The legend of 'Tyus Stones': Final Four goes crazy for Tyus Jones

You can work the Internet today and find all kinds of writing about how Tyus Jones led Duke to the NCAA men's basketball title on Monday night. We will save you some time and effort with this collection, ranging from Duke's student newspaper to ESPN.com.

In the Duke Chronicle, reporter Nick Martin wrote a story about the former Apple Valley High School superstar headlined, "The Legend of Tyus Stones." Here's how it opened:

Nobody knows crunch time like the man they call "Tyus Stones."

Freshman point guard Tyus Jones picked up the nickname after it became apparent that he possessed a knack for turning in his biggest performances on his team's biggest stages. That rare ability was on display once again in Monday's 68-63 national championship win against Wisconsin, as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player scored 19 second-half points—including eight in the final 4:08—to clinch the program's fifth national title.

" He's been amazing. The bigger the moment, the bigger Tyus is," junior forward Amile Jefferson said. "He's great for our group. He's become a leader. To see his maturity since the summer has been amazing. The way he's able to take over games now, whether it's making the right pass or just controlling the tempo, he's hitting big shots at a high rate."

You can read Martin's full story here.

***

Jones led all scorers with 23 points and had five rebounds and only one turnover in Duke's 68-63 victory over Wisconsin in the title game. His work was needed because his best friend and Duke's dominant center, Jalil Okafor, had only 10 points and three rebounds -- and was limited by fouls during much of the second half.

Jones played 37 minutes in the title game; Okafor 23.

Afterward, Matt Norlander, the college basketball writer for CBSsports.com wrote: "Without Okafor, Duke doesn't get a No. 1 seed this season and isn't one of the four best teams in the country. Without Jones, Duke doesn't have arguably the best point guard in the nation -- and the ability to come back and knock over mighty Wisconsin in the national title game, 68-63, giving Mike Krzyzewski a ring for his thumb."

Speaking of Krzyzewski, Norlander caught this moment when the coach was walking away from the postgame celebration and talking to his wife Mickie:

"Tyus was unbelievable,"he told her.

You can read Norlander's full postgame report, which includes a postgame scene with Jones and Wisconsin star Frank Kaminsky, here.

***

A postgame blog on espn.com reported that Jones spent the night before the game watching old "One Shining Moment" videos that are an annual part of the CBS postgame coverage.

So did his best friend Okafor. "I heard Jahlil did as well. I'm sure a number of the guys on the team did as well," Jones said. "You're just so invested emotionally and physically to just have it right in front of you, you just want to make sure you make the most of it."

You'll remember that the two of them announced their colleges choices on ESPN in back-to-back press conferences last year. Their plan all through high school had been to attend college together, which had made Jones' interest in Minnesota more of a courtesy than anything else.

***

Here's a two-minute postgame interview with Jones from DukeReport.com.

"This is what we worked for all season," he said.

***

And here's a postgame interview from CampusInsiders'com:

And, finally, here's the link to video of the falling down three-pointer that gave Duke a one-point lead over Wisconsin with about four minutes to play.