Ex-Farragut star gives Arizona the Wright stuff

MINNEAPOLIS Illinois came up short, but Arizona's Michael Wrightgives the Final Four a Chicago connection. Wright, a muscular, 6-7power forward from Farragut, averages 15.8 points and 7.9 reboundsfor the Wildcats and appears to have a bright basketball future aftercollege.

Wright, who didn't attempt a field goal in Arizona's 87-81 victoryagainst the Illini in the Midwest Regional final last Sunday, waslooking to bounce back from his subpar four-point, two-rebound effortin that game. He responded with 13 points, all in the second half, inthe Wildcats' 80-61 victory Saturday against Michigan State.

"That's pretty rare," Wright said of his production againstIllinois. "It was kind of crazy, just one of those days. But I'drather not take a shot and win than score 30 points and lose."

Wright was recruited heavily by Illinois, but he opted for a moreproven program to develop and showcase his skills. He said if he werecoming out of high school today, the Illini's trip to the Elite Eightwould make passing them up more difficult.

"That's a real big factor," Wright said. "I considered Illinois.One of my guys, (former Westinghouse star) Kiwane Garris, went there,and it was close to home. Plus, I played at their basketball camps.But I knew they were going to become a good team because I knewFrankie (Williams) and Sergio (McClain) and Marcus Griffin."

NO SURPRISES: For all the talk about the record number of upsetsin the early rounds of the tournament, the cream rose to the top forthis Final Four.

No. 1 seeds Duke and Michigan State were joined by No. 2 seedArizona and No. 3 seed Maryland. And were it not for a couple ofregular-season stumbles that aren't all that relevant now, Arizonaand Maryland might have been No. 1 seeds. Both started the season asconsensus top-five picks.

Arizona was ranked No. 1 in the Associated Press' preseason poll.Duke was No. 2, Michigan State No. 3 and Maryland No. 5. Stanford,which was ranked No. 4 in the AP preseason poll, was beaten byMaryland in the West Regional final.

FOUR ON THE FLOOR: The fourth game of the season Saturday betweenDuke and Maryland was unusual, but it wasn't unique. Wisconsin andMichigan State also played for a fourth time in the nationalsemifinals last season in Indianapolis. The Spartans beat the Badgers53-41 and won all four games between the teams.

"I was sitting there worrying about how you beat a team fourtimes," Spartans coach Tom Izzo said. "Then I talked to (formerWisconsin coach) Dick Bennett later, and he was sitting thereworrying about how you beat a team that has beaten you three times."

MAUI FIELD SET: The field for the 2001 Maui Invitational, whichwill be held Thanksgiving week, is headlined by Duke, Kansas andUCLA. Other schools in the eight-team field are Seton Hall, SouthCarolina, Houston, Ball State and host Chaminade.

Despite widespread support from players and coaches, tournamentsplayed outside the contiguous 48 states are in jeopardy because of aproposal initiated by conference commissioners. The proposal, whichwould take away the multigame exemption such tournaments enjoy, willbe voted on by the NCAA Management Council on April 9. A favorablevote would bring the proposal one step closer to be being enacted bya final vote that could come in October.

The move against the exempt tournaments would give teams one morehome game, which can be worth a few hundred thousand dollars to bigschools. Proponents of the tournaments have initiated lawsuits aimedat allowing them to keep their status.

MAGICAL ADVICE: Former Michigan State star Magic Johnson arrivedat the Final Four to cheers of "Magic! Magic!" and with some advicefor underclassmen in college basketball: Stay in school.

Though Johnson left for the NBA after leading the Spartans to anNCAA title as a sophomore in 1979, he said a key to his success wasthe two NCAA tournament games he played as a freshman.

"The next year was like, `Oh, my,' " Johnson said. "I was so muchbetter."

Contributing: Associated Press