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Stage is set in San Antonio
Coaches, players talked about Final Four storylines, approaches and more as they prepared for Saturday's matchups. We highlight the notable quotes. Plus: UConn and Miami land some big names in the transfer portal, Kansas loses another player to the portal, Ohio State might have Thornton back, and there was an awesome NIT finale.
Sean Paul
April 04, 2025
Good morning! If the Final Four games are as good as the NIT Championship last night, San Antonio is going to be a blast. And if you’re here, be sure to come by Smoke Skybar from 4-7 when The Field of 68’s live show is on. Who knows? You may get to heckle Terrence Oglesby.
Let's get to Thursday’s news.
1. Final Four quotes, insights and more
Thursday’s a great day to be at the Final Four. Everyone’s (mostly) relaxed, there isn’t a massive media turnout (yet), and as a result, everyone’s (relatively) excited to be there. You get honest answers from players and coaches who aren’t fully locked in on Saturday, and are just trying to relish the experience. Doesn’t get much better than that.
Some of the highlights.
Houston coach Kelvin Sampson had plenty of praise for Duke’s Jon Scheyer. “I'll tell you how good Jon Scheyer has been. Nobody talks about him replacing Coach K anymore. He's Jon Scheyer. He's got his team in the Final Four. I think that speaks volumes for him."
Here’s a fun sight: Todd Golden may be Bruce Pearl’s SEC rival, but he was once he assistant.
Don’t fret, Auburn fans. Johni Broome said he’ll be 100% ready for Saturday’s game against Florida.
Auburn senior big Dylan Cardwell dropped hints that the Spurs should draft him. (He also questioned Charles Barkley’s thoughts about San Antonio women …)
Florida freshman Olivier Rioux is 7-9. He eats 6,000 calories a day.
How did Houston develop the best culture in college basketball? Sampson cultivated it. “I don’t take resumes and I don’t take phone calls. I hire everyone from within. We develop our coaching staff the way we develop our players.”
Florida All-American guard Walter Clayton Jr. almost didn’t go to Florida. He was deciding between the Gators and joining Rick Pitino at St John’s. “It was like a 50/50. And then I found out my daughter’s on the way and that kind of shifted a lot.”
Auburn’s season hinged on a plane ride in November. But they’re still not talking about the specifics that turned that plane around.
Houston win Terrance Arceneaux has fond high school memories of winning in San Antonio. Maybe he’ll get more this weekend?
Seemingly every media member that was in San Antonio was trying to talk to Cooper Flagg.
Scheyer is one of eight people to play AND coach in the Final Four. That’s not lost on him. “I was just soaking it in like I was when I was 22 years old walking out for the first time. The Final Four is a once in a lifetime kind of a thing.”
Finally, the Field of 68 has one-on-one interviews with each of the Final Four coaches:
Kelvin Sampson on how Houston’s preparing for Duke’s size.
Jon Scheyer on expectations at Duke and what that means for Saturday.
Bruce Pearl dished on Johni Broome and what the Tigers are focused on for Florida.
Todd Golden wants Florida to replicate the physical approach it had vs. Auburn in Feb.
2. UConn, Miami make transfer headlines + more moves
The last time UConn landed a big, physical guard capable of running the offense and creating offense for himself, it won back-to-back titles. Nothing like setting high expectations for their Thursday transfer portal commit!
