Connecticut coach Jim Calhoun after yesterday’s loss to George Mason, as reported in a fine column by Michael Wilbon:
“I can only imagine, and probably better than most, the feeling they must have on that campus and in that locker room,” Calhoun said. “Those kids, many of whom were passed over by the Big East schools and others . . . I tip my hat to their conviction, to staying with what they have, to the incredible coaching job that [Larranaga] did. I feel a great deal of inner joy, honestly, about what they must be going through right now, something they probably never could have imagined. We have imagined it, and we’ve done it. But they could never have imagined that.”
Every kid who ever took a shot imagines it, but few on George Mason’s team could have expected it. Nice of Calhoun to appreciate their joy.