Earl Richardson/Journal-World PhotoDAYTON, OHIO ? Carl Holmes walked out into the Dayton Arena and said to himself, in essence: “We’re not in Northridge anymore.”
Holmes is a senior guard at Cal State Northridge, and, since this is the Matadors’ first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, Holmes couldn’t know what to expect when he and his teammates showed up for their Thursday practice session.
“I’m a little jittery,” Holmes confessed. “It’s like a circus out there. Lights and cameras, and people are like ants out there.”
Later, Holmes didn’t sound jittery. He sounded confident maybe overly confident that the No. 13-seeded Matadors had no reason to believe they could not rise up and smite No. 4-seed Kansas in tonight’s first-round tourney contest.
Holmes mentioned he had seen Kansas play on television not something a Kansas player could say about CS Northridge and what he saw was encouraging.
“They looked big, but I don’t think they’re very athletic,” Holmes said. “They have a couple of athletic guys, like Kenny Gregory, but I think if we get out and pressure them we’ll be all right.”
Holmes, it turned out, was just warming up.
“I wasn’t scared of them, but I never thought we’d play them,” he said. “I thought we’d play Maryland or somebody. We need to get past the name Kansas. There’s not much in a name, just players. They’re Kansas. It’s a state. They’re beatable.”
That’s true, of course. Kansas has lost six of its 30 games this season, but CS Northridge has dropped nine of its 31 games, and the Matadors are a mid-major.
Doesn’t matter to Holmes.
“A lot of you guys are going to be surprised,” Holmes told the media. “We’re not going to roll over like a dog. We’re gonna fight for 40 minutes. We’ll play 40 minutes of hell.”
Wait, there’s more.
“I think if we run their big men and get them tired that’ll be a factor,” Holmes said. “They’ve got only seven guys.”
Holmes’ comments, certain to be brought to the attention of Kansas’ players prior to tonight’s tipoff, were a little surprising because you wouldn’t expect the nephew of the head coach to sound like a loose cannon.
In fact, CS Northridge coach Bobby Braswell became Holmes’ legal guardian in the seventh grade.
“He’s a great young man. He’s a natural leader for this basketball team,” Braswell said. “When a coach signs a relative, they usually say you’re donating his educational expenses. But he was the (league) freshman of the year.”
Today Holmes is a chemistry player, averaging just 7.4 points a game sixth highest on the team. He has started 22 of the 31 games, including the last 19.
“He went from being a big scorer as a freshman to sacrificing for what he believes is best for our basketball team,” Braswell said. “Our fans know what an important role he plays on our basketball team.”
Center Brian Heinle plays the most important role on Braswell’s team. Heinle led the Big Sky Conference in scoring (20.4) and rebounding (9.4), and the 6-9 senior was named the league MVP.
Not as outspoken as Holmes, Heinle sounded loathe to provide any locker room fodder for the Jayhawks.
“We like to run and we know they like to play the same way,” Heinle said. “Hopefully, good things will happen. I don’t know if we execute better than they do, but that’s one of our strengths.”
