March Madness in Cleveland didn't disappoint

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Six games. Two hundred forty minutes of basketball. Two winners.

The first and second round of the Division I men’s basketball tournament in Cleveland has come and gone, but it certainly didn’t disappoint.

Alabama and Michigan State, the two winners from Cleveland, are well on their way to preparing for their next opponents in the Sweet 16 at Newark, New Jersey and Atlanta, respectively.

But there were certainly highlights from Cleveland.

First, teams battled on every possession, and looked to do anything possible to move on.

Second, the Crimson Tide and Spartans emerged as the winners, but teams like Robert Morris, Saint Mary’s and New Mexico played extremely hard. There’s a difference between the top-tiered teams, but that gap continues to close.

Each tournament site has its own nuances and subplots.

In Cleveland, fans are aware of Tom Izzo, the Hall of Fame MSU coach who seems to have his team in contention every year to win a national title.

There’s Alabama, which has all-of-the-sudden has become a basketball powerhouse in the last five years.

There’s Robert Morris which made the short trip to Cleveland from Pittsburgh.

There’s Saint Mary’s (near Oakland) and New Mexico which flew from the west coast to Ohio.

There’s coaches Richard Pitino and Phil Martelli Jr. from New Mexico and Bryant (in Rhode Island), respectively, who fathers are/were famous coaches Rick Pitino and Phil Martelli Sr.

There’s the local connection of Cleveland area players who returned ‘home,’ including RMU’s Amarion Dickerson (Rhodes), Vanderbilt’s Grant Huffman (Aurora/St. Edward) and MSU’s Jesse McCulloch (Lutheran East).

Here are some of my awards from the weekend:

MVP: This one is tough. There was no dominating player from each of the winning teams. Both Alabama and MSU had multiple standouts. For the Crimson Tide, I’m going with Clifford Omoruyi, who scored 27 points in the two games, on an efficient 13 of 15 from the field, including many dunks, and 15 rebounds. Granted,…

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Publish date : 2025-03-25 13:18:00

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