FIBA Basketball
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As the 50-minute lecture ended, University of Florida sophomore Joakim Noah saw his new classmate approach him -- a couple of T-shirts and a pen in hand. Noah had noticed her earlier, when the woman, accompanied by her mother, followed the 6-foot-11
From www.jacksonholestartrib.com
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As the 50-minute lecture ended, University of Florida sophomore Joakim Noah saw his new classmate approach him -- a couple of T-shirts and a pen in hand.
Noah had noticed her earlier, when the woman, accompanied by her mother, followed the 6-foot-11 basketball star to his biological anthropology class.
But she wasn't there to hear the latest theories on evolution. She came to see Noah and ask for a couple of his increasingly popular signatures -- each with a smiley face and No. 13 beside it.
"She sat through the whole class and then asked me to sign a couple of T-shirts," Noah said. "It doesn't bother me. It's fine. It's cool. Whatever."
To many Gators fan, 50 minutes of boredom is worth 15 seconds and a pair of John Hancocks from Noah.
It's not every day the face of the Final Four resides in Gainesville.
Bigger than "Big Baby" -- the nickname of LSU Shaq-alike Glen Davis -- and as incredible a tale as Cinderella George Mason, Noah's growing appeal doesn't stop here.
The 21-year-old's celebrity extends from a classroom on the UF campus to the Champs-Elysees in Paris. There, Florida Gators T-shirts have become a hot item as French tennis champion Yannick Noah's son becomes an American basketball star. L'Equipe, the French sports daily, will be at the Final Four to chronicle the country's latest craze.
"We're getting a lot of love over there," Joakim Noah said of France. "You'd be surprised."
Little would surprise anyone anymore about Noah, who has dominated college hoops' biggest month on and off the court.
His story, from bench warmer to star; his lineage, Yannick is French-Cameroonian, Noah's mother, Cecilia Rodhe, is Swedish; and his travels -- from Paris to Africa to Harlem -- have been well-documented on ESPN, in Sports Illustrated and in a number of major newspapers here and abroad.
But as with every rising star, everyone is mining for new information.
Within 48 hours of Florida's 73-62 win Sunday in the Minneapolis regional final against Villanova, more than 100 American media outlets and 15 to 20 from France placed interview requests with Florida's sports information office. Publications from England, Brazil, Spain, Belgium and Sweden also asked for access to the cross-cultural Noah, who sometimes calls himself an "African Viking."
"I'll tell them, 'Here's the specific (media) opportunities for the Final Four,"' said Fred Demarest, who's in charge of UF's basketball media relations. "They'll come back and say, 'I don't care about that, I just want to cover him."'
Noah continues to be the catalyst of the Gators' record-setting season and unexpected run to the Final Four in Indianapolis, where Florida will meet George Mason on Saturday night. In four NCAA Tournament games, Noah is one assist shy of leading Florida in all five major categories -- points (69), rebounds (40), assists (14), steals (six) and blocked shots (19).
Florida coach Billy Donovan knows all about the demands of a Final Four celebrity. He experienced the rush as "Billy the Kid," a three-point specialist for unlikely Big Dance crasher Providence in 1987.
Donovan is confident Noah will handle the attention.
"The one thing I've always respected is he doesn't want this," Donovan said. "He wants to spread it around. He doesn't view himself as a celebrity. Our guys respect that. One of the things you always worry about with teams and the attention they get is the devaluing of what other guys have done.
"Jo is smart enough to understand that everyone on our basketball team has played a significant role."
Still, nobody comes close to Noah's personality and panache.
"He's easily the most recognizable guy on campus," said Danny Enriquez, a junior student. "You literally can't miss him, from the hair to the headphones."
A season ago, the high-energy Noah was a fan favorite whenever he played. There have been players as talented at Florida, but none had Noah's knack for timing.
Noah celebrates big plays with a primal scream or by pounding his fist against his chest -- often in the direction of the crowd.
"He gets you into the game," said another student, junior Stephen Young. "He feeds off you and you feed off him. He thrives off other people and you thrive off him.
"It's an adrenaline rush."
These days, everyone wants to go along for the ride in Noah's world.
And Noah is a willing host. He welcomed hundreds of fans who met the Gators at 1:45 a.m. Monday at the Gainesville Regional Airport.
"The second they let them off the plane, Joakim was the first one who came running towards the crowd doing the Gator chomp," Florida freshman Javier Arementeros said. "The O'Dome has seen players of his caliber, but never of his charisma."
All of this adulation for a player who has started only 36 games and ranks in the top 10 at Florida in only one statistical category -- blocked shots (104).
Gators historian and former sports information director Norm Carlson said Noah already is the most popular Florida basketball player of all time.
But he's used to fame. When Noah was a child, he and his parents left Paris with paparazzi in their wake.
Nothing in sleepy Gainesville can compare.
"People are different in America than they are in France about stuff like that," Noah said. "Over there, it's too much."
At the airport, like after most games, Noah signed autographs, posed for photos and exchanged high-fives until his hand was red. Amid the chaos, one male fan yelled, "Joakim, marry me!"
During his downtime, Noah also is a regular on Facebook.com. Open only to students, those who join the Web site get personal pages on which they can post pictures and personal information. Students also can join groups and invite people to their list of friends.
Noah has 959 "friends" at UF. Five groups are dedicated to Noah, with close to 500 members.
UF junior Sterling Gould said he started the first group for Noah. The first member to join: Noah.
"He's a shooting star," Gould said. "But he really does know how to handle it."
Gould said he met Noah once. Mike Belardo, one of Gould's good friends, still hasn't crossed paths with Noah.
Belardo is thinking of camping out at a place where Noah allegedly eats lunch.
"I want him to scream in my face when I meet him," Belardo said.
Noah might oblige -- if the Gators bring home a national championship next week.
Then, he'll be ready to really enjoy his celebrity.
"If we win it, I'm not going to be worried about the distractions as much," he said. "I'm going to be living in them."
Download source here
As the 50-minute lecture ended, University of Florida sophomore Joakim Noah saw his new classmate approach him -- a couple of T-shirts and a pen in hand.
Noah had noticed her earlier, when the woman, accompanied by her mother, followed the 6-foot-11 basketball star to his biological anthropology class.
But she wasn't there to hear the latest theories on evolution. She came to see Noah and ask for a couple of his increasingly popular signatures -- each with a smiley face and No. 13 beside it.
"She sat through the whole class and then asked me to sign a couple of T-shirts," Noah said. "It doesn't bother me. It's fine. It's cool. Whatever."
To many Gators fan, 50 minutes of boredom is worth 15 seconds and a pair of John Hancocks from Noah.
It's not every day the face of the Final Four resides in Gainesville.
Bigger than "Big Baby" -- the nickname of LSU Shaq-alike Glen Davis -- and as incredible a tale as Cinderella George Mason, Noah's growing appeal doesn't stop here.
The 21-year-old's celebrity extends from a classroom on the UF campus to the Champs-Elysees in Paris. There, Florida Gators T-shirts have become a hot item as French tennis champion Yannick Noah's son becomes an American basketball star. L'Equipe, the French sports daily, will be at the Final Four to chronicle the country's latest craze.
"We're getting a lot of love over there," Joakim Noah said of France. "You'd be surprised."
Little would surprise anyone anymore about Noah, who has dominated college hoops' biggest month on and off the court.
His story, from bench warmer to star; his lineage, Yannick is French-Cameroonian, Noah's mother, Cecilia Rodhe, is Swedish; and his travels -- from Paris to Africa to Harlem -- have been well-documented on ESPN, in Sports Illustrated and in a number of major newspapers here and abroad.
But as with every rising star, everyone is mining for new information.
Within 48 hours of Florida's 73-62 win Sunday in the Minneapolis regional final against Villanova, more than 100 American media outlets and 15 to 20 from France placed interview requests with Florida's sports information office. Publications from England, Brazil, Spain, Belgium and Sweden also asked for access to the cross-cultural Noah, who sometimes calls himself an "African Viking."
"I'll tell them, 'Here's the specific (media) opportunities for the Final Four,"' said Fred Demarest, who's in charge of UF's basketball media relations. "They'll come back and say, 'I don't care about that, I just want to cover him."'
Noah continues to be the catalyst of the Gators' record-setting season and unexpected run to the Final Four in Indianapolis, where Florida will meet George Mason on Saturday night. In four NCAA Tournament games, Noah is one assist shy of leading Florida in all five major categories -- points (69), rebounds (40), assists (14), steals (six) and blocked shots (19).
Florida coach Billy Donovan knows all about the demands of a Final Four celebrity. He experienced the rush as "Billy the Kid," a three-point specialist for unlikely Big Dance crasher Providence in 1987.
Donovan is confident Noah will handle the attention.
"The one thing I've always respected is he doesn't want this," Donovan said. "He wants to spread it around. He doesn't view himself as a celebrity. Our guys respect that. One of the things you always worry about with teams and the attention they get is the devaluing of what other guys have done.
"Jo is smart enough to understand that everyone on our basketball team has played a significant role."
Still, nobody comes close to Noah's personality and panache.
"He's easily the most recognizable guy on campus," said Danny Enriquez, a junior student. "You literally can't miss him, from the hair to the headphones."
A season ago, the high-energy Noah was a fan favorite whenever he played. There have been players as talented at Florida, but none had Noah's knack for timing.
Noah celebrates big plays with a primal scream or by pounding his fist against his chest -- often in the direction of the crowd.
"He gets you into the game," said another student, junior Stephen Young. "He feeds off you and you feed off him. He thrives off other people and you thrive off him.
"It's an adrenaline rush."
These days, everyone wants to go along for the ride in Noah's world.
And Noah is a willing host. He welcomed hundreds of fans who met the Gators at 1:45 a.m. Monday at the Gainesville Regional Airport.
"The second they let them off the plane, Joakim was the first one who came running towards the crowd doing the Gator chomp," Florida freshman Javier Arementeros said. "The O'Dome has seen players of his caliber, but never of his charisma."
All of this adulation for a player who has started only 36 games and ranks in the top 10 at Florida in only one statistical category -- blocked shots (104).
Gators historian and former sports information director Norm Carlson said Noah already is the most popular Florida basketball player of all time.
But he's used to fame. When Noah was a child, he and his parents left Paris with paparazzi in their wake.
Nothing in sleepy Gainesville can compare.
"People are different in America than they are in France about stuff like that," Noah said. "Over there, it's too much."
At the airport, like after most games, Noah signed autographs, posed for photos and exchanged high-fives until his hand was red. Amid the chaos, one male fan yelled, "Joakim, marry me!"
During his downtime, Noah also is a regular on Facebook.com. Open only to students, those who join the Web site get personal pages on which they can post pictures and personal information. Students also can join groups and invite people to their list of friends.
Noah has 959 "friends" at UF. Five groups are dedicated to Noah, with close to 500 members.
UF junior Sterling Gould said he started the first group for Noah. The first member to join: Noah.
"He's a shooting star," Gould said. "But he really does know how to handle it."
Gould said he met Noah once. Mike Belardo, one of Gould's good friends, still hasn't crossed paths with Noah.
Belardo is thinking of camping out at a place where Noah allegedly eats lunch.
"I want him to scream in my face when I meet him," Belardo said.
Noah might oblige -- if the Gators bring home a national championship next week.
Then, he'll be ready to really enjoy his celebrity.
"If we win it, I'm not going to be worried about the distractions as much," he said. "I'm going to be living in them."