, which is what Jim Harrick says every time he thinks of Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane is going for its third consecutive Final 16. Only four others - Kansas, Arkansas, Connecticut and Maryland - have that chance.

Z is for Zilch, the chances of the national championship being anybody besides Kentucky, UConn, UMass, Kansas or Georgetown. The other 59 plan to play anyway.

The following fields overflowed: CREDIT = Mark Whicker Orange County Register