Paul Harris stood in the locker room, a white shirt concealing the sturdy frame he had thrown around with such recklessness all night. There was something about this Connecticut game, he said, that made him want it more than any other this season. And for his 39 minutes Wednesday night, Harris played like he wanted it.
The sheets of paper were taped to every Syracuse player's locker. A scouting report on Connecticut's players, written by walk-on Jake Presutti. In some cases, there were portions bolded in the two-line briefs on each opponent. For Hasheem Thabeet, "Great shot blocker" was not bolded.
Donte Greene wasn't going to beat Connecticut on Wednesday. Jim Calhoun was going to make sure of that. No matter which players he put on the floor, the Connecticut head coach went to extra lengths to make sure they kept a watchful eye on SU's top scorer. "I think the reason Greene had a bad game, if you want to call it that, is because he has played very well.
When Greg Robinson became the Syracuse football coach before the 2005 season, he spoke about building a wall around New York. One of his major goals was to ensure the top in-state talent would stop leaving and start staying close to home. After three years of trying, perhaps that wall has finally been built - or at least the foundation of it.
In an otherwise ordinary news conference on an otherwise ordinary Tuesday in November, an embattled Greg Robinson pounded on the lectern in front of him and made an announcement - a plea, even - to reporters and fans who questioned whether Robinson was the right man to coach Syracuse football.
Hardcore Syracuse fans know that Jim Boeheim currently holds the longest tenure in the nation of any coach at his alma mater. But fans in Fairfield, Conn., know who is in second. It's Dave Bike, the 30-year head coach at Sacred Heart, and his resume looks remarkably similar to Boeheim's: coaching at his alma mater for more than 25 years with a national title under his belt (but his is in Division II).
