Beyond the Boxscore

Who needs Jimmer? Derrick Williams blows away Great White Hope jive & defendingchamp Duke

Derrick Williams is clearly the best player in college basketball.
Sorry Jimmer Fredette. It's true.
Just ask Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski.

Jimmer Fredette is an excellent college basketball player — essentially J.J. Redick with a better publicist and no Duke stain. Derrick Williams is a future NBA star, with "future" being this November.

That's the difference and it was put on fascinating display in two Sweet 16 games 1,881 miles apart Thursday night. While Fredette spent a night in New Orleans getting pushed around by a more physical Florida team — and whining about it — Williams blitzed the defending national champions in Anaheim with one of the great NCAA Tournament games of all time.

You shouldn't be disappointed that Jimmer Mania will not be making its way to Houston for the Final Four. Not with Williams, the most exciting player in the country, (and sorry, it's not even that close) only one win from getting here.

Williams is electric, fascinating (this 19-year-old has more than a little Muhammad Ali in him, making his cocky confidence come across as more funny than offensive) and crazily diverse in his skill level. Name another player in the entire NCAA Tournament field who could beat you with a 3-pointer or an out-of-nowhere block at the buzzer.

But you know what else Derrick Williams is? He's standup.

Before Buzz Bissinger — who's gone from writing the best sports book of all time to starring as everyone's wacky, somewhat deranged, but usually (usually) entertaining sports uncle — claimed this week that Fredette's popularity is mostly due to the fact that he's the rare white star in an overwhelmingly black sport, reporters tried to see if Williams would take the bash Fredette bait. During the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament in Tulsa, Williams was asked a few times in the Arizona locker room if he thought Fredette was receiving more attention than he deserved because of outside factors.

Translation: Is he getting more national run than you because he's a white superstar?

"Nah," Williams replied in his usual relaxed way. "I love Jimmer. He's fun to watch. That's why people like him. He's entertaining."

Williams swatted down the out-of-date and out-of-touch Great White Hope silliness that sticks to Jimmer with the same relaxed force he showed in kicking Duke and its sanctimonious coach Mike Krzyzewski to the curb in California. He didn't feel the need to disrespect Jimmer to build up his own rep.

And that's where Bissinger and anyone else who brings up the Great White Hope argument with Fredette comes up lacking. It might be easy to think that Fredette's appeal depends on the fact he's white from afar, but if you spend any time around college basketball players, an almost universal respect for Fredette emerges. The kind of thing you never heard with Gonzaga's Adam Morrison at the height of his college stardom. Or any other superstar pretender.

Williams has seen Jimmer drop 49 and 33 points on the board up close as BYU's beaten Arizona two straight years, helping grow the mania.

During five days in spent Tulsa and now one in San Antonio — NCAA Tournament sites that Fredette wasn't at — his name still came up more than any other player's. Other college basketball players got a kick out of him too. And it has nothing to do with the color of his skin.

Players respect players who can bring it. Period.

Williams just happens to be a much better player. The best in fact. Jimmer's reached his peak. Williams is only finding out just how good he can be. The Arizona lifeline's 25-point first half against Duke crushes any last bit of doubt.

This was the stuff of Isiah Thomas pouring in 25 points on a busted-up ankle in the third quarter of an NBA Finals game, of Reggie Miller scoring eight points in 11 seconds to steal a playoff game. Williams changed the course of a game on the strength of his signature talent alone. Duke stood poised to roll right over Arizona, but Williams wouldn't let them.

Williams will not let Arizona lose — especially if given a second chance. He snuffed out Memphis' chance at tie in the Wildcats' first tourney game with a block at the buzzer. Yes, he needed that rushed five-second call on Texas in the second game, but once he got it, he still managed to convert a high-flying, twisting 3-point play to steal the game.

The greatest indication of his resolve is his 3-point shooting though. The built 6-foot-8 Williams doesn't fit any notion of a classic 3-point shooter. Yet, he's set to break shooting specialist Steve Kerr's school record for 3-point percentage in a season with ease.

"It would be the greatest upset in NCAA history if Derrick beats Steve Kerr's record," Arizona coach Sean Miller said in Tulsa. "If we got in the gym and had those two guys get in a shooting contest, I'd put all money on Steve. He's a shooter. Derrick's not really a 3-point shooter.

"But he's such a gamer. He makes them in the biggest moments."

Just ask Coach K.

Williams' bank-in, ultra-contested 3-pointer at the end of the first half only brought the Wildcats within six, but it left the Blue Devils reeling with doubt.

Krzyzewski — for all his motivational speeches, books, TV commercials and taking credit for the world's best basketball players winning a gold medal — could never put his team's psyche back together again. The Blue Devils were Humpty Dumpty come to life on a basketball court, shattered by the best player in the college game.

Emboldened, Arizona beat the champs and No. 1 seed by 22 points in the second half on the way to a 93-77 wipeout. Williams would throw down the dunk of the tournament in the final 20 minutes, but he mostly watched his suddenly confident teammates run right by Krzyzewski's team.

"He's certainly the best we've seen this year," Krzyzewski said of his tormentor.

Williams would finish with 32 points on 17 shots and add 13 rebounds. Fredette? He'd get 32 points too in an overtime loss. But it took him 29 shots to do it.

Jimmer's out of March, sporting some fresh bandages. But who cares? You're not missing anything.

The best basketball player in the college, the most entertaining force in the field, is still only one leap from Houston. Williams has already made one trip to the Bayou City this season, putting up 18 points and 10 rebounds in a 27-point win over Rice in front of just a few thousand people on Dec. 1.

If returns it will be as the best college basketball player in the country, one who draws a whole lot more attention. Don't fret Jimmer. Houston would be getting the better mania with Williams, a superstar on the rise.

unspecified series568663989

Beyond the Boxscore

Houston in line to get more Final Fours after 2016: NCAA officials expect it tobecome a regular

The success of Bracket Town meant almost as much to the NCAA as the success atReliant Stadium.
Photo by Bruce Bennett
NCAA official Greg Shaheen praised Houston's Final Four efforts.
Kemba Walker wasn't the only one who flew high at this Final Four.
Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images

When even NCAA officials are making jokes about the lowest-scoring NCAA Championship Game since 1949, you know they had a good time in Houston.

That's what happens in the Final Four wrap-up press conference Tuesday. Greg Shaheen — the highest-ranking NCAA official in the room — opens his portion with a crack about the offensive woes Monday night.

Shaheen notes that if more people had the motor shown by Houston Final Four Local Organizing Committee interim executive director Doug Hall then "we might have had a game last night where both teams scored 60 points."

"You were on overdrive," Shaheen says to Hall.

Yes, there is a whole lot of love in the room when the Houston LOC and the NCAA meet for the last time before this 2011 Final Four becomes part of the record books — and thoughts begin to slowly turn to the 2016 Final Four that will be held in Houston and the 2015 regional at Reliant Stadium before that.

It does not figure to end in 2016 though. Shaheen — the NCAA's interim executive vice president of championships and alliances — tells CutureMap he expects there will be even more Final Fours in Houston in the future.

"I don't see any reason why Houston wouldn't become a regular part of our rotation," Shaheen says.

Shaheen would be the first to say that the NCAA's Basketball Committee will make the final call like usual on future sites, but he says the committee is thrilled with Houston's performance.

"This is what a showcase event should look like," Shaheen says of a Houston event that set the Final Four record for total attendance (145,747 at the two nights of games) and also drew an estimated 140,000 to the Big Dance Concert Series (the concert figure is based on an "approximation" of the number of people who came through Discovery Green during all three concerts that lasted several hours each) and another 49,000 to Bracket Town at the George R. Brown Convention Center. "This is what a national championship should feel like.

"It should be exhausting the next morning and be a seamless effort."

Later Shaheen quips, "UConn is not the only winner here."

Instead, Texas might be the biggest winner of all. For the Lone Star State has emerged as the NCAA's big event darling. Texas will host three Final Fours in a six-year stretch (Houston in 2011 and 2016, Dallas in 2014). And that type of dominance is not expected to end anytime soon either.

"In the modern era, for both the men's and women's championships, I don't know that any state has emerged like Texas," Shaheen says. "And I think you have to include San Antonio (host of the 1998, 2004 and 2008 Final Fours) in that equation as well. There are a lot of things Texas offers the championships that are unique."

Standing off to the side in the ballroom at the Hyatt Regency — which served as the headquarters for the coaches convention during Final Four week, housing all the big names who weren't coaching in the games — Robert Dale Morgan is sure of what makes Houston such a lure.

Morgan, the president and executive director of the 2011 Houston Final Four LOC, held a similar position for Houston's 2004 Super Bowl and many credit his vision with helping the city see its big sports event potential, with a Super Bowl, Major League Baseball All-Star Game, NBA All-Star Game, Major League Soccer All-Star Game and now a Final Four all having been held here since 2004. Not that Morgan wants that recognition.

He chooses to sit in the crowd rather than on the stage at the wrap-up press conference. He probably could have blended in to, wearing a Houston Final Four hat with his suit, if so many people on the stage didn't point him out. Bob Beauchamp, chairman of the Houston Final Four LOC, calls Morgan, "the best in the business."

"Having six million people who care," Morgan says in explaining how Houston's positioned itself as the host city with the most. "Having a dozen Fortune 500 companies. And oh by the way, we have really great weather 300 days out of the year."

Trash Talk Between Friends

Houston hands off the Final Four to New Orleans, next year's host. The transition is a bit of intentional symbolism by the NCAA which wants to recognize how closely the two cities are linked and the Bayou City's role in helping after Hurricane Katrina.

This will be the fifth Final Four that New Orleans has hosted and the city's LOC executive director John Koerner can't help but point out to Houston, the new city in "the rotation," how great every one of the NCAA Championship Games held in the Big Easy has been.

"New Orleans has hosted some of the most memorable finals ever," Koerner says. "We had Michael Jordan's shot, Keith Smart's shot, Chris Webber's infamous timeout and Hakim Warrick's block at the buzzer."

And from its first Final Four, Houston has? Well, a whole lot of clangs — and Butler's record-low 18.8 percent shooting.

Not that anyone in the NCAA is holding it against the Bayou City. The organization credentialed 1,387 media members for this Final Four, loved the visibility brought about by having it in one of the America's biggest cities. Even if you have to wonder how much everyone was into it locally. The TV rating in Houston for the unsightly Butler-UConn national championship game only ranked 30th out of the 56 major media markets.

Shaheen's not dwelling on that. Instead, he's sticking around Houston to take in more of the city without the pressures of the mega event.

"I don't have a flight home," Shaheen says, knowing that Southwest Airlines' grounded jets have made it much harder than usual to land one last minute. "So I'll be staying here two, three, four, five more days. I may be looking to get an apartment and just become a resident."

Shaheen laughs. Who says NCAA suits don't have a sense of humor?

When they are happily in Houston, they sure do.

unspecified series568663989