NCAA Tournament 2000 - East teams provide Hall of Fame coaching roster

East teams provide Hall of Fame coaching roster
By Bill Doherty
Special to ESPN.com

The first thing that one notices about the Eastern sector of Bracketville is that it is overpopulated with old-school, Hall of Fame coaches.

The East regional is home to the original Coach K (Bob Knight) and the sequel (Duke's Mike Krzyzewski). It has the man who embodies old school, Temple's John Chaney. How old school is Chaney? He lives in the same house that he purchased in the Mount Airy section of Philly for $11,000 and jokes that the satellite dish that he has connected to his house is bigger than the house itself. And then's there Oklahoma State's Eddie Sutton and Kansas' Roy Williams.

Game of the region

No. 8 Kansas vs. No. 9 DePaul
Friday, 7:40 p.m. ET
These two teams have almost as much talent as any team in the country, but neither has met expectations this winter. For the loser, a long season gets longer. If Kansas wins, the Jayhawks will encounter a heavyweight second-round foe for a second straight year (they lost 92-88 in OT to Kentucky last March in the second round). DePaul is one team that truly believes that they can beat Duke. After all, they lost 84-83 in overtime back on Dec.11 at Cameron Indoor Stadium on a banked 3-pointer by Duke freshman Nick Horvath.

Each of these giants in the coaching profession gather in the East with something to prove. Knight, old Red Sweater himself, hasn't been past the second round of the NCAA tourney since 1994. And to get there this year, he'll have to beat Pepperdine (a popular office-pool sleeper pick) and then will probably battle Sutton in the second round. Sutton and Knight enter the NCAAs with 1,419 coaching wins between them.

They aren't the only Hall of Fame-caliber coaches who are likely to meet in the first weekend. Williams is 328-81 (.802) in his 12th season at Kansas, which represents the highest winning percentage among all active Division I coaches with at least five years experience.

If his 23-9 Jayhawks can upend nine-seed DePaul in the first round, Williams will face off with Krzyzewski, who has done the greatest coaching job of his illustrious career by getting a No.1 seed despite losing four players to the first round of last spring's NBA draft. If he ousts DePaul in the first round, Williams can expect roughly three zillion "Will you replace Bill Guthridge?" questions prior to the Duke game from the Tobacco Road media horde covering that subregional in Winston Salem, N.C.

Despite his wonderful coaching job thus far this season, Coach K still has some work to do. After a first-round cakewalk against Lamar, Krzyzewski and top-seeded Duke will have to navigate a minefield to get back to the Final Four: Talented Kansas or DePaul in the second round, a potential Sweet 16 matchup with loaded Florida, and a possible regional final against Temple -- red hot since Pepe Sanchez returned from an early-season ankle injury.

But perhaps the single most interesting storyline here is the 68-year-old Chaney and his ongoing quest to reach his first Final Four. A trip to the NCAA tourney's final weekend is all that's missing from the Hall of Fame career that Chaney has carved out in the shadow of the Big East. He has been close to the promised land a number of times, coaching four different teams to the Elite Eight within the last 11 years.

But, this is his most talented ever at Temple. Chaney will tell you that. It has the consummate Chaney point guard in Sanchez, talented wing scorers in Mark Karcher, Quincy Wadley and Lynn Greer, a four-year starting power forward in Lamont Barnes and a guy that the wise old Owl calls the "best rebounder in the country" in 6-9, 240-pound junior pivot Kevin Lyde. Will that loaded lineup be enough for Chaney to negotiate his way through this group of coaching giants and into the college hoops ultimate weekend?

At least one Philly coach thinks Chaney can get there.

"A lot of years, Temple's had a wall, somebody that just presented an unbelievable challenge," St. Joseph's (Pa.) coach Phil Martelli said. "This year, I don't see a wall in front of this team. I see hurdles."

Chaney laughs when told of Martelli's "hurdles" comments. "You look at Duke with Coach K or any of these other guys that are proven winners in our bracket, guys like Bobby Knight, Eddie Sutton, Roy Williams -- there are plenty of guys here that can cause you pain," Chaney says. "If we get the big prize, I'll be the happiest man alive. But if we don't and we give 100 percent effort, I'll be satisfied."

Searching for Cinderella
If a team from a power conference can possibly be a Cinderella, then Florida fits the bill. This 24-7 team is much better than its No. 5 seed would indicate. They've won six of their last eight, falling only to fellow NCAA tourney teams Kentucky and Auburn by single digits. Four of this team's five starters average in double figures, led by super sophs Mike Miller (14.3 ppg) and Udonis Haslem (11.3 ppg), and everybody on Billy Donovan's roster can shoot the ball. Don't be surprised at all if these young Gators are playing in Indianapolis on April 1.

Don't believe the hype
Penn's Michael Jordan. Yes, Jordan (16.3 ppg) is the best player in the Ivy League and has the same name as his Airness. But this guy always tries to do too much against the big-name teams and sometimes it causes him to put up Iverson-esque shooting numbers (check out this season's 2-for-14 shooting for five points against Kentucky and 5-for-15 shooting for 13 points vs. Temple).

On a roll
Take your pick here. Penn has won 16 straight. Butler (23-7) is on a 15-game win streak, but will be hard-pressed to beat Florida. Temple (26-5) has won 17 of its last 18. And of course, Duke (27-4) has proven quite Y2K compatible, having only lost twice since the ball dropped in Times Square.

On life support
Seton Hall (20-9) enters the NCAAs having lost five of its last seven games. Still, the Hall could be a dangerous No. 10 seed, led by guards Shaheen Holloway (13 ppg, 5.9 apg), Darius Lane (15.4 ppg) and Rimas Kaukenas (13 ppg).

The Hall takes on seventh-seeded Oregon in the first round. West Coast teams that get shipped East generally leave their collective shooting touch in overhead compartments. Plus, all four No. 10 seeds won first round games last March. With a win over the Ducks, the Hall would get Temple. If long-range bombers Lane and Kaukenas are on, they could end Chaney's Final Four quest early.

Hot hand
Chris Carrawell, Duke. On this Tuesday morning's ACC conference call, Krzyzewski said that if he was putting together a team of all the guys that he coached at Duke that he'd want Carrawell on it, and believes that he'd be a heavy contributor on such a team. That's enough for us. Carrawell (18 ppg.) was the second leading scorer in the ACC and the school's fourth ACC Player of the Year in the last nine years. After never scoring 20 points in a game as a freshman, sophomore or junior, Carrawell reached that plateau in 28 regular-season games.

Hero in waiting
Quincy Wadley, Temple. You know all about Sanchez, the Owls' unflappable point guard and Karcher, the former McDonald's all-American who shed 20 pounds this offseason and is playing the best ball of his career.

But in the coming weeks, Joe Snackchip will come to learn that the unsung hero on this year's Owls squad is the 6-4 Wadley. He is Temple's second-leading scorer (12.7 ppg) and is a tough-as-nails defender. Wadley (team-high 63 3-pointers), Karcher (62 3s) and sixth man Lynn Greer (57 3s) give Chaney something he has lacked in other failed Final Four bids: Proven 3-point bombers.

Bill Doherty, a freelance writer from Bethlehem, Pa., is a regular contributor to ESPN.com.


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