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Wild about the Cats

But in this case, the 'Davidson Darlings' might be more accurate

March 26, 2008BY JIM O'DONNELL Recommend [email protected]

There is no desperation to the Davidson mission -- only high-fidelic relentlessness.

It may be one of the most determined efforts from rustic North Carolina since father Briscoe and his jug-band, jug-eared Darlings tried to marry off daughter Charlene to sheriff Andy Taylor.

The Wildcats are the new darlings from the NCAA huckleberry -- media darlings. On New Year's Day, they were 4-6. Few were watching

Friday night, many will be watching when they face the big, bad buckies of Wisconsin (31-4) in a Midwest Regional semifinal at Ford Field in Detroit (6:10, Ch. 2).

Davidson is 28-6 and has won 24 straight games. It boasts one of the most electric shooters in the country in the eminently pedigreed . In the first weekend of the NCAA tournament, the 10th-seeded Wildcats electrified the nation with come-from-behind victories over No. 7 Gonzaga (82-76) and No. 2 Georgetown (74-70).

Curry lifted the lid of the CBS eye with 40 points against Gonzaga. He made it pop with 30 more -- including 25 in the final 14 minutes -- against Georgetown. He floats like a butterfly and stings a bunch of threes, just like his father, Dell Curry, did during 16 seasons of high-plains drifting in the NBA.

More March fate awaits. There is no reason to believe the mid-major high knows any limits for Curry and Co. Other than the fact that if there is an ''after'' after Wisconsin, a likely high-plains path of Kansas, North Carolina and either UCLA or Memphis will follow.

Among the high-fidelic of Davidson, N.C., there are few worries.

''We've played a terrific schedule, and we've prepared ourselves for the challenge of the postseason,'' said coach Bob McKillop, on the job since 1989. ''The lessons we've learned are lessons that our guys have had the capacity to learn from. Teams can't always say that.

''Right now, we're immersed in all of this. I'm coaching an incredibly disciplined group of guys who are balancing fanfare along with responsibility. But they also understand that we have to get even better. Because if we don't play better than we did Sunday [trailing Georgetown by 17 early in the second half], we might as well not show up in Detroit.''

For the many who will be watching Friday night, here's a primer on the NCAA's newest pride of darlings:

The school

Davidson is a private liberal-arts college of close to 1,700 students. The campus is located about 20 miles north of Charlotte, where the NCAA East Regional this weekend will feature the marquee-topping Tar Heels of North Carolina. The college was founded by Presbyterians in 1837. It is named for Brigadier Gen. William Lee Davidson, a Revolutionary War hero.

Davidson has produced 23 Rhodes Scholars but zero NBA All-Stars. Famous students have included Woodrow Wilson, JFK/LBJ secretary of state Dean Rusk and ill-fated Clinton White House aide Vincent Foster. Semi-famous alumni who went on to the NBA

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include the inimitable , Dick Snyder and Brandon Williams. The Wildcats have earned three straight NCAA bids by winning the Southern Conference tournament.

Fun fact No. 1: Because of a strict honor code, Davidson students take exams without proctors. There also is free laundry service for all students.

The star

Sophomore guard Curry -- properly, Wardell Stephen Curry III -- was 5-4 and 120 pounds as a freshman at Charlotte Christian School five years ago. He grew to 5-11, 155 as a senior. He is now listed at 6-3, 185. Despite his dead-eye accuracy even as a preteen, most major colleges passed on him because of his slight build.

Said McKillop: ''He was not a five-star recruit. What most [college coaches] saw was a very young-looking fellow who could probably be bumped off the ball and get posted pretty easily. He was always a great shooter, but could he get it off at our level? What no one could do was look into his heart.''

Fun fact No 2: Curry is averaging 21.5 points and shooting a transcendent 44.4 percent behind the three-point line.

The pedigree

Father Dell Curry -- properly, Wardell Stephen Curry Jr. -- was a classic NBA marksman whose career included turns with Utah (1986-87), Cleveland (1987-88), Charlotte (1988-98), Milwaukee (1998-99) and Toronto (1999-2002). A Virginia Tech product, Curry was known for his ''instant offense'' off the bench and finished with 12,670 points and a .402 three-point percentage.

He first nudged the consciousness of Bulls fans in the 1988 Eastern Conference playoffs, teaming with an ascending ensemble in Cleveland to force the favored Bulls and Michael Jordan to the max before losing a best-of-five series 3-2. It was the first playoff series Jordan won. Curry most recently has served as director of player programs for the Charlotte Bobcats.

Fun fact No. 3: Stephen Curry clearly wanted to attend Virginia Tech, his father's alma mater. But coach Seth Greenberg offered him only walk-on status. Oops.

The coach

McKillop, a Long Island native, is completing his 18th season at Davidson. He has won more games than any other coach in school and Southern Conference history. His last two NCAA tournament teams lost in the first round, in 2006 to Ohio State (70-62) and last year to Maryland (82-70). The Wildcats' losses this season were to North Carolina, Western Michigan, Duke, Charlotte, UCLA and N.C. State.

''I grew up in the parks and playgrounds, places like Rockaway and Lincoln Park and Prospect Park,'' he said. ''All that mattered day after day was 'Where's the action?' -- meaning where was the best game, and how long could we hold the court? Lose and you had to sit out 30, 60, 90 minutes. That's the way Stephen and the others are playing right now, with that kind of hunger.''

Fun fact No. 4: Under , Davidson made its only other Sweet 16 appearances -- in 1966, '68 and '69. He once boldly declared: ''I will make Davidson the UCLA of the East.''

The Chicago connections

Starting point guard Jason Richards graduated from Barrington High School, where he played with current Drake star Jonathan ''Bucky'' Cox. Richards leads the Wildcats in assists (271). Reserve forward Dan Nelms is from Lake Forest Academy by way of the prestigious Phillips Exeter Academy in New Hampshire.

Of Richards, McKillop said: ''He holds our guys together. He knows when to push and when to hold back. If Stephen is the catalyst of our offense, Jason is the catalyst of our defense.''

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Fun fact No. 5: At Long Island Lutheran High School, one of McKillop's prized products was future Bulls effervescence Bill Wennington.

The others

The other three starters are 6-6 Turkish native Max Paulhus Gosselin, 6-8 Nigerian-born Andrew Lovedale and 6-8 Cincinnati-bred Thomas Sander. Davidson has twice as many foreign-born players -- six -- as those born in North Carolina.

Said McKillop: ''Max understands his role as a screener and a runner. He can play three or four guys defensively. The confidence of Lovedale has grown since he got put in the starting lineup, especially as a scorer. Thomas is a banger who anchors our defense in the paint. He sacrifices parts of his game to suit every detail. But he also owns one of the highest field-goal percentages in university history.''

Fun fact No. 6: Sander also suggested the team's rally anthem, Neil Diamond's crescendo-happy ''Sweet Caroline.'' ''I don't know why, but everybody seems to like it,'' McKillop says.

How Far Can Davidson, Curry Go? From I'm Writing Sports Curry Spices Up Come Back As Davidson Shocks Hoyas 74-70 From Slam Dunk Central The views expressed in these blog posts are those of the author and not of the Chicago Sun-Times.

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