written by Mike Unger
8:15 a.m. -Â Morning everyone. About 27 hours until tipoff. This morning I have a little nugget for you on Travis Lay. I'll also be checking in from practice and various news conferences. While you're watching the games on your computer at work (those of you not too "sick" to make it in), be sure to check the blog during the commercials.
During the course of the game Friday, the Tennessee pep band will play "Rocky Top" approximately 1,034 times. While many of the orange-clad fans in the arena undoubtedly will know all the words, there's only one AU player who could sing along if he chose.
Both of Lay's parents went to the University of Tennessee, and he grew up an avid Volunteers football fan. Lay was in attendance when UT beat Florida State for the national title in 1998, and like the rest of Volunteer Nation, he died a slow death every time the boys from Knoxville faltered against hated Steve Spurrier and the Florida Gators.
"I cried every year they'd lose to Florida," he said. "Peyton Manning never beat Florida. Amazing."
Lay has some relatives from Chattanooga who are coming to Birmingham for the game, and his parents will be in attendance as well. But where will their loyalties lie?
"If we weren't playing, I think they'd be wearing orange."
10 a.m. -Â Just how much exposure does AU gain from its presence in this little basketball tournament? An astronomical amount - based on the highly scientific results of some overheard conversations in the Birmingham Embassy Suites dining room. On three separate occasions this morning in line for breakfast, curious hotel guests asked someone from AU where the school is located. They all sounded as if they had never heard of it before. They have now.
After breakfast, Derrick Mercer, Nick Hendra, and Jordan Nichols were hanging out in the lobby surfing the internet. I had a chance to ask them a few of the questions I posed in my first blog entry. Not that it matters - he's a fabulous player - but a couple of people wanted me to ask: Can Derrick dunk?
"Yeah," was his short answer. Nichols raised his eyebrow when Mercer said he'd dunked in a game, but Derrick assured everyone that he can indeed throw down with two hands.
Hendra's father is an actor, writer, and comedian who appeared in the classic rock mocumentary "This is Spinal Tap." While Nick likes the film - and really, who couldn't? - his taste tends to run a little toward the Will Ferrell spectrum. His list of his favorite movies reads like Ferrell's IMDd page.
"Old School" "Anchorman" "Talladaga Nights" What can you say, the man has comedy in his blood.
1 p.m. -Â Greetings AU fans, from the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex. AU just finished its public practice and soon will be back on the bus headed to a closed workout at the University of Alabama-Birmingham. Before they hit the court, Brian Gilmore, Garrison Carr, Derrick Mercer and Jeff Jones addressed members of the media (most of whom had thick Southern accents). The players fielded questions on Tennessee, how they each wound up at American, whether they derive confidence from past Patriot League successes in the tournament, how they beat Maryland, and their thoughts on Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl.
Here's a snippet of Carr's comments: "We have to make sure we play our style of basketball, we can't get caught up in Tennessee's style of play. We're going to have to match their intensity on the court,. They're unlike any other team that we've played this year."
"This is a great opportunity to put American on the map. People still ask, `American University, where is that?' I have to tell them it's in Washington, D.C. Hopefully tomorrow people all over the nation will watch us play and we can start to help build the program."
Among Coach Jones's remarks:
"There are so many deserving people at American who have been plugging away for so many years. It really is special to be a part of the team that has allowed all of those folks to realize the dream they've had. The media coverage has been pretty remarkable. It's not something that we're used to, and I'm sure it won't always be there. For American University to get its moment in the sun in the Washington D.C. media but also the national media is great for our school. It's a great place to work."
Jones was also asked, somewhat bizarrely, to talk about the differences higher and lower seeded teams face in the hotels they're assigned.
"Anybody that is a part of this tournament that is worried about is their hotel as nice as someone else's has got it way wrong. Our hotel is the Embassy Suites and it's been wonderful. It's just not something that I've ever paid a whole lot of attention to."
During the practice, I had a chance to chat with Bill Raftery, who will call the game for CBS. I asked him what AU had to do to win and how just getting to the tournament will affect the program.
"Handle the pressure, use the clock a little bit. They're going to have to rebound and hit some [free throws] all the things that undermanned teams have to do."
"They'll step up their recruiting. Next spring's class should be better. They'll be in better athletic homes. I think the pride that goes with people knowing who you are a little bit. It's part of your resume now, it speaks for itself."
I'll post another entry shortly after Tennessee's press conference and practice.
2 p.m. -Â If tomorrow's game were to be decided by the number of managers, assistant coaches, and other general hangers-on each program has, Tennessee would win in a walk. During their practice, it appeared as if each Volunteer player had his own personal valet. Both benches were filled (AU's were virtually empty when the Eagles worked out) by.....people wearing orange. That aside, Tennessee is definitely an impressive looking bunch. They're fast, strong, and well coached. But they're not invincible.
Before their workout, the Tennessee players made available to the media and coach Bruce Pearl had a press conference during which they exhibited drastically different levels of knowledge about AU. Here's what senior guard Chris Lofton said when I asked him what he knew about the school and basketball team:
"I've heard of it before but I wasn't familiar with their program. I didn't realize how good they were until I saw them on film."
Senior guard JaJuan Smith added:
"I have never seen them play on TV but we know they're a great team because they're still playing in March, and we can't take any team lightly."
Now check out Coach Bruce Pearl's take on AU. Warning, Bruce can talk. A lot.
"Carr is in the top 15 in three categories in the NCAA. Three point percentage, three point makes, and free throw percentage. He's a great shooter, and you gotta cover him before the catch. Mercer will fear nothing, there's no match-up out there that he's concerned about. He's played against the best. He's slippery, he's a tough, physical guy that can break you down. He breaks everybody down to get those guys shots on that team. Lay is a guy that just plays so hard, gets every 50-50 ball. Nichols, the center, may be 6'5", but he has a 7'3" wingspan and plays so much bigger. Jeff Jones, there's nothing he's not seen. Their system, with staggers and ball-screens and handoffs puts Carr and Mercer in position to be successful. They don't have a lot of post game because that's not their strength. They'll run the shot clock down, they'll try and keep the score down in the 40s and 50s, we'll try to speed them up without hurting ourselves too much, and we'll take advantage of our size and try to go inside, where we have the ability and the advantage."
5 p.m. -Â Heading back from the arena this afternoon, Coach Jones described the Eagles' closed practice as "excellent."
"I had to cut some of our segments short because the guys were getting after each other so much. I didn't want to wear them out."
It'll be another early night for AU. Dinner's at 7, followed by a team meeting at 9. Lights out at 11 - and back on tomorrow morning at 6:45. Tip off is 11:20 a.m. central time.
I got this email from a reader and thought I'd share it.
"I went to high school with Jeff Jones and was lucky enough to be a part of an incredible basketball experience his senior year-undefeated going into the state tournament. I'm sure that anyone who was around in Owensboro, KY at the time would describe that season as "magical".
I am so proud for him that he is taking his team to the NCAA tournament-I knew he would eventually. However, I noticed that ESPN is giving American University a 1% chance of beating Tenn. Hmmm........ So, I'm thinking the motto of the day should be "We're believing in the 1!"
Go Jeff!!!! Go Eagles!!!!!!!
Robin Woodall-Gani
8:30 p.m. -Â At about the same time the AU pep band and cheerleaders arrived at the hotel this evening, a boatload of fired up students piled into a bus back in Washington. Their destination: Birmingham. Roughly 12 hours later, around 9 a.m. tomorrow, they'll arrive. God knows how they'll smell, but no matter how rank, you can be sure they'll be ready to root on their Eagles.
The team just got back from another delicious and incredibly filling dinner (These boys can EAT. When assistant coach Jason Williford brought some extra onion rings to one of the players' tables last night, his fellow assistant Mike Brennan warned, "watch your hands"), this time lasagne, pizza, and chicken parm at a homey little Italian place, DeVinci's. On the bus back to the hotel, word of Duke's nail biter began spreading. AU's 15-seed brethren, Belmont, wasn't able to pull off the upset, but their oh-so-close one-point loss should show everyone that AU has a shot tomorrow to be David to Tennessee's Goliath. Believe.
That's it for tonight, folks. I'll post a little story early tomorrow morning about Bryce Simon, then check-in court-side before tip-off. Fifteen hours until game time. Get some sleep, big day for everyone tomorrow.
