As his feelings washed over him and he realized that, yes, taken Illinois to its first Final Four in more than two decades, coach Brad Underwood said the moment was even better than he had dreamt it could be.
Seconds after the clock hit zero and Arizona secured its first Final Four berth since Lute Olson’s 2001 team, coach Tommy Lloyd grabbed the microphone to speak directly to the fans in San Jose, paying homage to the late Hall of Fame coach synonymous with the Wildcat program: “I know this — there’s a good-looking guy with white hair looking down on us right now that’s happy!”
This is a fever dream of a Final Four for Arizona fans who have been waiting, quite anxiously, for a team to get past the NCAA Tournament’s second weekend. They’ve watched great teams fall just short of a Final Four berth over and over again — Sean Miller took three teams to Elite Eights and three others to Sweet 16s — but this squad wouldn’t be denied…