Final Four: College Teams vs. All-Star Teams

The teams facing off in this weekend’s Final Four differ in style. But they differ more in make-up: Michigan State and Villanova are built like college squads; North Carolina and Connecticut look more like all-star teams.

Michigan State and Villanova attained their elite status by mining local and nearby talent. Those schools’ rosters include 22 of 28 players (79%) either from in-state or from neighboring states.
Villanova boasts two players from Pennsylvania and another six from New York, New Jersey and Maryland. Michigan State is even more home grown with nine Michiganders and five from Ohio, Minnesota and Wisconsin. In other words their teams look something like the university’s student bodies, in geography, if not in ability or height.

UConn and North Carolina are built differently. Just 16 of 33 players (48%) on their rosters are from in-state or neighboring states. Connecticut has star players from Alabama and Tanzania (Stanley Robinson and Hasheem Thabeet). Carolina imports its stars from Missouri and New York (Tyler Hansborough and Danny Green). Its roster does have six in-state players, but they are all bench warmers. Connecticut at least has A.J. Price and Jeff Adrien from nearby New York and Massachusetts.

It’s certainly true that the huge success enjoyed by North Carolina and Connecticut in the past has enabled them to recruit far and wide. And its no coincidence that these teams are number one seeds and are favored to make it to the finals. But wouldn’t be nice if being from a place, whether Michigan or Philadelphia, was actually reflected by the players. North Carolina has its state on its jersey, but its players are bussed in from far and wide.

Here are the rosters for the Final Four Teams:

NO NAME POS WT CLASS HOMETOWN
2 Donnell Beverly G 190 Sophomore Hawthorne, CA distant state
10 Johnnie Bird G 165 Senior Fort Bragg, NC distant state
11 Jerome Dyson G 190 Junior Potomac, MD distant state
21 Stanley Robinson F 210 Junior Birmingham, AL distant state
30 Scottie Haralson G 215 Freshman Jackson, MS distant state
32 Jonathan Mandeldove C 240 Junior Stone Mountain, GA distant state
33 Gavin Edwards F 234 Junior Gilbert, AZ distant state
34 Hasheem Thabeet C 263 Junior Dar Es Salaam, distant state
55 Kyle Bailey G 170 Sophomore Lancaster, NH distant state
13 Alex Hornat F 205 Junior South Windsor, CT in-state
24 Craig Austrie G 176 Senior Stamford, CT in-state
40 Jim Veronick F 200 Senior Durham, CT in-state
44 John Lindner F 265 Senior Cheshire, CT in-state
4 Jeff Adrien F 243 Senior Brookline, MA neighboring state
12 A.J. Price G 181 Senior Amityville, NY neighboring state
15 Kemba Walker G 172 Freshman Bronx, NY neighboring state


MICHIGAN STATE

0 Idong Ibok C 260 Senior Lagos, Nigeria Distant state
3 Chris Allen G 205 Sophomore Lawrenceville, GA distant state
1 Kalin Lucas G 180 Sophomore Sterling Heights, MI in-state
13 Austin Thornton G 210 Freshman Sand Lake, MI in-state
14 Goran Suton C 245 Senior Lansing, MI in-state
15 Durrell Summers G 195 Sophomore Detroit, MI in-state
20 Mike Kebler G 200 Sophomore Okemos, MI in-state
23 Draymond Green F 235 Freshman Saginaw, MI in-state
25 Jon Crandell F 225 Junior Rochester, MI in-state
40 Tom Herzog C 240 Sophomore Flint, MI in-state
41 Marquise Gray F 235 Senior Flint, MI in-state
2 Raymar Morgan F 225 Junior Canton, OH neighboring state
5 Travis Walton G 190 Senior Lima, OH neighboring state
10 Delvon Roe F 225 Freshman Euclid, OH neighboring state
22 Isaiah Dahlman G 200 Junior Braham, MN neighboring state
34 Korie Lucious G 170 Freshman Milwaukee, WI neighboring state


NORTH CAROLINA
4 Bobby Frasor G 210 Senior Blue Island, IL distant state
5 Ty Lawson G 195 Junior Clinton, MD distant state
11 Larry Drew II G 180 Freshman Encino, CA distant state
14 Danny Green G-F 210 Senior North Babylon, NY distant state
21 Deon Thompson F 245 Junior Torrance, CA distant state
22 Wayne Ellington G 200 Junior Wynnewood, PA distant state
44 Tyler Zeller F 220 Freshman Washington, IN distant state
50 Tyler Hansbrough F 250 Senior Poplar Bluff, MO distant state
2 Marc Campbell G 175 Junior Wilmington, NC in-state
13 Will Graves G-F 245 Sophomore Greensboro, NC in-state
15 J.B. Tanner G 185 Senior Hendersonville, NC in-state
24 Justin Watts G 205 Freshman Durham, NC in-state
30 Jack Wooten G 190 Senior Burlington, NC in-state
40 Mike Copeland F 235 Senior Winston-Salem, NC in-state
1 Marcus Ginyard G-F 220 Senior Alexandria, VA neighboring state
32 Ed Davis F 215 Freshman Richmond, VA neighboring state
35 Patrick Moody F 195 Senior Asheville, NC neighboring state



VILLANOVA
1 Scottie Reynolds G 195 Junior Herndon, VA distant state
4 Jason Colenda G 205 Junior Fairfax, VA distant state
23 Russell Wooten F 210 Junior Chula Vista, CA distant state
42 Frank Tchuisi F 215 Senior Douala, Cameroon distant state
15 Reggie Redding G 205 Junior Philadelphia, PA in-state
20 Shane Clark F 205 Senior Philadelphia, PA in-state
0 Antonio Pena F 235 Sophomore Brooklyn, NY neighboring state
10 Corey Fisher G 185 Sophomore Bronx, NY neighboring state
21 Maurice Sutton F-C 215 Freshman Upper Marlboro, MD neighboring state
22 Dwayne Anderson G-F 215 Senior Silver Spring, MD neighboring state
24 Corey Stokes G 195 Sophomore Bayonne, NJ neighboring state
33 Dante Cunningham F 230 Senior Silver Spring, MD neighboring state

Bloomberg's Electoral Math

Mike Bloomberg’s departure from the Republican Party—convenient for a while, but no longer—sets the stage for his presidential bid. Of course, no third party or independent candidate has ever won the presidency. Only Teddy Roosevelt, a former president, has ever come close and that was in 1912.

But Bloomberg has a shot. The first and most obvious reason is that with a personal fortune tagged at anywhere from $5 billion to $20 billion, Bloomberg could outspend either party by writing himself a check for $500 million or $1 billion and not even notice the money was gone. This is how he became mayor—though if it was not for 9/11, Mark Green would have won in 2001. Even in Manhattan, it is possible to live off the interest of just $4 billion.

The real interesting question is what he could do with all that money. Ross Perot, for all his 19% of the popular vote, was not close to winning a single electoral vote. But he spent only $65 million. The key is not to win a large share of the popular vote, but a large enough share to win some electoral votes.

In the last two presidential elections, the winner scored just a thin margin of the electoral votes—Bush had 15 to spare in 2004. If the race between the major party candidates is similarly close in 2008, Bloomberg would need to win just a state or two to deny anyone else a majority in the Electoral College. If no one wins a majority, under the Constitution, the new House of Representative would pick the president.

For Bloomberg to win the House’s support, he’d certainly need a plurality of the popular and electoral vote. His charm, record, and media budget will have to take care of the former. Bloomberg could rack up 181 electoral votes (a plurality of 540) by winning California, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan, Wisconsin and Washington—that’s a total of 199. These are either liberal states, or big swing states where the parties are neck and neck. It could happen.