Iowa basketball,Dream coming true for Hawkeyes' Baer
Iowa basketball,Dream coming true for Hawkeyes' Baer
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| Temple Basketball, Iowa basketball |
BROOKLYN — Iowa's Nicholas Baer told reporters Thursday that at Bettendorf High School he sometimes skipped class for a few days at this time of year to attend NCAA Tournament games at locales within a few hours of the Quad-Cities
So it goes without saying that today will be big for him. He was with the Iowa basketball team at the NCAA Tournament last year in Seattle, but he was redshirting at the time and just sat there in a coat and tie
Today he’ll be in uniform. And on the court
He said he will have tons of family and friends there to watch him play
“Mom will be here, Dad, sisters, family friends,’’ Baer said. “It’s been a dream of mine to get in the NCAA tournament since I can remember. People are making the trip out to Brooklyn, that’s for sure
BACK HOME: Iowa assistant coach Andrew Francis did not expect a lot of family at today’s game, which is a bit surprising since he’s from Brooklyn
“I can’t afford to have a lot of extra people here. The tickets aren’t cheap, man,’’ Francis said. “I have a couple of people coming. It’ll be cool to see a couple guys
“It’s always fun to see New York and get back to New York. This is a beautiful city. I love Iowa City, but this is where I grew up
OLD FRIENDS: Temple coach Fran Dunphy and Iowa coach Fran McCaffery are both from Philadelphia and have known one another for about 40 years, dating back to when McCaffery was in high school and playing against teams coached by Dunphy. Dunphy later became the head coach at the University of Pennsylvania after McCaffery had played there
“I can remember his dad being a Philly cop and part of his chores at the end of his career were to take care of the Palestra so I would see him all the time,’’ Dunphy said. “His mom and dad were very, very terrific basketball fans and great Philadelphians
HE NEVER MOVES: Dunphy is in his 10th year as the head coach at Temple after 17 years at Penn, which he said has brought a level of stability to his life that few other coaches enjoy
“There aren’t too many guys in my profession who have lived in the same house since 1984,’’ he said
ROYAL TREATMENT: Many of the coaches Thursday were asked how the NCAA Tournament has changed through the years. Notre Dame coach Mike Brey said the biggest thing he has seen is a continued effort to make the tournament a more pleasurable experience for the players
“This is a long day,’’ he said, talking about the interviews and practices that take place the day before the games. “Our guys would be starving and they’d be getting potato chips out of the vending machines. Now we come in here and there’s a catered meal waiting for us
ON THE ROAD: Michigan, which plays Notre Dame in the last game of the day here, straggled into town at 4:30 a.m. Thursday after defeating Tulsa in the First Four in Dayton, Ohio, on Wednesday night
GETTING CLOSE: Despite a late-season shooting slump, Iowa has made 255 3-point field goals this season, the third highest total in Hawkeyes history
It should move into second place today, topping the 2009 total of 258, but would need at least one more game to reach the school record of 274, set in 1995
