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Friday, March 27, 1998

Coaches making Final Four debut in San Antonio

By KELLEY SHANNON AP Sports Writer

SAN ANTONIO (AP) - Kentucky and North Carolina regularly reach the Final Four. Stanford and Utah haven't been here for decades.

All four teams, however, have something in common: They have a head coach leading a team into the Final Four for the first time.

"For me, it's probably a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity," Utah coach Rick Majerus said. "I'm so thrilled for our players and our university, the city of Salt Lake and the state of Utah."

The Utes (29-3) defeated defending champion Arizona 76-51 to reach the Final Four for the first time since 1966. Utah faces North Carolina on Saturday in the Alamodome.

Kentucky meets Stanford in the other semifinal. The winners play Monday night for the championship.

Tubby Smith, who took over as Wildcats coach this season after Rick Pitino left for the Boston Celtics, reached the Final Four when Kentucky overcame a 17-point second-half deficit Sunday to beat Duke 86-84.

It's the third straight year Kentucky (33-4) has made the Final Four. Seven Wildcats were members of the team that lost to Arizona in the final last year. Five were on the 1996 championship team.

Despite following in Pitino's footsteps, Smith said he didn't feel pressure to reach the Final Four. If anything, he said, the pressure was off because he was a new coach.

"The expectations of fans and people, I think, around the country were, 'They've got a good team, but there's no Rick Pitino there to lead them,' " said Smith, who took Tulsa (1994-95) and Georgia (1996-97) to the NCAA tournament.

Smith has sought advice from Pitino.

"I'm very close to Rick, and we've talked about just how to maintain your sense of focus," Smith said.

"We need to be hitting on all cylinders in order to compete with what I consider a very outstanding and very deep Stanford team," he said.

Stanford (30-4) erased a 6-point deficit in the final minute to beat Rhode Island 79-77 as Arthur Lee scored 13 of his 26 points in the final 2:04. The victory sent Stanford to its first Final Four since 1942.

Cardinal coach Mike Montgomery said other college coaches have given him advice this week on coping with distractions.

"They just mentioned that it's almost as if you don't have time to prepare your team like you normally do and that you have to be selfish, you have to say 'No,' " Montgomery said.

Though North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge experienced the Final Four as an assistant to longtime coach Dean Smith, entering the event as a head coach has opened his eyes.

"Everybody's coming out of the woodwork wanting tickets and needing this and needing that. It happens so fast, it's not anything that you can plan in advance for," Guthridge said.

North Carolina, propelled by All-American Antawn Jamison and guard Shammond Williams, beat Connecticut 75-64 to win the East Regional and reach the Final Four for the 14th time. It's the second consecutive Final Four appearance for North Carolina and the team's third trip in four years.

Guthridge said he doubts nervousness will be a factor come game time Saturday.

"I was scared at our first practice and then I was scared our first exhibition game, our first regular game, our first road trip," he said. "But I think I have that all out of the way now."