The Final Four has a Big Ten feel to it beyond Michigan State. Here’s why
There’s a Big Ten feel to this year’s Final Four of the 2019 NCAA Tournament that goes beyond the obvious connection in Michigan State.
The Spartans, led by coach Tom Izzo, are the only program with a conference affiliation competing in this weekend’s culmination of March Madness in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
However, the coaches at the the three other schools vying for a national championship have their own ties to the Big Ten.
Michigan State’s opponent Saturday is Texas Tech. The Big 12 co-regular season conference champion is coached by Chris Beard, who is a disciple of Bob Knight.
Knight was a longtime coach at Indiana, before his tenure at Texas Tech where Beard was eventually hired as an assistant and associate head coach.
The Red Raiders, under Beard, run the motion offense that Knight made famous with the Hoosiers.
“You’ll see a lot of Bobby Knight characteristics in his team — the motion offense, the way they move and guard,” Izzo said about Beard in a press conference Tuesday. “He’s done a phenomenal job.”
Bruce Pearl, Auburn’s head coach, previously was an assistant at Iowa during his early coaching years and Virginia’s Tony Bennett is the son of former Wisconsin head coach Dick Bennett.
The pack line defensive scheme Dick Bennett instituted are seen with Virginia under his son.
Both Dick Bennett and Bob Knight-coached teams weren’t the envy of Izzo, either.
“I hated playing against Bob and I double hated playing against Dick,” Izzo said at Tuesday’s press conference. “His teams were so hard to play against. But that’s what the weekend’s going to be. And Auburn has a little different style but he was in the Big Ten, too, at Iowa for a lot of years. So in a lot of ways it’s going to have a lot of Big Ten flavor to it. And I think that’s a real positive for us.”
“And me personally, I was pulling for Purdue to get in and it would have been really cool. And I saw Gene Keady in the stands and talked to him a couple times since. But I think there’s going to be a real Big Ten flavor to this. Hopefully Bob can get there and I think for everybody else it will be -- I know Dick will be there.”
“Dick didn’t used to go to Tony’s games because he agonized over it. And seeing him in the stands last week, it was great for me because I think last time we played him he didn’t come to the game. He was sitting in the hotel watching it. You know how Dick is; he’s the best, but he gets nervous and tense. And seeing the joy on his face when they won was special. I’ve known Dick most of my life. Worked camps when he was at Wisconsin Stevens Point. So, yeah, it’s going to have a Big Ten flavor.”
This story was originally published April 2, 2019 at 3:46 PM with the headline "The Final Four has a Big Ten feel to it beyond Michigan State. Here’s why."
