Tuesday’s 2025 Final Four Notes And More

Would Chris Collins be welcomed at Maryland?

Most sites we’ve seen favor Duke to win the Final Four, but it’s always settled on the court.

We’ve seen Auburn of course, but not as much about Florida or Houston. ClutchPoints.com though says that big man Alex Condon is the X-factor. He and Auburn’s Johni Broome come into that game banged up. Broome hurt his wrist, elbow and leg in the win over Michigan State while Condon banged up his ankle against Maryland. It’s that time of year, what can you say? Guys play through it the best they can. No one wants to sit down now.

Speaking of that, no one has talked much about Maliq Brown. He played a handful of minutes against both Arizona and Alabama and, as luck would have it, he is available for the Final Four. No doubt he’s been scouted and the other schools know what he can do, but they may not fully realize just how much he improves Duke’s defense.

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They may not know Brown, but Auburn and Florida obviously know each other well. And Clutch Points thinks that point guard play and ball handling could be a fatal flaw against the Tigers.

That game has an interesting subplot because Florida’s Todd Golden used to work for Auburn’s Bruce Pearl. When asked, Pearl said “It is [weird], because the relationship is that close,” Pearl said on Paul Feinbaum’s show. “If we have to play each other, let’s do it for a championship. So, I’m so proud of Todd and so happy for him.”

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Interesting trivia: in Johni Broome’s family, all the males have a form of John: John Sr., John Jr. and Johni. Not sure if there are other kids, but Giovanni, Sean and Ian are still available.

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A small point, but this Final Four will produce a first-time champion coach no matter who wins. And with three Jewish coaches, there’s a 75% chance that a Jewish coach prevails. Israel has noticed. We didn't realize that Auburn’s Emanuel Sharp was born in Israel. His dad, Derrick, played at USF and later in Israel. He also has Canadian citizenship through his mom.

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The names currently being mentioned for the Maryland job included Duane Simpkins, Chris Collins and Šarūnas Jasikevičius.

First, we’d hate to see Collins take this. Being a Duke guy is not going to go over well and if he struggles, they’ll crucify him. Can he do it? Of course he can. Best decision? Probably not.

We’re impressed with Simpson. He’s a good coach and seems like a good man and obviously he loves Maryland and knows the DMV.

Jesse’s Cabbages? Jasikevičius is an intriguing option. He’s coaching internationally and that could be a fun style for Maryland fans. He’s not been in the US for awhile, but he could hire staff to get him up to speed. Steve Blake would probably be happy to work for Maryland. Juan Dixon could be a helpful assistant with head coaching experience. Why not see if Len Elmore wants to help out as a GM or at least an assistant?

As it turns out, Terps legend Elmore is really upset about how things played out with Kevin Willard. Check out his public comments here.

Also possibly in play: Buzz Williams, Tony Skinn and Luke Murray. In fact, there is a bit of a groundswell for Murray, possibly including a petition.