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As NCAA Tournament Arrives In North Texas, Rating The Final Four Teams

Gus Contreras
/
KERA News
This weekend, about 80,000 folks are expected to fill AT&T Stadium in Arlington for the North Texas Final Four.

Fans from Florida, Wisconsin, Connecticut and Kentucky are cashing in frequent flyer miles, nailing down hotels, scrounging for tickets and heading to North Texas for the NCAA men’s Final Four, which starts Saturday. NPR’s sports correspondent, Tom Goldman, is coming, with 80,000 or so of his closest friends. KERA’s vice president of news, Rick Holter, talked with him.

Interview Highlights: Tom Goldman on …

... North Texas hosting its first Final Four in 30 years – at the humongous AT&T Stadium: "It reminds me of that scene in 'Hoosier' where the underdog team shows up in Indianapolis for the state tournament and they’re looking all wide-eyed at the arena and Gene Hackman measures the height of the basket and says ‘Boys, it’s the same height as back home.’ Well, you know what I think: Playing in front of 85,000 people and under that massive jumbotron in Jerry’s World – it’s not quite like back home for these teams. [The players might feel] a few nerves at first."

... on all of the amazing games during this year’s tournament: "Each game -- I guess Florida-Dayton wasn’t the greatest -- but each game got better and better and better. Wisconsin-Arizona went into overtime [one of several games that ended in overtime.] The Connecticut-Michigan State game was capped off by I think was the best game of the whole tournament – Kentucky beating Michigan. If you saw the game, which was won on a last-second three-point shot, it wasn’t a matter of the teams making mistakes. We always like to use the boxing metaphor: It was punch and counterpunch, both teams playing well."

... on what to watch from the final four teams this weekend:

Florida: “It’s senior heavy. … A lot of these guys have worked themselves up from the bench to become starters. Great coach, Billy Donovan.”

Connecticut: “[Coach] Kevin Ollie has done a wonderful job coaching. Last year, [the team wasn’t] making academic progress and [it was banned from post-season play.] He kept the team together and convinced Shabazz Napier to stay.”

Kentucky: “One-word answer: Wow. The freshmen's run has been nothing short of amazing. They are maturing before our very eyes. And we saw another step toward maturity in their game against Michigan.”

Wisconsin: “Bo Ryan, the head coach, has never been to the Final Four. He always went to the Final Four with his father – his dad died in August. The day that Wisconsin qualified for the Final Four would have been Bill Ryan’s father’s 90th birthday. We all got choked up about that. On the court, Frank Kaminsky – he’s 7 feet tall. He’s an absolute terminator offensively. He can hit the three-point shot … and he can put the ball on the floor and drive. He's going to be a very very tough guy to guard even for this phenomenal, miraculous Kentucky team."

Rick Holter was KERA's vice president of news. He oversaw news coverage on all of KERA's platforms – radio, digital and television. Under his leadership, KERA News earned more than 200 local, regional and national awards, including the station's first two national Edward R. Murrow Awards. He and the KERA News staff were also part of NPR's Ebola-coverage team that won a George Foster Peabody Award, broadcasting's highest honor.
Eric Aasen is KERA’s managing editor. He helps lead the station's news department, including radio and digital reporters, producers and newscasters. He also oversees keranews.org, the station’s news website, and manages the station's digital news projects. He reports and writes stories for the website and contributes pieces to KERA radio. He's discussed breaking news live on various public radio programs, including The Takeaway, Here & Now and Texas Standard, as well as radio and TV programs in New Zealand and the United Kingdom.