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player ready...Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said guard Trajan Langdon probably wouldn’t play when the top-seeded Blue Devils face Florida A&M on Friday night in the first round of the East Regional. And it’s possible the Blue Devils’ perimeter sniper, averaging 17.1 points a game, won’t be available until the regional moves to New Jersey next weekend.
Langdon, who has a strain of the fifth metatarsal in his left foot, shot Thursday afternoon, but did not take part in more demanding defensive drills.
“It’s coming along slowly,” said Langdon, who missed the last two rounds of the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament. “It’s something that requires rest, and this time of year that’s something you don’t get much of. I only have three weeks left in my college career. It’s a matter of playing through pain.”
Fenwick High School product Corey Maggette will start in Langdon’s place. Maggette, a 6-foot-6-inch freshman, hit 12 of 16 shots and scored 35 points in two starts in the ACC tourney.
Wally’s world: Miami (Ohio) senior forward Wally Szczerbiak, a finalist for Naismith and Wooden Player of the Year honors, is the son of former George Washington University star Walt Szczerbiak, who went on to have a solid career in Europe and the ABA.
“He has been the biggest single influence in my career,” said Szczerbiak, whose 10th-seeded RedHawks (22-7) open against seventh-seeded Washington (17-11) on Friday in the Midwest Regional in New Orleans. “I always wanted to go shoot the basketball with Dad. He was the one who would say, `Enough already.’ I started out shooting at a suction-cup hoop on my refrigerator. I remember being awestruck when I found out how big of a figure my father was overseas. He has been able to give me so much valuable insight because he has been there. He’s had good games and bad games. His experience has helped me get through games like (Friday’s).”
Szczerbiak said he is fully recovered from the slight dislocation of his right kneecap that he incurred before the Mid-American Conference tournament.
Family affair: Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett and his daugher, Kathi Bennett, are believed to be the first father-and-daughter team to lead teams simultaneously into the NCAA men’s and women’s tournaments. Bennett’s Badgers, the fifth seed in the East Regional, face Southwest Missouri State on Friday in Charlotte, while Kathi Bennett leads 13th-seeded Evansville against Louisiana State at Baton Rouge, La., on Saturday in the women’s West Regional.
Dick Bennett said he spoke to his daughter Wednesday night. “She said, `Dad, I’m really scared,’ ” Bennett said. “I said, `Kath, so I am.’ We’re still kindred spirits.”
Good memories: Only one team has managed to beat Duke this season, and that was Cincinnati. Does that mean anything?
“That was November. This is March now,” says Bearcats center Kenyon Martin. “They’re a different team now; we’re a different team now. If we get a chance to play them again, fine. But now we’re worried about George Mason.”
However, says Cincinnati guard Melvin Levett, “We can use that for confidence. When we played them we were relentless, and that showed us if we play that way, we can beat anyone.”
Cincinnati meets George Mason on Friday in Boston.
Lucky seed? For Arizona coach Lute Olson, there’s a touch of deja vu to being the fourth seed in the Midwest Regional, which begins Friday in Milwaukee. Two years ago Arizona was a fourth seed and went on to win the national championship.
“We went into that season with very little idea how we’d do,” Olson said. “We had at least as many question marks with that team as with this team.”
Two noteworthy members of the 1997 supporting cast, point guard Jason Terry and 6-11 center A.J. Bramlett, are now the stars of a starting lineup that includes three freshmen.
“A.J. and I have been winners our whole careers,” said Terry, the Pac-10’s Player of the Year. “Whoever coach puts out there with us we feel we can win with.”
Olson singled out Michael Wright, from Farragut High School.
“He has not played like a freshman,” Olson said. “He has been solid all season long. Michael is physical, quick, coachable and has a great work ethic.”
In Olson’s opinion, the 6-7 forward’s vital statistics make a case for recognition as national freshman of the year. Wright is averaging 13.9 points, his .584 shooting percentage in Pac-10 play was third best in the conference and his 8.8 rebounding average was fourth best.
Arizona (22-6) will meet No. 13 seed Oklahoma (20-10), a team that thrives on three-point shooting, in Friday’s second game in the Bradley Center.
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