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Division I men’s basketball teams have gathered from Boise, Idaho, to right here in South Philadelphia for the 2009 NCAA Tournament. This year’s event, where a national champion will be crowned April 6 in Detroit, includes some familiar names who excelled on neighborhood courts. Players like Neumann-Goretti grads Rick Jackson (2007) and D.J. Rivera (’06), who were Catholic League champs during their high school years, are chasing a much bigger prize.
A change of scenery is making a world of difference for Rivera, who has been on a tear since transferring to New York’s Binghamton University from St. Joseph’s University last year. In Saturday’s America East Conference championship game, the 6-foot-4 guard tallied 16 points, five rebounds and two assists in a 61-51 victory over University of Maryland Baltimore County and earned the Reggie Lewis Championship Most Outstanding Player honor. More importantly, his Bearcats clinched their first NCAA Tournament bid in 63 seasons. Up first is No. 2 Duke tonight in Greensboro, N.C. Tip is scheduled for 9:40 on CBS.
During the regular season, the athlete collected his share of individual accolades as he was selected to the Foxsports.com Mid-Major All-America Team — the only player from the America East to receive the honor. Rivera, the conference’s leading scorer during the regular season (20.2 points per game), established school single-season records for scoring average, points (603), field goals (214) and free throws (130). He was selected to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District team — another Binghamton first.
Jackson, on the other hand, might be feeling a little fatigued after last week’s grueling Big East Tournament where his Orange needed six overtime periods to knock off Connecticut, 127-117, in the conference semifinals. In this historic game, the sophomore forward logged 30 minutes and tallied 10 points, five rebounds and a block before fouling out in the fourth overtime. But there was no time to rest as the Orange returned to the Madison Square Garden court for Saturday night’s championship game against Louisville — the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament — and lost 76-66.
Jackson is getting a warm reprieve this week as Syracuse is in Miami, Fla., for the opening rounds of the dance. His team drew the No. 3 seed in the South Region and will take the court tomorrow afternoon at 12:15 against No. 15 Stephen F. Austin of Texas. The winner advances to Sunday’s second-round contest to face today’s Temple/Arizona State winner.
Prep Charter grads Marcus and Markieff Morris, who won two Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association state titles during their high school years, are back in the championship picture playing for defending national champion Kansas Jayhawks, who drew the No. 3 seed in the Midwest Region. Their squad opens tournament action 12:30 p.m., tomorrow against North Dakota State.
Marcus was named to the Big 12 Conference All-Rookie team after averaging 7.7 points and 4.9 rebounds a game as a freshman starter, while Markieff contributed 4.9 points and 4.4 rebounds a night.
Jason Love, of 22nd and Tasker streets, could be feeling a little down following his Xavier Musketeers loss of 55-53 to the Temple Owls in last week’s Atlantic 10 semifinals, but that’s in the past as his squad is the No. 4 seed in the East Region. Monday, the focus switched to preparing for No. 14 Portland State, who they play 7:25 p.m. tomorrow.
"[Playing on Friday] gives us an extra day of rest to get ready for Portland State and be that much better," Love said during a Tuesday night phone interview from the Ohio campus.
If everything goes according to plan, the Abington Friends grad and his teammates will spend the weekend in scenic Boise, playing the Florida State/Wisconsin winner Sunday.
"It doesn’t really matter where we go as it’s such a great opportunity to be in the tournament," the junior center, who is averaging 7.1 points, 5.9 rebounds per game while shooting 78 percent from foul line, said.
Although his team didn’t make the dance, Coppin State University senior Tywain McKee was named the 2008-09 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Player of the Year last week. The guard from 13th and Bainbridge streets is the school’s all-time leading scorer and led the league in steals (2.9) and ranked second in scoring (18.2).
"It’s an honor to receive this award from the conference," McKee said in a story posted on the team’s Web site. "To join some of the greats in Coppin State history is very humbling. I couldn’t have done this without my coaches and my teammates though. It really is a team award."
He also was selected First Team All-District 15 by the NABC. McKee, along with Rivera, are two of 240 student athletes across America eligible for the State Farm Coaches’ Division I All-America teams to be announced April 4 in Detroit.
McKee’s squad advanced to last week’s conference tournament semifinals, where it fell 75-67 to the Morgan State Bears. The Bartram High grad was named to the All-Tournament Team after tallying 30 points, seven rebounds and four assists in the final game of his college career.
La Salle University junior Rodney Green, a ’06 Prep Charter grad, was named Second Team All-Atlantic 10 earlier this month. The 6-foot-4 guard’s 17.6 points per game was tops for the Explorers this season. Earlier this season, Green cracked the top 25 on the school’s all-time scoring list with 1,336 career points. Unfortunately, things didn’t go as well in last week’s conference tournament where the Explorers were eliminated by St. Louis in opening-round action. Green led all scorers with 24 points.
Review Intern Anthony Love contributed to this article.
Contact Managing Editor Bill Gelman by email or ext. 123.
