Keegan: Like father, like son

By Tom Keegan     Mar 18, 2008

Georgetown center Patrick Ewing (33) and Coach John Thompson during the NCAA Men's Basketball Final Four semifinal game against Kentucky held in Seattle, WA, at the Kingdome on April 2, 1984. Georgetown defeated Kentucky 53-40 to meet Houston for the title. Ewing was named MVP for the tournament.

The generations change, but so many of the names stay pretty much the same.

Fathers impart their wisdom, athletic genes and instincts to their sons, who go on to play and/or coach on a national stage in March, just as their fathers did.

Players in this year’s NCAA Tournament will rekindle memories, good and bad, for so many spectators.

Georgetown’s John Thompson II shared his insights, learned as a member of the Boston Celtics, on how to play the post with Patrick Ewing. Now, John Thompson III teaches Patrick Ewing, Jr. for the Hoyas while both fathers watch from the stands.

Drake’s Keno Davis will challenge Kansas football coach Mark Mangino in Coach of the Year hardware. Tom Davis, Keno’s dad, coached Boston College in the NCAA Tourney twice and Iowa nine times. Washington State’s Tony Bennett would like to reach the Final Four, as his father did at Wisconsin.

Valparaiso’s Bryce Drew hit one of the most famous long shots in tournament history to defeat Mississippi. His brother Scott coaches one of this year’s longest shots, the Baylor Bears.

Davidson sophomore Stephen Curry, unanimous selection as Player of the Year in the Southern Conference, averaged 25.1 points per game, 22 years after his father, Dell Curry, averaged 24.1 ppg as a senior and was named Metro Conference Player of the Year for Virginia Tech.

Stan Love didn’t play in the NCAA Tourney for Oregon, but he did earn All Pac-8 honors for two seasons (1970-71) of averaging more than 20 points per game. Stan’s brother, Mike Love, and his cousins Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson, were Beach Boys. Stan’s son Kevin Love is the starting center for UCLA.

Never let it be said there’s not a lotta love in the West Region of the tournament. UCLA’s Kevin Love, Xavier’s Jason Love and Julius Love of Mississippi Valley State all will try to advance to Phoenix on the way to San Antonio.

Darren Daye played for UCLA, but his son Austin Daye will represent Gonzaga in the tourney.

Clemson’s Jerai Grant is the son of Harvey Grant, who played for Oklahoma against Kansas in the 1988 national title game. Drake’s Klayton Korver is the brother of former NCAA tourney marksman Kyle Korver of Creighton.

As was his father Randy Wittman was for Indiana, Cornell’s Ryan Wittman is a pure shooter and will take a 15.4 scoring average into a first-round game against Stanford in a battle of the brainiacs. Marcus Landry plays for Wisconsin. His brother Carl, now playing for the Houston Rockets, played for Purdue. Jason Terry, brother of UNLV’s Curtis Terry, once was the quickest player in the tourney, representing Arizona.

North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough is every announcer’s favorite player. His brother, Psycho B, Ben Hansbrough, is a guard for Mississippi State. Stanford’s Brook and Robin Lopez are twin towers and twins period.

Marquette junior Wesley Matthews is the son of former Wisconsin guard Wes Matthews.

For Wesley Matthews fans old enough to remember rooting against Wes Matthews’ teams, to watch Ryan Ayers play for Notre Dame is to remember that his father Randy Ayers, playing for Miami of Ohio, pinned a double-double on defending national champion Marquette in a shocking 1978 upset that put the once proud program into such a funk that it took a talent of Dwyane Wade’s magnitude to bring it out of a quarter-century later. Ayers, now an assistant coach with the Washington Wizards, coached Ohio State in the tournament.

Rudy Hackett, father of USC guard Daniel Hackett, led Syracuse to an upset of a Tennessee team that featured Bernard King and Ernie Grunfeld.

Now that he won’t have Brandon Rush of Kansas guarding him, Texas A&M’s Josh Carter has a chance to shoot the Aggies to victory against Brigham Young. Josh’s brother Warren played in the tourney for Illinois.

Crowd shots of former tourney greats now rooting for their sons are staples of NCAA tourney TV coverage. So are interesting statistical graphics. The most compelling one will flash when Cliff Hammonds, Clemson’s primary ballhandler, steps the to the free throw line. Hammonds shoots .459 from the line, which makes it tricky for the Tigers late in tight games.

Should UNLV defeat Kent State to advance to a second-round matchup against KU, all the Runnin’ Rebels connections to the state of Kansas could make for another sharp graphic.

Head coach Lon Kruger, a Kansas State graduate, is from Silver Lake. Assistants Greg Grensing (Council Grove), Steve Henson (McPherson) and Mike Shepherd (Burlingame) all are form Kansas. Assistant coach Lew Hill is from Mount Vernon, N.Y., but he played for Wichita State.

Given all those connections and that KU and Kansas State both open the tournament in Omaha, much of the state will head north later this week to watch the latest generation of college basketball talent make memories.

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