By BRIAN LANDMAN, Times wires
Published March 26, 2004
ATLANTA - Xavier senior point guard Lionel Chalmers and Texas senior center James Thomas share more than a uniform number (0).
They're both from upstate New York (Albany and Schenectady, respectively) and played together and against each other growing up.
"He's a good guy and a great rebounder," Chalmers said. "It's just a lot of fun to play against a guy you know personally."
The teams meet tonight in the Sweet 16 in the Georgia Dome.
"He's a tough kid; he's always been a good basketball player and he's a good person," Thomas said.
The two saw each other briefly Thursday and exchanged phone numbers.
"I'll call him after the game (win or lose)," Thomas said.
SHORTER TRIP THAN USUAL: Illinois junior center Nick Smith, the former Bloomingdale High star, said his family will be able to drive, instead of fly, to see him play.
"It's only about seven hours," he said. "They'll be here."
Smith hopes he and his teammates provide a memorable performance. This is his third trip to the Sweet 16. Illinois beat Kansas in 2001 but lost to Arizona in the Elite Eight in Smith's redshirt freshman season, then lost to Kansas in this round in 2002.
"It's exciting," he said. "We've been here a couple times since I've been here, and there's another step we'd like to take. Getting to a Final Four is every college basketball player's dream. We've got the talent to do it.
"We might have the toughest path to get there, but we have the talent to do it."
DUHON STILL HURTING: Duke senior point guard Chris Duhon (bruised ribs) is better but not 100 percent, coach Mike Krzyzewski said. "We have limited him in practice, and he has had no contact. He has an injury that will linger with him for another month and a half."
HE SAID IT: "He wants to continue coaching. I think he hopes that it will be at Purdue, but he doesn't want to be, in the long run, a lame-duck coach. He would like some kind of long-term contract if he's going to have a chance to have success there." - Illinois coach Bruce Weber on his former boss, Gene Keady.
EUSTACHY'S SECOND CHANCE: Contrite and thankful for another chance, Larry Eustachy returned to coaching with Southern Mississippi.
Eustachy was introduced as the Golden Eagles coach, 10 months after his embarrassing resignation at Iowa State.
"Sometimes until you totally bottom out, you don't really see what's going on in your life," Eustachy said. "I hit rock bottom with nobody to blame but myself. You can go one way or another ... I am a recovering alcoholic and it's constant maintenance, it's constant work.
"But where I find myself now, I've never felt better."
His four-year contract is worth at least $230,000 annually with up to about $500,000 more in incentives, Southern Miss athletic director Richard Giannini said.
Giannini said the opportunity came at "the right time in the life of Larry Eustachy. It's the right time to have him as our coach."
Eustachy, the Associated Press coach of the year in 2000, stepped down as Cyclones coach last year after photographs were published showing him at a college party holding a can of beer and kissing and being kissed by young women.
CHANGE AT AUBURN: Auburn named former baseball coach Hal Baird as an assistant to the president for athletics, putting him in position to hire a new basketball coach and, possibly, a new women's coach.
UTAH UPDATE: Kerry Rupp is not a candidate to become coach despite leading the team to a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Rupp took over as acting coach when Rick Majerus stepped down Jan. 28 because of health concerns. "I'm not in the running," Rupp said after meeting with Utah athletic director Chris Hill. "He just wants to bring in someone with more experience."
MAGIC-BIRD: Today marks the 25th anniversary of the 1979 national championship game, which pitted Michigan State's Magic Johnson against Indiana State's Larry Bird. ESPN Classic is airing the game three times in a row, starting at 1 p.m.
