The only Midwestern team in the Midwest Region expects to feel right at home Friday night.
Iowa State forward Jameel McKay said he hopes the United Center will be transformed into “Hilton Coliseum East.”
“Hopefully we’ll have a big home-court advantage and get Virginia a little rattled,” he said.
The Iowa State Alumni Association Club of Chicago reports having nearly 1,500 members with an alumni base exceeding 10,000.
The program has given the Bulls recent coaches in Tim Floyd and Fred Hoiberg. Starting forward Abdel Nader is a Niles North alum who began his career at Northern Illinois. Walk-on forward Stuart Nezlek played at Fenwick.
And Cyclones coach Steve Prohm has strong Chicago ties.
“Everybody in my family outside of me was born in Chicago — grandparents, aunts, uncles, my brother, my parents,” he said.
His father, who was in the carpet business, moved the family to Virginia.
Now Iowa State will play in Chicago against Virginia.
“It’s kind of crazy,” Prohm said.
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Truth hurts: Syracuse forward Tyler Roberson had a dismal performance Feb. 20 against Pittsburgh, and coach Jim Boeheim let him know it. The veteran coach also let the world know it, saying: “If I had anyone else, he wouldn’t play a minute.”
The physically gifted Roberson finished with no points and four rebounds in the game. He has been far better in the NCAA tournament, averaging 11 points and 13.5 rebounds in the victories over Dayton and Middle Tennessee.
“To me it’s a positive,” Boeheim said. “I tell our players I’m going to push them. And if they’re not responding, I’m going to push them harder. … I don’t push hard on kids who turn it over or miss shots. But when you’re not doing what you can physically, I push back really hard.”
Photographic memory: Virginia coach Tony Bennett logged two-plus seasons in the NBA before a foot injury abruptly ended his career. He left the game with some decent memories and at least one regret.
While playing for Charlotte, his final game was at Chicago Stadium in 1985.
“A gentleman came up to me and gave me this great picture of me and Michael Jordan,” Bennett said. “It was an action shot. I remember looking at it and thinking it was cool, but I left it in the locker. We got on the bus and as we were pulling away, I was like: I’ll get a bunch more of those, no big deal. I suffered some injuries after that and never returned.”