Hawai'i needs to keep an eye on Shumpert
| • | Hawai'i men's basketball team ready for Big Dance |
By Dayton Morinaga
Advertiser Staff Writer
DAYTON, Ohio - The status of Syracuse star forward Preston Shumpert for today's game is clear.
As in 20-20 vision.
Shumpert is expected to be in the starting lineup when the Orangemen play Hawai'i in the first round of the NCAA Championship Tournament Midwest Regional.
"He seems good; he seems full-strength," Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim said. "I wouldn't say he's as good as he was playing in New York (last week). He was probably playing better there than any other time this season. But he's been practicing well and we'll have to see what happens in game situations."
Shumpert, who is 6 feet 6, leads the Orangemen in scoring with 19.5 points per game. He was accidentally scratched on the cornea in his right eye by an opponent's finger during a loss to Pittsburgh in the semifinals of the Big East Tournament at New York last Friday. The abrasion caused such discomfort that Shumpert was unable to sleep over the weekend because of it.
Yesterday, the eye appeared clear, and he participated in shooting drills with the rest of the team.
• Upset special? The first round games featuring the No. 5 and No. 12 seeds seem to annually produce an upset in the NCAA Championship Tournament.
An ESPN.com poll listed this year's four No. 5 vs. No. 12 games on its Web site earlier this week and asked, "Which is most likely to produce an upset?"
Gonzaga over Virginia in the South Regional was the most popular choice. Utah State, which already upset Ohio State in the East Regional yesterday, was next.
Hawai'i was the fourth choice, although coach Riley Wallace still liked his team's chances.
"The 12-5 seed is the upset seed and we know what we have to do," he said. "We can win this ball game."
• Savovic or Radovic? Hawai'i guard Predrag Savovic wore jersey No. 4 during practice yesterday instead of his usual No. 1.
"I don't know where it is," Savovic said of his usual practice jersey.
His roommate on the Hawai'i campus, Bosko Radovic, is No. 4 on the Rainbows roster. He suffered a season-ending broken leg in December and is not on this trip.
"We're both from Yugoslavia," Savovic said. "Maybe nobody can tell the difference."
Little fans: The Rainbows visited students at Kennedy Elementary School yesterday. Associate coach Bob Nash arranged the two-hour session with the school, which is across the street from the team's Dayton hotel.
"It went really well, the kids really responded and got excited," Nash said. "I think we made some new Rainbow fans."
When Lance Takaki, the smallest Rainbow at 5-4, was asked why he was so much shorter than the rest of the team, he responded: "Because I didn't eat my vegetables when I was your age. So now you guys know you have to eat all your vegetables."
