BC's Steve Donahue caught up with CBSSports.com's Tim Brando on the Brando Show, live from the Final Four in New Orleans. Donahue discusses overcoming injuries and playing five freshmen in the starting lineup, the pending additions of Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the ACC and his thoughts on the Final Four.
Have a listen.
On the trials of playing five freshmen, Donahue made some excuses but I appreciated his honest answer to Brando's question. I was a bit surprised that he set a deadline for finally evaluating this group of freshmen -- this class's junior year. He's setting things up to get another hall pass next season, but one of the problems Donahue will face is that this class will likely become juniors just in time for ...
The additions of Syracuse and Pittsburgh to the ACC, which, for my money, will be completed in time for the 2013-14 season. When asked about ACC expansion, Donahue noted the depth of talent in the new ACC with the additions of Pitt and Syracuse. He also rightly pointed out that BC will get Syracuse 2x every season and Duke, North Carolina and Pittsburgh 4x over a three year period (the Don said 3x over 2 years, which isn't 100% accurate). The discussion on ACC expansion started to sound like another excuse, but the Don caught himself and turned it around by saying he was excited for the opportunity to go up against Syracuse, Pitt, Duke and Carolina in the ACC.
On the Final Four this weekend, Donahue praised the job Bill Self has done at Kansas given the players the Jayhawks lost. Thinks Ohio State-Kansas is going to be a great game. He also praised both Pitino and Calipari, particularly given that the Wildcats bounced Donahue's Cornell squad from the 2010 NCAA Tournament Sweet 16.
I was hoping that Brando would press Donahue for some Final Four picks. No dice.
Bottom line: there were what I felt were a couple of excuses thrown in there, but Donahue >>> Spaz when it comes to handling the media. That's a (very) good thing.