DETROIT – As a fifth-grader growing up in Poplar Bluff, Mo., Tyler Hansbrough used to lower the hoop in his back yard to eight feet and pretend he was competing for the National Championship.
A decade later, and on a stage infinitely larger than his back yard, Hansbrough and his North Carolina teammates fulfilled their childhood dreams Monday night by routing hometown favorite Michigan State 89-72 to win the NCAA championship before a record-crowd of 72,922 at Ford Field.
Hansbrough soon climbed a ladder, cut down a piece of the net and held it up toward the Carolina faithful, a tear in his eye.
