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Tampa subregional
© St. Petersburg Times, published March 18, 2003
TAMPA -- The East Tennessee State Buccaneers made the trip here once this season for a tournament, but not as much was riding on those two days as there will be for the NCAA Tournament.
The Buccaneers participated in the USF Shootout on Dec. 28-29, beating Belmont 71-61, then losing to the host Bulls 68-56.
"It might be a positive for us," coach Ed DeChellis said. "... We are sort of familiar with the area. I know a lot of our players' friends and family who are from the area are going to be there."
Sophomore guard James Anthony played at Armwood, sophomore guard Tiras Wade played at Tampa Tech and junior forward Jerald Fields went to Gainesville High. TWO THE HARD WAY: Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser was not stunned to see his team earn a No. 2 seed and, yes, earn is the operative word.
Some pundits projected the Demon Deacons, who struggled to beat No. 9 seed Florida State in the ACC tournament quarterfinals, then were eliminated by No. 4 North Carolina State in the semifinals, might fall a bit.
"At this time of year, I take solace in the fact that the people making those decisions are, by and large, basketball people," he said. "Although some things are somewhat mystifying about the selections, I felt that we had won the ACC regular season by two games and I've always been told ... that two months of a grind in the ACC carries more weight than a weekend tournament. So again, I wasn't shocked at all."
FRIENDLY RIVALS: Prosser and DeChellis can't get past the coincidence their teams meet Friday. The Pittsburgh natives became close friends when Prosser was an assistant at Xavier and DeChellis an assistant at Penn State. They crossed paths often while recruiting and stayed close. They talk regularly during the season, but rarely about X's and O's.
"He's been to watch us practice," Prosser said. "I spoke at his banquet. He's spent evenings at my home. I've spent evenings at his home. And the odds of this happening are probably infinitesimal, but it did."
"It's kind of ironic," echoed DeChellis. "I spoke with him before Sunday's Selection Show."
Actually, Prosser said the two spoke when DeChellis called Prosser, asking if he could help him with videotape, depending on the opponent the Southern Conference champions would draw.
Wake Forest had a better chance of playing a team the Buccaneers might meet than other Southern Conference brethren.
"We said, 'Sure,' " Prosser said. "He had an assistant ready to jump in a car and drive up to Winston-Salem to get some tales from Wake."
Obviously, that didn't happen.