Wichita State player says storm settled him on Shockers

As Hurricane Irene churned along the East Coast, flight after flight got canceled, and Cleanthony Early remembers thinking to himself, "I'm stuck in Kansas."

The talented youngster from upstate New York was on a recruiting visit to Wichita State at the time. The first two days had gone well, though, and he was starting to think that he might someday play for the Shockers.

Then he wound up stuck there for three more days, and he came away convinced.

The rangy 6-8 forward with the versatile inside-outside game spurned overtures from Baylor, Alabama and Missouri to commit to coach Gregg Marshall's rapidly improving program.

The gamble paid off and now Early will be playing in a national semifinal Saturday night when the Shockers take on Louisville.

"Everyone knows in two days they can show you the best of the best, and in five days, you can see a lot more, and maybe some of the things they don't want you to see," said Early, the leading scorer on a team of upstarts. "That trip convinced me, not because of what I saw, but what I didn't see."

James Southerland spent most of his first season at Syracuse on the bench and part of his last one on the couch.

Left idling on the sideline as a freshman, then suspended for six games as a senior for an academic issue, Southerland is making the most out of his final weeks on Jim Boeheim's team.

Southerland may be Syracuse's most dangerous player on offense. He's made 50 three-pointers in the 17 games since his comeback from suspension.

"I always thought that I was coming back," Southerland said. "You always prepare for what's going to happen and you prepare for the alternative, like, if you're not coming back, what would you do?"

A room packed with reporters hoping to interview injured Louisville player Kevin Ware had to settle for one of his best friends.

On Friday, Ware and forward Chane Behanan were scheduled to field questions together, but the decision was made to give Ware a day of rest for his surgically repaired right leg. See, he fell asleep at the team's dinner table on Thursday night.

A Louisville spokesman said Ware needed Friday's rest so he can attend Saturday's semifinal game against Wichita State.

A year ago at this time, when Trey Burke decided to come back to Michigan for his sophomore season, the star point guard immediately started talking about a national championship.

It was certainly a possibility — Burke's return put the Wolverines near the top of the preseason rankings — but expectations like that are still hard to live up to. That's why Michigan's run to the Final Four has been so rewarding.