If Iowa State beats UConn in its NCAA tournament opener, the Cyclones will get a second-round matchup with No. 1-seed Kentucky.
If that happens, you can expect a lot of attention to be focused on Royce White, the never-suited-up Gopher who had high school stays at De La Salle (where he was asked to leave) and Hopkins (where he played his senior year).
The website collegehoopsnet.com interviewed White after Selection Sunday, and he said -- among other things -- that "some of the things happening at Minnesota were not conducive to me dealing with my anxiety [dis]order. I was ready to get on the plane to go to Kentucky and sign a letter of intent, but it just did not work out because I wanted to be around while my son was being born."
That sequence of events was Iowa State's gain, complete with coach Fred Hoiberg, a former Cyclones star and Timberwolves guard, turning the bulky 6-foot-9 White into his point player.
Hoiberg told CHN's Jon Teitel: "Not many teams have a big guy like Royce who can create both for himself as well as his teammates."
Here's the rest of the interview.
And here's a recent video from the Des Moines Register, in which White talks about his journey, shows his keyboard skills (toward the end) and says: In my community, there's only three ways to elevate yourself out of poverty. That's sports, music or politics."
Talk about this one while you're at your Gophers-La Salle viewing party Wednesday night.
