All Eyes On Dickau At Morning Madness – Ohio State Buckeyes
3/14/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 14, 2002
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%^$%^$By BEN WALKER
%^$AP Sports Writer
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%^$ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) – At least Dan Dickau and his Gonzaga teammates%^$caught one break in the West bracket – they can sleep through Morning%^$Madness.%^$
%^$Then again, they probably would prefer to play at the crack of dawn.%^$
%^$”It’d be great. You’d wake up, get right on the court and get going,” Dickau%^$said Wednesday before practice. “You wouldn’t have to sit around all day,%^$thinking about the game.”%^$
%^$With his mop-top flying, shooting from all angles and scoring more than 20%^$points per game, Dickau might be the most fun college player to watch. The%^$senior guard also is one of the best and was picked for the All-America team%^$this week.%^$
%^$”It’s more a reflection of this team,” he said. “People see that we play%^$with passion and with a love for the game. I think that’s why people%^$identify with us and support us.”%^$
%^$”I noticed it a little more this year,” he said. “We had people rooting for%^$us wherever we played.”%^$
%^$Dickau and his Zags will have to wait before facing Wyoming on Thursday in%^$the first round of the NCAA tournament. Because while they’re shutting off%^$their alarm clocks, Missouri and Miami already will be dealing with shot%^$clocks.%^$
%^$Local tipoff time at The Pit for the Tigers-Hurricanes first-round game:%^$10:40 a.m.%^$
%^$”I’ve been kidding them, ‘You better win or no one’s even going to know you%^$were in the tournament,”‘ Missouri coach Quin Snyder said Wednesday. “People%^$will get up for breakfast – ‘Was Missouri in the tournament?”‘%^$
%^$The early start, set up to help coordinate television coverage across the%^$country, startled Miami guard John Salmons.%^$
%^$”When I first heard it, I was kind of surprised,” Salmons said. “I didn’t%^$know it was even possible to play at 10:40 in the morning.”%^$
%^$No. 4-seeded Ohio State (23-7) and Davidson (21-9) will follow that game,%^$and then comes the night session with the players and teams sure to draw the%^$most national attention.%^$
%^$Dickau leads Gonzaga (29-3) against Wyoming (21-8), before No. 3-seeded%^$Arizona (22-9) plays UC Santa Barbara (20-10).%^$
%^$Chances are all eyes will be on Dickau.%^$
%^$”I think he epitomizes the best side of the NCAA tournament,” Snyder said.%^$”He’s what this time of year is all about.”%^$
%^$Ohio State coach Jim O’Brien agreed, having seen Dickau on TV and in person%^$at tryouts this summer for the World University Games.%^$
%^$”I don’t think it takes long being around him to tell that he’s a special%^$player,” O’Brien said.%^$
%^$”He’s kind of like the boy-next-door, too,” he said. “Everybody’s rooting%^$for him.”%^$
%^$Well, maybe not everyone is so taken with Dickau and the Zags.%^$
%^$Despite finishing ranked No. 6 in the nation and its recent NCAA tournament%^$success, Gonzaga drew only a sixth seed in the West. The Zags, Duke and%^$Michigan State are the lone teams to reach the round of 16 in each of the%^$last three years.%^$
%^$Perhaps the tournament committee didn’t see enough of Gonzaga. After all,%^$the Zags don’t usually make a lot of TV appearances until March.%^$
%^$Salmons, whose Miami team will share the same locker room as Gonzaga,%^$admitted he had hardly seen Dickau. Ditto for Davidson coach Bob McKillop.%^$
%^$”I know about his reputation, but I haven’t been able to watch their games.%^$Is he like Hank Luisetti with his jump shot?” McKillop said, a joking%^$reference to the Stanford star of the late 1930s.%^$
%^$Certainly Salmons or McKillop would like to face Dickau later in the%^$tournament. That couldn’t happen until the West Regional final in San Jose,%^$Calif.%^$
%^$For now, Miami (24-7) has other things to think about, such as getting up%^$for its breakfast matchup against Missouri (21-11).%^$
%^$”Not a college game. I’ve played a few pickup games at 10:40 in the%^$morning,” Hurricanes coach Perry Clark.%^$
%^$Snyder was looking ahead to Thursday’s pregame shootaround. It starts -%^$yikes! – at 7 a.m.%^$
%^$”We’ll get them pumped up with coffee and go,” he said.%^$
