Chansky’s Notebook: One-And-Dones Are Done

At the Final Four, the old is the new again.

UNC, Oregon, Gonzaga and South Carolina represent a refreshing change in college basketball that has a bunch of ballyhooed one-and-done players and teams. All four finalists are upperclassmen laden with freshmen playing mostly reserve roles.

The Tar Heels are favored over an Oregon team that has won 31 of its last 34 games but the most recent seven without senior post man Chris Boucher, whose loss leaves the Ducks thin up front and using primarily seven players. Their top three threats are junior center Jordan Bell, who averages 11 points and 8.6 rebounds; junior leading scorer Dillon Brooks, averaging 16 points a game, and torrid sophomore swing man Tyler Dorsey, who has hit better than 65 percent from the 3-point line in the NCAA Tournament.

Of course, Carolina has frosh Tony Bradley and Seventh Woods off the bench, but the two senior big men and three junior perimeter players have gotten the Tar Heels this far and will need to carry them the rest of the way. They have validated the Roy Williams system of experienced talent with freshmen helping in reserve.

The Zags and Gamecocks are the same way, each with one freshman in their top seven players. What a refreshing development in the desert after so much hype has been given to the one-and-dones at Kentucky and Duke over the last few years. Gonzaga’s 7-foot center Karnowski and South Carolina’s SEC Player of the Year Thornwell are both seniors and the clear leaders of their teams.

While Oregon has as many upperclassmen starters as Carolina, the Ducks don’t have the same size and depth, so match-ups will be the challenge for both teams on both ends of the court. Williams has the luxury of starting bigs Meeks and Hicks but can easily go smaller with Luke Maye and small with Justin Jackson at the 4 spot. Oregon is extremely quick and scores as fast as UNC, so getting back on defense is critical for both teams.

You know the NCAA and CBS are begging for a Gonzaga-UNC championship game Monday night, as any other match-up will be a big loser in the ratings. An all-Carolinas final won’t have much interest west of the Mississippi, and a Gonzaga-Oregon game will have even less east of the big river. I think they’re getting their wish, the Zags outscoring the Cocks and the Heels slowing down the Ducks.