SI:AM | Bluebloods Take Center Stage at Men’s Final Four

Plus, emerging Pistons phenom Cade Cunningham.

Good morning, I’m Dan Gartland. Too bad yesterday’s Elite Eight games weren’t as dramatic as the Oscars. 

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The name brands are left standing

Regardless of what happens next weekend in New Orleans, the 2022 NCAA men’s tournament will always be remembered for the improbable run of Saint Peter’s to the Elite Eight as a No. 15 seed. Everybody loves a good Cinderella story, but we also love to see the biggest programs in the sport duke it out—and that’s exactly what the Final Four will give us.

North Carolina sent the Peacocks packing yesterday to set up a showdown with Duke on Saturday, while Kansas came from behind to blow out Miami and advance to face Villanova.

As enjoyable as a Saint Peter’s trip to the Final Four would have been, I think everyone recognizes the Tar Heels’ and Blue Devils’ facing each other in the NCAA tournament for the first time (and the final time with Coach K) will be a much better game.

Pat Forde writes this is “one of the bluebloodiest men’s Final Fours ever”:

“Kansas, North Carolina and Duke are first, third and fourth in all-time victories. North Carolina is in its record-21st men’s Final Four; Duke in its 17th; Kansas in its 16th; Villanova in its seventh (but third in the last six tournaments).

“They have a combined 17 NCAA tournament championships. The last time every Final Four program came in having already won at least three national titles? Never. These are serious pedigrees.”

You know the programs left standing are the biggest in the sport when Villanova is a lightweight by comparison.

The story is pretty much the same on the women’s side. Though there are two more Elite Eight games left to play tonight, all four No. 1 seeds are still alive. South Carolina and Stanford have already advanced to the Final Four, while Louisville and North Carolina State will look to punch their tickets tonight. UConn, a No. 2 seed, is also still in contention (and will face the Wolfpack tonight). The closest thing to a Cinderella on the women’s side is No. 3 seed Michigan, which hadn’t advanced to the Elite Eight before this year and will play the Cardinals tonight in a bid to reach the Final Four.

The best of Sports Illustrated

Michael Pina checks in on one of the stars of the NBA’s impressive rookie class. After a slow start, Cade Cunningham has emerged as a “phenom” who some close observers are already comparing “to all-time greats.”

Greg Bishop writes this Villanova team might not be your typical Wildcats, but it might not matter. … Kansas is the last No. 1 seed standing in the men’s tournament, and Jeremy Woo writes yesterday’s comeback win over Miami proved why it’s worthy of that distinction. … South Carolina put on a dominant show in the women’s Elite Eight, writes Emma Baccellieri. … Guards Lexie Hull and Haley Jones kept Stanford alive in their quest to defend their national title with a win over Texas.

Around the Sports World

The USMNT moved one step closer to the 2022 World Cup by cruising to a 5–1 win over Panama. … The Cardinals are reportedly signing Albert Pujols to a one-year deal. … The Lakers are clinging to a spot in the play-in tournament after blowing a 23-point lead to the Pelicans. … LeBron James twisted his ankle in the game and said afterward that it felt “horrible.” … The Canada men’s national team clinched its first World Cup appearance since 1986. … Yale’s Jake Gehri hit four homers (including two grand slams) yesterday against Princeton.

The top five...

… things I saw over the weekend:

5. Capitals fans littering the ice with foam apples after Niklas Backstrom’s 1,000th career point

4. Texas Tech’s Kurt Wilson stealing home for a walk-off win over Texas

3. Wilson’s walk-off grand slam the very next day

2. Hubert Davis’s emotional reaction to leading UNC to the Final Four in his first season in charge

1. This Nikola Jokić pass

SIQ

I’m fully aware that I’ll get some angry emails for even mentioning pro wrestling, but I wanted to kick off WrestleMania week with a WWE question. Wrestling icon Paul “Triple H” Levesque announced Friday that he was retiring from in-ring competition as the result of a heart ailment. I think most wrestling fans know that Triple H is an abbreviation of his earlier moniker Hunter Hearst Helmsley, but what was Levesque’s very first ring name?

Friday’s SIQ: In which round of the 1984 NHL draft was Tom Glavine selected?

Answer: Fourth. In just 23 games as a senior at Billerica Memorial High School outside Boston, Glavine scored 44 goals and added 41 assists. That kind of offensive output is enough to turn any scout’s head, and so the Kings picked him 69th in the 1984 draft. He was taken two rounds before future Hall of Famer Brett Hull and five rounds before future Hall of Famer Luc Robataille.

That same month, he was drafted in the second round by the Braves and opted to pursue baseball over hockey. He was in the majors three years later.

Glavine told Sports Illustrated in 1992 that even if he had picked hockey, he wouldn’t have turned pro right away. He was choosing between playing baseball and accepting a hockey scholarship at UMass Lowell.

SI writer Leigh Montville got his hands on a copy of Glavine’s NHL scouting report for that 1992 story. The report had been obtained from the NHL’s office in Toronto by a reporter based there and passed from writer to writer until it ended up in Montville’s hands. Here’s how it described Glavine’s game:

“Good skating ability … long stride with good balance … good acceleration … excellent scorer, smart around net … has several moves and can finish off … excellent slap and wrist shots with a quick release … tough and durable, will not be intimidated … excellent competitor.”

The unnamed scout ranked Glavine the 56th-best player available in his draft class. It’s quite possible he would have gone on to have a very good NHL career, but he definitely made the right call by picking baseball and becoming one of the greatest pitchers ever.

From the Vault: March 28, 1966

James Drake/Sports Illustrated

After reading the first few paragraphs of Frank Deford’s story about Texas Western’s 1966 NCAA championship, I noticed a glaring omission and did a ctrl + F search for “Black.” No results. So I tried searching for other antiquated adjectives for race. No results. Somehow, the entire 2,600-word story doesn’t directly mention the fact that Texas Western was the first NCAA championship team to play an all-Black starting five. Deford does hint at it, though:

“[Texas Western] had arrived on Thursday, St. Patrick’s Day. … Somebody gave [Miners coach Don Haskins] a 20-peso gold piece made into the shape of a money clip, and all the players received green string ties, which they looped about their necks. ‘My name’s not Mick Shed, but I'll wear one anyway,’ said Forward Nevil (The Shadow) Shed. At their motel in College Park, which they shared with Duke, the Miners were like interlopers. The Duke fans overran the place. A huge banner, LET’S GO, DUKE, hung across the front windows.

“A few minutes down the Beltway in Silver Spring, the Kentucky Wildcats already were ensconced in a motel. Pat Riley wore a fuzzy little shamrock in his lapel. ‘Conley’s Irish, too,’ he said, ‘but he doesn't make as much of it as I do.’ If Riley resembled a happy Hibernian, Larry Conley didn’t. He was a sick Hibernian. ‘The only green I’ve got is down in here,’ he said, coughing and pointing to his chest.”

It seems like an oversight all these years later, but readers picking up the magazine 56 years ago might not have needed to be reminded about the significance of the Miners’ win. The difference between Texas Western and all-white Kentucky would have been clear as day to readers. Wildcats coach Adolph Rupp wouldn’t sign a Black recruit until Tom Payne in 1969.

Texas Western (now UTEP) wasn’t a blueblood like Kentucky, but it wasn’t exactly a Cinderella. The Miners ran through the regular season undefeated until losing their final game before the tournament to Seattle on the road by two points. They entered the tournament ranked No. 2 in the AP poll. The road to the Final Four wasn’t easy for the Miners, though. They beat Cincinnati in overtime in the Midwest Region semifinals and Kansas in double overtime in the regional final.

Texas Western didn’t have a single future NBA player on its roster but still managed to slay a Kentucky team led by Pat Riley and future ABA All-Star Louie Dampier in the championship game. The final score was 72–65, and that’s what the focus was on after the game.

According to a 1991 SI article, Haskins wasn’t asked once during his postgame press conference about the sociopolitical implications of his team’s win. That same article quotes Texas Western guard Orsten Artis as saying race relations “never crossed our minds.” Whether that’s true, all these years later, the significance is undeniable.

Check out more of SI’s archives and historic images at vault.si.com.