NCAA College Basketball Thoughts
I was recently thinking about when me and a close friend of mine loved two, competing college basketball teams. He loved the Syracuse Orangemen and I loved the St John's Red Storm. What was so cool was that one of the years these two met in the championship if I remember correctly.It was the mid-80's and me and my buddy played hoops pretty much every day. We watched every NCAA college basketball game we could, and especially Syracuse and St. John's. When it came time for March Madness and the Final Four, we watched every minute.
But I still remember what a great team St. John's had. First, Walter Berry was the team leader and he was awesome to watch. Walter "The Truth" Berry played only two seasons at St. John's but his impact was huge. Berry was the 1986 BIG EAST Player of the Year and John R. Wooden Award winner, citing him the National Player of the Year for 1986. He totaled 1,424 career points in just two seasons, and was a key member of St. John's 1985 NCAA Final Four team and 1986 BIG EAST Tournament championship squad.
Lou Carnesecca was St John's head coach and had a career record of 526-200. And then of course there was point guard-extraordinaire Mark Jackson. St. John's all-time leader in assists with 738, Mark 'Action' Jackson was the floor general for the great mid-1980s teams under Lou Carnesecca.
Things are different today. College basketball teams don't stay together as long. Georgetown and St. John's, Syracuse, North Carolina, or Duke and UNLV had guys on their team for three to four years. There was continuity.
Lately, the NCAA Tournament has been boring, except for last year. There have been few upsets and a Final Four with two No. 1 seeds and two No. 2 seeds. But last year had some major upsets and a Cinderella team make it to the Final Four, George Mason (who upset college hoops powerhouse UConn Huskies.)
Here are some more Div 1 NCAA Men's college basketball teams to watch out for this 2008-2009 season:
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