It should come as no surprise that when Toronto Raptors centre Jamaal Magloire looks at the Final Four bracket he believes that his alma mater, Kentucky Wildcats, have a solid chance to take the NCAA title.
“I think they have the No. 1 overall seed for a reason. They’ve been the best team all year,” Magloire said. “I think they’ve reached this far not to fall short at this point.”
Of course, the Toronto native was a member of the Wildcats as a freshman when Kentucky last won the title in 1998.
The Big Cat averaged 5.2 points per game and recorded 66 blocks for Kentucky coming off the bench that year and said that all of the former Wildcats players have gotten behind the current edition.
“I try to talk to my former teammates, and even the younger ones that I don’t know as well, and they are all elated that Kentucky has made the Final Four and hope that they can go all the way.”
Magloire said that as his teammates’ various alma maters have fallen by the wayside in the tournament, they have jumped aboard the Big Blue bandwagon.
DeMar DeRozan also favoured the Wildcats when asked who he thought would win.
“I think Kentucky might win it. They’ve got a lot of talented young guys on that team and they play the whole 40 minutes and it’s fun to watch them play,” the Raptors shooting guard said.
Magloire isn’t the only Kentucky alumnus within the Raptors organization. His coach, Dwane Casey, also played for the Wildcats and was an assistant coach there from 1979-1988.
Magloire said it would be fun if he and Casey will be able share the moment with the current squad if they win the title game on Monday.
“I hope that coach and I get a chance to take an opportunity to celebrate (down in Kentucky).”
