Fountain of youthful players

By Harlan Goode

Thursday, March 15, 2007

Editor’s Note: The Hoya is the student newspaper at Georgetown University. Hoya assistant sports editor Adam Hoge examines the East region. The Hoyas are the No. 2 seed in the region.

If one were to write a term paper on the theme of the 2007 NCAA basketball season, the East bracket would serve as an eloquent thesis statement. In a season flooded by a fountain of talented youth, the East will run deep with so-good-so-soon freshmen.

In lightning-quick point guard Ty Lawson, silky-smooth shooter Wayne Ellington and deceptively-fast forward Brendan Wright, top-seeded North Carolina boasts three starters who were nothing but fresh faces on rivals100.com a year ago. The talented trio joins super sophomore Tyler Hansbourough to form what maybe the most gifted lineup Roy Williams has enjoyed since arriving in Chapel Hill.

Texas’ Kevin Durant possesses the phenomenal first-year talent Carmelo Anthony displayed in leading Syracuse to the 2003 NCAA title and could well carry the Longhorns to Atlanta on his string-bean frame.

Although second-seeded Georgetown relies on the steady veteran leadership of juniors Jeff Green, Roy Hibbert and Jonathan Wallace, they also call on steely freshman forward DaJuan Summers for a youthful jolt in the clutch.

Washington State, Southern Cal, and Arkansas are all weaker than their seeding suggests, but look out for Marquette, arguably the toughest eighth-seed in the entire tournament field. The Golden Eagles could make a run on the wings of freshman point guard Dominic James, a 5-11 ball of fast-twitch fiber who is quicker off the dribble than anyone in the land.

With Eastern Kentucky, Belmont, and New Mexico State, the East will not provide the backdrop for a storybook lower-seed Cinderella upset, but the tale of fourteenth-seeded Oral Roberts’ forward Yemi Ogunoye, who comes from Nigerian royalty, should keep the talking heads on CBS occupied.

Although there won’t be any Bucknell-over-Kansas style upsets in this bracket, sharp-shooting Vanderbilt and streaky Texas Tech could have some of the bracket’s wunderkinds preparing for the NBA draft early, should they decide to show up in the coming weeks. If not, the fairy tale for Roy Williams and his band of baby-faced boys in baby blue should continue until the clock strikes midnight on April 2.

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