Here are the final NCAA Tournament odds from Bovada:
NCAA Tournament Final Spread and Total
Wisconsin -1 (55% of action)
Duke +1 (45% of action)
Total 140
MOP – Odds to Win
Frank Kaminsky (Wisconsin) 7/5
Justise Winslow (Duke) 3/1
Sam Dekker (Wisconsin) 3/1
Jahlil Okafor (Duke) 7/2
INDIANAPOLIS — With their strong play in recent weeks and a run to Monday’s NCAA championship game, Wisconsin’s Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker have helped improve their NBA Draft stock.
The 7-foot Kaminsky is currently projected as the No. 10 pick by DraftExpress.com. He has remained relatively constant around that number in the past few months but was projected at No. 20 last November.
“Lottery pick, I’m a huge fan,” one veteran NBA scout told SNY.tv. “I think he’s going to be terrific. I think he’s a center that’s going to play away from the basket. He’s going to be a face-the-basket, plays at the elbow. I think he’s gonna be any good for any team that he goes with.
“He may not be a starter , he may not start. But I think he’s a really good player. [He won] Player of the Year and he deserves it.”
INDIANAPOLIS — Justise Winslow had a day’s notice that two of his closest friends were headed to Duke.
On Nov. 14, 2013, one day before Jahlil Okafor and Tyus Jones were to make their historic college announcement on ESPN, Winslow knew what was coming down the pike.
“I knew probably a day, a day and a half before they committed they were going to Duke,” Winslow said here on Easter Sunday as Duke prepared to meet Wisconsin in Monday night’s national championship game.
On Nov. 15, Okafor and Jones made history by becoming the most significant package deal in college hoops since Greg Oden and Mike Conley jointly committed to Ohio State in the 2006 class. Still, Winslow didn’t make his own announcement until six days later, Nov. 21.
INDIANAPOLIS — After Wisconsin stunned previously unbeaten Kentucky here to advance to the NCAA championship game on Monday night, Badgers coach Bo Ryan got an important reminder from Mark Johnson, the coach of the school’s women’s hockey team.
“You know after [the 1980 US hockey team] beat Russia, we had to beat Finland,” Johnson told Ryan.
“Most people think that Russia was the gold medal game,” Ryan said. “I think it was Finland, wasn’t it? I’ve been reminded on a few text messages that Finland is Duke, both really good teams. Duke is a really good team. I think Finland was a good team because they got to the finals.”
By JOSH NEWMAN
Is former Nets head coach Avery Johnson ready to get back into coaching?
It appears that way as ESPN’s Jeff Goodman reported Sunday afternoon that Johnson and the school have a verbal agreement in place for him to be its next head coach.
Earlier Sunday, ESPN’s Andy Katz reported that Alabama and Johnson were expected to discuss a deal as early as Sunday evening.
The move to Johnson comes after Anthony Grant was fired and Wichita State head coach Gregg Marshall passed on the job.
According to Katz, Johnson, ‘wants the challenge.’
By JOSH NEWMAN
It will turn out to be a bittersweet weekend for Kentucky head coach John Calipari.
His Wildcats saw their perfect season come to an end on Saturday night at the hands of Wisconsin, but according to ESPN’s Jeff Goodman, the 56-year-old Calipari has been voted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
The Hall of Fame is set to announce its entire Class of 2015 on Monday prior to the national championship game between the Badgers and Duke. Calipari and the rest of the class will be honored at halftime at Lucas Oil Stadium.
INDIANAPOLIS — It’s possible that both Andrew and Aaron Harrison will never enjoy pro careers that match their college ones.
Though they never won an NCAA championship during their time at Kentucky — losing in the national championship game to UConn in 2014 and in the national semifinals to Wisconsin this year — they played at the very highest level in college for the past two years.
Now both face decisions about whether to go pro, even as one NBA scout tells SNY.tv they are among a group of at least five Kentucky players who “are gone” to the NBA.
“I think I gotta take some time,” Aaron Harrison said after Kentucky’s 71-64 loss to Wisconsin, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal, “because you can’t make the right decision with emotion on you.”
