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The Final Four proved the bracketologists were on the money.
UNC played in the first Final Four where all the top seeds made it to San Antonio in 2008 with Kansas, Memphis and UCLA. The Jayhawks led the Tar Heels by double digits in the second semifinal before holding off a Carolina comeback. Memphis defeated UCLA in the other semifinal. KU beat Memphis to cut the nets Monday night.
It happened again this year in the Alamo City when top seeds Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston reached the Final Four and staged three of the best games in history. And in the end, the transfer portal was prominent.
The Gators had to come back repeatedly in the Big Dance to keep them alive and all the way to the national championship game. And trailing only by three points at the half, Florida fell deeper behind before mounting the expected rally against Houston.
Their coach is Todd Golden, a 39-year-old energizer bunny who put together a team of recruited freshmen who have grown into prominent roles and three transfer starters led by signing First-Team All-American and All-SEC and Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four Walter Clayton, Jr., similar to R.J. Davis’ spectacular 2024 season.
Houston and 69-year-old coach North Carolina native Kelvin Sampson has developed players as both freshmen and transfers, and in the end they had the experienced, tough guy lineup to keep Duke close enough and then ramp up its defense to turn the Blue Devils stone cold.
Duke had dominated most of the ACC but couldn’t hold off Houston’s suffocating defense that resulted in the Cougars catching up, wrestling the lead away and then forcing decisive turnovers at the end. Jon Scheyer has some decisions to make, but he has enough upperclassmen returning and another 5-star freshman class coming. So he’ll figure it out.
Auburn, which remained the No. 1 overall seed in the tournament despite some late losses at the end of the SEC schedule, was beating Florida badly on Saturday but its guard was outmatched and allowed the Gators to get going. The Tigers have announced the most stunning transfer. Mark Sears, the All-American guard at archrival Alabama, will transfer to Auburn for his sixth season granted by the NCAA and play for Bruce Pearl.
Houston still has the roster to repeat as Big 12 champion in 2025-26, but Sampson needs to generate more scoring when a determined defense like Florida applies the pressure as it did Monday night, denying the Cougars their first ever Natty and handing the Gators their third since winning back-to-back NCAA titles in 2006 and ’07.
Duke will have the most interesting rebuild, if four starters and regulars enter the NBA Draft. Cooper Flagg was a freshman sensation who uplifted the rest of the team that grew into a betting favorite to win it all. There may never be another player quite like him in the ACC.
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Featured image via Associated Press/Brynn Anderson
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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