Issue date: 3/25/08 Section: Sports

Oh it's the most wonderful time of the year! No, I'm not talking about Christmas or the very early Easter that many just celebrated. I'm referring to the greatest event in sports, March Madness. About a week ago, I was filling out my bracket in hopes of scoring some extra cash. The sweet 16 has unraveled and I already know that won't be happening since Drake was in my final four. I was trying to show the Valley some love.

Even though I am extremely displeased with the committee, to say the least, I have accepted the Redbirds being in the NIT instead of dancing in the NCAA. I will just say that Digger Phelps, Jay Bilas, many more ESPN analysts, and "oh yeah baby" Dick Vitale are not my favorite people. The term "mid-major" should be changed to "teams besides Duke and UNC that nobody knows about."

Yeah, a 30-point blowout is pretty bad and the 'Birds shot the rock as cold as an icebox full of Keystone on national television, but how about looking at the full resume next time, NCAA committee. Cinderella favorite Drake losing in the first round makes the conference look bad, but I will just say that the Valley needs more love and hopefully ISU won't be on the "teams that got snubbed" list next time around.

Okay, now that I've gotten that out of my system, I can talk about the real story in college basketball this year. With all the madness aside, I just have to say that the youth is, well, the best it's ever going to get.

A few years back, NBA comish David Stern made it so all high school players must be 19 to enter the draft. Picture Kobe wearing a Duke uniform and try to understand the abundance of talent. The result has been an overdose of talent this year. No, there hasn't been any LeBron James, but I will go out on a limb and say that the college freshmen class this year is the best ever.

I will go through a little story to emphasize the mad skills we've seen in college hoops this year.

I can still remember it like it was yesterday. I just got out of basketball practice. It was my sophomore year in high school and I had nothing to do, so I drove 20 miles to see the Pontiac Holiday Tournament. The tournament was in its 75th year and was celebrating one of the richest and best high school basketball tournaments that there is. I usually attended every game when I was younger but as I got older, not as much.

I decided to see Chicago Simeon play. I don't remember who they played, but I know they killed the team. And then I saw him. Derrick Rose, a 6-foot-3 point guard that had a Dwayne Wade body frame with a face that made him look like a grown man. It was late in the second half and all of a sudden, Rose stole the ball and stuffed it like a Thanksgiving turkey. This was in traffic and over two tall defenders. The next play, Rose caught the ball off the rim on a missed shot and twisted his body in a thunderous jam.

Continued...

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