NCAA Tournament Media Thread

[NDSUstudent]

North Dakota State’s Lawrence Alexander Jr.: Shooting for his son


Lawrence Alexander Jr. corralled a short-hopped bounce pass on the right wing with 11th seconds remaining in the 2014 NCAA Tournament second round and his 12th seed North Dakota State trailing fifth seed Oklahoma by three.

Alexander had no fear: The pressure of playing the role of giant-killer against a national power on national television, and taking the biggest shot in school history to keep the hopes and dreams of an entire state alive for one more game, had nothing on trying to keep his son alive as a poor teenage father in Peoria, Illinois.

as a calmly pulled up and drilled the game-tying 3-pointer, sending the game into overtime and propelling his Bison to an 80-75 upset special for the first win in program history.

“That was an amazing day,” says Alexander, who calmly drilled the game-tying 3-pointer en route to a then career-high 28 points to lead the Bison to the first NCAA Tournament win in school history.

But it wasn’t the most amazing day of Alexander’s life.

“Not by a long shot,” he says, with palpable joy in his voice as he thinks back four and a half years earlier to Oct. 26, 2009, the day his son, Lawrence III was born.

“The birth of my son is the greatest moment of my life, it’s not even close,” says Alexander, who had turned 18 just four days before Lawrence III entered the world. “I was broke, I was scared and I didn’t know how I was going to keep him alive, and I am forever a better person for it,” he says.

Link to the rest of the article... http://www.onebidwonders.com/2015/03...g-for-his-son/

[NDSUstudent]

NDSU thrives despite meager surroundings


The coaching offices are in an industrial park off campus. Players lift weights in a vacant grocery store.

“The fresh produce and meat signs are still up,” North Dakota Statemen’s basketball coach Dave Richman said. “You can’t make this stuff up.”

The Bison often practice in a 140-foot long, 60-foot wide building with a 20-feet ceiling. The basketball court occupies two-thirds of the warehouse-style facility. On the other side of a divider, there’s a makeshift locker room and training table.

“The gentleman who owns it calls them workshop condos and he usually divides it into threes and leases them out,” Richman said. “We got in touch with him and he was kind enough to let us keep it whole.”

They play home games at Scheels Arena, a hockey arena in south Fargo about 20 minutes from campus.

But the Bison aren’t complaining. The arrangements are necessary as the school renovates Bison Sports Arena to the tune of about $50 million. When it opens for the 2016 season, it will be a state-of-the-art facility called the Sanford Health Athletic Complex (The SHAC).

http://www.spokesman.com/zags/storie...-surroundings/

[SDbison]

Link to the rest of the article... http://www.onebidwonders.com/2015/03...g-for-his-son/

Good read about LA. A great player and a great person.

[Tatanka]

Good read about LA. A great player and a great person.

I love reading the stories about the Bison in the national media. Every year they end up uncovering stories that, well, to be blunt, should have been in the Forum already...

[NDSU1980]

Towards the bottom http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/ncaab-...ail&soc_trk=ma

[ndsubison1]

I love reading the stories about the Bison in the national media. Every year they end up uncovering stories that, well, to be blunt, should have been in the Forum already...

damn straight

[NDSUFan_Sav]

I love reading the stories about the Bison in the national media. Every year they end up uncovering stories that, well, to be blunt, should have been in the Forum already...

damn straight

Why would they ever do such a thing as that?

[NDSUstudent]

Breaking down the NCAA tournament bracket, football-style


South regional:
This is the region of bracket busters, and it starts in the bottom of the bracket. 15-seed North Dakota State is my Cinderella. The national champs four years running in FCS get a chance to play with the big boys and make it count in a run to the Sweet 16.

Duke’s football team has been on the rise and makes it to the Elite Eight. In the second round, Eastern Washington, an elite FCS team, takes down Utah in one of the bracket’s biggest upsets.

UCLA vs. North Dakota State is my favorite matchup in this region. The Bison have won games against FBS teams every year since 2010, but UCLA is the best team they’ve had to play. UCLA underachieved last year, but still finished in the top 10 — Brett Hundley and the Bruins are too much for the Bison in the Sweet 16 and Cinderella goes home early.

Regional champ:
UCLA: The Bruins finished the season with a bowl win and a top-10 ranking. They’re able to fend off upset bids from NDSU and Duke to reach the Final Four.

http://www.dailyillini.com/sports/co...07c67f291.html

[bruinbison]

ESPN Insider article - Jeff Goodman actually took the time to rate all 340 starters in the NCAA tourney.
Well, here they are..... .....the starters for Gonzaga-NDSU

#24 Kevin Pangos
#32 Kyle Wiltjer
#81 Przemek Karnowski
#94 Gary Bell Jr.
#175 Bryon Wesley
#250 Lawrence Alexander
#283 AJ Jacobson
#321 Kory Brown
#328 Chris Kading
#336 Carlin Dupree

So, lemme get this straight, Mr Goodman, the Zags' worst starter is better than the Bison's best starter???
OK, they must be a helluva team then, especially if Wesley is better than LA. I realize Gonzaga is deservedly a big favorite,
but did you really watch tape on all 340 starters? Comeon, you can tell us.....

[NDSUstudent]

Preview show is on KX4 right meow