Ncaa Basketball Tournament

Welcome to the Final Four, the place amateur players love to come to . . . gamble? The week's most interesting news conference offering: North Carolina junior guard Ty Lawson's admission that he won $250 playing craps at a casino in Detroit's "Greektown" section. Tar Heels Coach Roy Williams said the story was being overblown. "I have zero problems with Ty doing it," Williams said Friday. Williams said he gambled earlier this year when his team came to Detroit to play Michigan State.

The Final Four road ends here, in Motor City, in a stadium named after one of the Big Three. Michigan State (30-6) "hosts" Connecticut (31-4) today at Ford Field and Villanova (30-7) takes on North Carolina (32-4). Distance traveled to get here: Connecticut: 746 miles. North Carolina: 701. Villanova: 572. Michigan State: 92. It's been a long trip. Michigan State Coach Tom Izzo lost his voice on the way. "It's lack of sleep," he said this week.

A.J. stands for Anthony Jordan. "I wanted to name him after the two greatest basketball players alive," Inga Price said of Connecticut's A.J. Price, breaking into a conspiratorial giggle. "That's his daddy and Michael Jordan." She was a point guard for Morgan State. Tony Price led Penn to the 1979 Final Four in Salt Lake City, where the Quakers fell to Magic Johnson and Michigan State. Yet it turns out basketball didn't bring Tony and Inga Price together. Insurance did.

John Calipari agreed Tuesday to leave Memphis and the dominant program he built and take on the challenge -- and riches -- of returning Kentucky to college basketball glory. Calipari will receive an eight-year, $31.65-million deal plus incentives, according to the university, making him the highest-paid coach in college basketball. The school also will pay Memphis a $200,000 buyout. The 50-year-old Calipari has a record of 445-140 in 17 seasons.

Jayne Appel had a career-high 46 points and 16 rebounds in the third highest-scoring performance in NCAA tournament history, overwhelming Iowa State's helpless defense and securing second-seeded Stanford's second straight Final Four appearance with a 74-53 victory Monday night at Berkeley. Stanford's physically imposing center also surpassed Candice Wiggins' single-game scoring record for the Cardinal (33-4), leaving no doubt about Stanford's 20th straight win and eighth Final Four berth.

Upon further review, amateur basketball in Los Angeles may not have completely dried up. The Pacific 10 Conference might even want to re-hang its shingle while our local coaches, Ben Howland and Tim Floyd -- especially Floyd -- should feel better about their upcoming performance reviews. Huh?

Briann January scored 22 points at Trenton, N.J., and the Arizona State Sun Devils scorched Texas A&M's pressing defense like no one else this season in posting an 84-69 victory to gain the second regional final in school history. Arizona State (26-8) will face top-seeded Connecticut on Tuesday night for a trip to the Final Four in St. Louis. "They were the better basketball team today," Aggies Coach Gary Blair said of the Sun Devils.

On one half of the court, Michigan State's Travis Walton strayed from teammates' embraces to an isolated area. He crouched while clasping a Final Four cap and stared at the ceiling, saying a prayer while wearing a look of disbelief. In another corner, Louisville's Terrence Williams appeared just as stunned, wandering along the baseline searching for answers and avoiding the postgame handshake line. Neither player seemed to grasp what had happened after No.

Blake Griffin had just made the play of the game, and perhaps this NCAA tournament, an extraterrestrial -- he reached into the heavens -- one-handed dunk of an Austin Johnson lob pass. But Ty Lawson countered in less than eight seconds, slicing through the defense for a runner in the lane. That second-half sequence was Sunday's NCAA South Regional final in a capsule: The brilliance of Oklahoma's Griffin against the precision of North Carolina's Tar Heels.