Gator with biggest bite

INDIANAPOLIS – Ponytail power.

Every kid in America might want to toss away those oh-so-yesterday headbands, grow out the dreadlocks and tie their hair back in a large bun.

Forget about Kobe, LeBron, A.I. and Nash.

Right now, Joakim Noah is cool – and a champion.

Noah, Florida’s slithery smooth center who until recently was only known for having a famous father, emerged as the biggest star in the NCAA championship, leading the Gators to their first title, 73-57 over UCLA on Monday night.

He dunked and rebounded over the Bruins. He passed around them, intimidated them, even screamed at them. He was nearly unstoppable and was selected the most outstanding player of the Final Four.

Noah stared straight in the face of UCLA and all its history and made a little of his own. Although they were cheering hard for their alma mater, Bill Walton and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar also had to be proud of this big man.

With his father, former international tennis star Yannick Noah, cheering his every move, the 6-foot-11 Noah finished with 16 points, nine rebounds and six blocked shots. He ended the tournament with 29 blocks, breaking the previous tournament record of 24 set by Arizona’s Loren Woods in 2001.

When the Gators had finally put away the Bruins in the final minutes, Noah skipped toward the section where his father was standing and pounded his right fist into his hands.

In the stands, Yannick, now a reggae star in Europe, bounced up and down to a Gators’ beat and raised both arms triumphantly like he had just won the French Open.

“Yeeeeaaaahhh,” he screamed loud enough to be heard back in Gainesville.

At the final horn, his son laid back on the floor as if in shock as streamers fell from above. Then he bolted to the Florida band, climbed on a chair and led the delirious Gators fans in their signature “Chomp.”

The party was just getting started. Noah climbed over the railing and into the stands to hug his father, and at about the same moment it was announced he was the most outstanding player.

As if there was any doubt.

The kid did it all.

“He was ready,” said Yannick Noah, removing sunglasses to brush away tears. “It was a good thing he didn’t play so good in the semifinals, I think. It pumped him up. I’m so happy. I’m so happy for him, but also for all his friends. They deserve it. It’s a beautiful story.”

From the start, the young Noah was the difference for the Gators (33-6). When he wasn’t swatting away UCLA shots like some of his dad’s overhand smashes at the net, he was altering the Bruins’ attempts.

In the first half, as Florida built a double-digit lead, Noah set up in the foul lane and made the Bruins quiver.

On one possession, Noah blocked a shot underneath, hurried a putback by the Bruins, grabbed the rebound and led the Gators’ fast break up the floor, covering about 60 feet in five long strides.

Early in the second half, he dribbled down the left side and delivered a nasty dunk over UCLA’s Lorenzo Mata.

By then, the Gators and their star had all but finished chomping on the Bruins.

Noah hasn’t always been the Gator with the biggest bite. He wasn’t as tough as coach Billy Donovan wanted, but he has steadily improved and no player in the tournament had a bigger presence – inside the paint or on the perimeter.