USA - NCAA Final has FIBA flavor

ATLANTA (NCAA) - Several players that will feature in Monday night's NCAA Men's Final Four championship game have FIBA competition on their resumes for national teams including the USA, Canada and Senegal.

Michigan guard Tim Hardaway Jr wore the USA jersey when he was on the men's national team that finished fifth at the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship in Latvia. Hardaway led his team with 21 points in their last game against Australia. Coincidentally, the head of that selection process was Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who has head coached or assisted a number of USA senior and junior teams.

If the name Hardaway sounds familiar, it should. His father, who goes by the same name, was a five-time NBA All-Star over 14 years in the league and won a gold medal with the USA at the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

Asked to compare the NCAA experience to the FIBA U19 World Championship, Tim Hardaway Jr said: "Latvia was incredible. I think that's one of the best fan bases I've ever seen. Wherever their team goes, they go and that's what a true fan is all about."

The same could be said about the Michigan faithful who filled a good portion of the Georgia Dome on Saturday night, especially the student section that flooded the end near the Wolverine bench in a sea of yellow and blue.

Hardaway's Michigan teammate Nik Stauskas could very well be a part of Canada's reemergence as a basketball contender, especially if he has games like he did in the regional final against Florida, when he led all players in scoring with 22 points, including a perfect six for six on three-pointers.

Asked if there was a comparison between the energy in the Georgia Dome and the crowds in Argentina at his biggest international competition to date - the 2009 FIBA U16 Americas Championship - Stauskas said: "Representing your country is a different kind of feel than this. The FIBA Americas was a lot of fun and being in Argentina I had a great time. This (the NCAA) though is one of the biggest stages you can be on and I feel like everyone in the country is going to be watching. We're soaking up the moment and having a lot of fun right now."

Stauskas couldn't get his sights right in the Saturday's semifinal though, missing all five of his field goal attempts. That couldn't have been too much fun though his positive demeanor, like any shooter, made clear it's always the next one that matters.

The Wolverines' top player in the semifinal win over Syracuse with 10 points, 12 rebounds, six assists and two blocks was freshman forward Mitch McGary who wore the red, white and blue for the USA at last year's Nike Hoop Summit.

On the other side of the court, Louisville freshman Montrezl Harrell of Tarboro, NC, played on the USA's winning side at last summer's FIBA Americas U18 Championship in Brazil.

Meanwhile, this tournament run has been a coming out party for the Cardinal's 2.10m Senegalese center Gorgui Dieng. He was instrumental in the win over Duke in the regional final with 14 points, 11 rebounds and four blocked shots. Though his numbers in the semifinal win over Wichita State were far less auspicious - 0 points, six rebounds and two blocks - several experts such as ESPN's Dick Vitale are saying he will be the key against Michigan.

Perhaps the most famous player in this year's tournament, but not for reason that he would want, Louisville's Kevin Ware participated in a couple of camps for the USA's 2009–10 Developmental National Team. After fracturing his leg in a bizarre play against Duke but calmly urging his teammates on before he was wheeled to the hospital, Ware is a national figure. He won't play on Monday night but he'll get plenty of camera time.

FIBA