Steve Serby
College Basketball
serby’s q&a
CBS Sports college basketball insider Jon Rothstein will serve as a sideline reporter this week in Dayton, Ohio, for the First Four then the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, as well as serving as a studio analyst throughout March Madness for CBS Sports Network. The Post’s Steve Serby caught up with the man who gave us “This is March” to discuss his bird’s-eye look at the NCAA Tournament, his unique brand, the genesis of his passion/obsession for college basketball, food and much more.
Q: What does Selection Sunday look like for you?
A. Better than the first day of Chanukah. There’s just so much anticipation, there’s so much unknown. You have no idea what’s going to happen and who is going to be seeded where. It’s the start in a lot of ways of what is without question the best three weeks we have in sports.
Q: Describe the origin of your famous catchphrase: “This is March.”
A: I was in studio at CBS Sports Network and we were in the middle of a number of close NCAA Tournament games in a row, and I just said it once on social media, and the reaction reminded me of the scene at the end of “Die Hard 2” when Bruce Willis kind of put his lighter on that gasoline. … It’s the greatest month of the year. It’s really become obviously a slogan associated with the greatest postseason tournament in sports, and I’m really proud of that.
Q: How soon after did, “We sleep in May” come?
A: I would say a couple of years after as we were working in the studio on CBS Sports Network. I’ve been for a number of years a part of a wrap-up show, and those games obviously go well past midnight, and we sometimes don’t get on the air until 1 o’clock in the morning. It came into my head, “We sleep in May.” But I can honestly say now, that as the father of a 6-month-old little girl [Mila Blake], I sleep never.
Q: Where do you see St. John’s in the next two years?
A: I think that St. John’s in two years, and even potentially a year, is going to be a consensus, regular Top 25 team, and I would be surprised if in two years they’re not a team that’s competing for a chance to go to the second week into the NCAA Tournament. I expect St. John’s under Rick Pitino in the next year or two to be in position to be a top-16 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Q: What makes Rick Pitino a Hall of Fame coach?
A: He has the incredible ability to get people to go to places that they would never think that they could go as a player. And he has the incredible ability to take teams that, really, people thought weren’t good enough to go to a certain level and then reach a certain level. People can talk about the ’96 Kentucky team, that’s the best team I’ve seen in my lifetime, people can talk about the fact that he’s gone to seven Final Fours, [but] to me the best coaching job that I’ve seen Rick Pitino do, and he’s done a lot of ’em, was the 2011 Louisville team. That team won 25 games in a Big East that sent 11 teams to the NCAA Tournament, and it didn’t have great talent.
Q: What did you think of his public criticism of his players?
A: He knew exactly what he was doing. He was intentionally trying to motivate his team. It obviously worked.
Q: What are your thoughts on this St. John’s team?
A: Life is not about what happens to you, it’s how you respond, and St. John’s has really responded after it looked like that it was in purgatory after that [Feb. 18] Seton Hall game. St. John’s is a team that has a focal point in point guard Daniss Jenkins and a focal point up front in Joel Soriano. If Jordan Dingle can be a regular, consistent offensive threat, the ceiling changes for St. John’s.
Q: Seton Hall?
A: They reflect their head coach, and their head coach is two years removed from going on one of the great Cinderella runs in the NCAA Tournament in taking St. Peter’s to the Elite Eight. Shaheen Holloway does an incredible job evaluating what fits best for his program when he’s recruiting instead of what might fit best from the periphery. For Seton Hall to get a guy from Santa Clara in Jaden Bediako, who’s putting up better numbers in the Big East than he did last year in the West Coast Conference, it’s one of the great evaluations and finds that we saw in this transfer portal era — what I like to call Portal Kombat.
Q: What makes UConn’s Dan Hurley a great coach?
A: Dan Hurley has the incredible ability to believe that regardless of what has been accomplished the previous day, the previous year, the previous decade, it has no bearing on what is going to happen next. He moves singularly focused every single day on getting his team better, and also on the next opponent.
Q: Are they a legitimate threat to repeat?
A: They’re my pick to repeat. … For as dominant as Adama Sanogo was last year, Donovan Clingan makes it almost harder for opponents to score because he’s such a presence defensively. It’s not shots blocked with Donovan Clingan, it’s shots altered. And then, when you look at how you’re going to try and stop UConn, the balance of this team is probably its most underrated attribute. Tristen Newton’s gonna be a first-team All-American, and I voted for him to be the Big East Player of the Year. Cam Spencer, the grad transfer from Rutgers, has had an incredible season and is shooting the ball at a high level. Alex Karaban’s one of the most underrated players in college basketball, and Steph Castle is also a freshman who can take over a game. And one of the things that Dan Hurley told me before the season was that he wanted to be in a situation where he could develop his bench, and Hassan Diarra and Samson Johnson have really become valuable reserves. Samson Johnson could be in the NCAA Tournament for this UConn team what Donovan Clingan was for last year’s UConn team off the bench in reserve.
Q: If UConn is in the East Region, with games in Brooklyn and Boston, they won’t need to get on a plane.
A: It’s everything. If you’re a 2, 3 or 4 seed and you play UConn, you’re essentially going to have to play a road game to go to the Final Four.
Q: Creighton and Marquette.
A: If Marquette is healthy with Tyler Kolek in the lineup, they can go to a Final Four, and I wouldn’t be shocked if Creighton also who lost in the Elite Eight is a Final Four-caliber team. One of the most underrated players, I think, nationally that people don’t talk enough about is Ryan Kalkbrenner, who was the Big East Defensive Player of the Year for the third straight season. He has the unbelievable ability to defend without fouling and alter people’s shots. The main troika for Creighton is Ryan Kalkbrenner, Trey Alexander and Baylor Scheierman, who’s playing like an All-American this year, but the key is Steven Ashworth from Utah State.
Q: Wagner.
A: Wagner epitomizes what March Madness is about. It only had seven healthy players during conference play.
Q: Can you envision a 16-seed winning?
A: I can’t this year. Right now Houston, Purdue and UConn look like they’re on an island by themselves, and Tennessee and Arizona and North Carolina all look formidable. Those are the teams that are all in the mix to be No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament.
Q: Who is a sleeper team that you think can captivate the nation?
A: Florida is a team that I’m really looking at as the type of 7, 8, 9 or 10 seed that you don’t want to see in the first round. Florida can really, really score. They ironically have Walter Clayton Jr. from Iona last year. That’s the type of team I think that can break open a bracket if you’re looking for an off-the-radar team. And BYU.
Q: Who are some players who can captivate the country?
A: Keisei Tominaga [Nebraska] can captivate a nation with his ability to shoot the basketball. Jaedon LeDee people know from San Diego State last year, but they don’t know him like he is right now which is playing at an All-American caliber level. He can be a fierce, fierce force in the NCAA Tournament. We have to look at guys like RJ Davis at North Carolina, even though he’s an All-American, but he’s capable of scoring 40 in a game. And Dalton Knecht from Tennessee, who is capable I believe of taking Rick Barnes to the Final Four for the first time since 2003 when he was at Texas.
Q: Is Kentucky the team or the program that has the most pressure on it?
A:. I personally think that’s Purdue, because the only way for Purdue to truly exorcise its demons of what happened last year against [16-seed] Fairleigh Dickinson is to be in a situation where it gets to the Final Four for the first time since 1980. There’s no in-between for Purdue, it’s Final Four-or-bust. Kentucky is the most fascinating team in college basketball because it has the highest ceiling in the sport, but it also is built on offense, which is the complete antithesis of what John Calipari has built his great teams on in the past at UMass, Memphis and Kentucky, which was ruthless defense with great rim protection.
Q: Cinderella teams?
A: I think you gotta look at James Madison and McNeese as being teams that could break open a bracket.
Q: Up-and-coming coaches in this tournament?
A: Lamont Paris at South Carolina, Todd Golden at Florida, Tommy Lloyd at Arizona, Mark Pope at BYU.
Q: Pre-bracket Final Four, subject to change?
A: UConn, Purdue, Houston, Arizona.
Q: Explain why your following Twitter characterizations fit: “Rick Pitino: The Godfather.”
A: The biggest thing that the Corleone family had was a tremendous amount of support for the original godfather, who was Vito Corleone. When you think about Coach Pitino’s coaching tree — whether it’s Frank Vogel, Kevin Willard, Mick Cronin, Tubby Smith, Billy Donovan, Herb Sendek — he has the most successful tree in all of college basketball, and the fact now that he’s coaching in New York, it makes sense to call him the Godfather.
Q: Dan Hurley: “The Carpenter.”
A: Dan Hurley is a builder.
Q: Wisconsin’s Greg Gard: “Silent assassin.”
A: Greg Gard was a top assistant to Bo Ryan when he took over at Wisconsin, and Bo was a very outspoken gregarious guy, and I remember just being at a Wisconsin practice, and I was like, “Greg is not gregarious.” And I was like, “He’s kind of like a silent assassin.” And I was like, “Wait a minute, there’s something there.”
Q: Arizona’s Tommy Lloyd: “Grab your passport.”
A: Tommy Lloyd was a great international recruiter at Gonzaga as Mark Few’s top assistant for 20 years before becoming the head coach at Arizona and obviously having great success.
Q: Alabama’s Nate Oats: “My cousin Vinny.”
A: Nate Oats went from being a really successful coach at Buffalo to Alabama. I was watching, I think, “My Cousin Vinny” on a flight. … I don’t know if there’s as good a red sauce in Buffalo as there is obviously in the five boroughs, but there was the Alabama theme, so from New York to Alabama was once Ralph Macchio and Joe Pesci, and then in the basketball world it was Nate Oats.
Q: “Clubber Tang.”
A: As you know in “Rocky III,” Mr. T was cast as Clubber Lang, who was obviously the villain in that film, and Jerome Tang always was somebody who talked about how he had to fight to get Kansas State back to respectability.
Q: “Death … taxes … Matt Painter.”
A: Initially death … taxes … Bo Ryan was the tag, but I had to retire that when Bo Ryan retired from Wisconsin, and I always kind of felt that with the way Matt Painter’s program was built at Purdue, it was very similar to the way that Bo Ryan built a program at Wisconsin in the sense of regardless of the years, you were going to get the same type of product when you saw Purdue play. Matt Painter in a lot of ways is a younger Bo Ryan.
Q: “Palpable Buzz Williams.”
A: I’m always somebody who’s trying to through access and discovery, identify a player who might have made a big jump, like who could be a potential breakout guy to watch, and that’s part of the value of going to practice. So I would always tweet: “palpable buzz” regarding Player X or regarding Player Y. So Buzz Williams obviously was the coach at Virginia Tech and Marquette, and now at Texas A&M, but I just added Williams to the palpable buzz pick.
Q: Mark Pope: “Keeping the faith.”
A: BYU as you know is a religious school. … There was just a belief that things were gonna work out with Mark Pope at BYU. “Keeping the faith” works, more so because of his last name.
Q: UMass’ Frank Martin: “Incapable of submission.”
A: Frank Martin is a fighter. Under no circumstances, would he ever tap out.
Q: “His name is Dana Altman, and he aligns Rubik’s Cubes.”
A: [Oregon coach] Dana Altman for years was always somebody who could figure out his team over the course of a season, regardless of the personnel and made the pieces fit.
Q: Keith Dambrot: “Mission Impossible.”
A: Duquesne had not been to the NCAA Tournament since 1977, and when it went to the NCAA Tournament, it went with a losing record. So here’s somebody who was the head coach at Akron and who obviously had a really, really nice gig in the MAC, and he decides to take the Duquesne job, therefore, “Mission Impossible.”
Q: Auburn basketball. “Welcome to the jungle.”
A: Well, “the jungle” is the theme and what they call Auburn’s arena when it plays a home game. And it has quickly, and that’s a credit to Bruce Pearl, emerged into one of the great home-court venues in the country in college basketball. Trying to incorporate some old-school pop culture and so and so forth — this is kind of like Axl Rose, “Welcome to the Jungle” for Guns’ N’ Roses.
Q: Houston basketball: “No mercy.”
A: This one is going back to “The Karate Kid” in 1984. I’m sure you remember Martin Kove as the sensei in that movie. Houston doesn’t just pummel opponents, it eviscerates opponents. And [coach] Kelvin Sampson — being around his program, being at his practices — kind of reminded me of the Cobra Kai sensei in the sense that he shows no mercy to his opponents, and the way Houston plays with the physicality and the nastiness, that’s kind of the spin-off on the villains from “The Karate Kid.”
Q: How about, “Every day is a gift,” by Art Loveley?
A: Art Loveley is somebody who’s a longtime New York City basketball figure. I was very close to — may he rest in peace — Howard Garfinkel, who was the co-founder of Five-Star Basketball, and I was in the hospital almost every day with Mr. Garfinkel when he was living his last days, and Art Loveley told me, while I was spending time with Mr. Garfinkel, that every day was a gift. And then in January 2017, I got into a really bad car accident on the Merritt Parkway, I hit black ice and I messed up some of my ribs, and it was a really, really close call. My car was totaled. But the theme “Every day is a gift” really resonated with me after that accident, having come face-to-face with my own mortality.
Q: How about “Stay hungry, stay humble”?
A: It’s something that I heard probably athletes and different people reiterate over time and have success. Regardless of what success we have in this vocation or any vocation, success is a very fleeting thing, and it’s a vapor. So if you have a really good broadcast, if you write a really good article, if you really do a good podcast, if you’re really in front on a story, all that you’re going to have to do moving forward the next day is come back time and time again and do the same thing, and not just focus on doing the same thing at a certain level, but also keep trying to improve your craft, because we’re never a finished product.
Q: The Thomas Edison quote you’ve tweeted: “Everything comes to he who hustles while he waits.”
A: One of the biggest things that I’m proudest of in this journey is that I never had a father, a mother, an uncle, an aunt, anybody of significance make a phone call for me, or had an “in” to get me a job. I knew that I was going to have to create my own luck in this profession and in life, so there were times that I had to kind of try to take my fate in my own hands. … In early 2005, I had four jobs — I was making cold calls for my friend’s brother’s mortgage and real estate company, working part-time for ESPN Radio, freelance writing for different college basketball publications, and then I decided to buy airtime for my own radio show at WVOX radio in New Rochelle. I had to give myself a chance to get a demo, because no one would hire me to be on the air full-time. I was not only buying the air time, but I had to try and sell the air time. No one would buy anything. It was the most humbling experience of my life. I went into a car dealership and pitched the owner and he said, “Is Joe Torre going to be a weekly guest on your show? Because if he’s not, I’m not buying any air time.” I went back and looked, and the station was only 500 watts. Maybe one dentist’s office in New Rochelle got reception. But I knew that I needed to be on the air to have a chance at starting my dream. And that taught me that you can’t be what you’re supposed to become in life without callouses. The money that most people would spend in their 20s for vacation, I would use to go to AAU tournaments to network with coaches and build my Rolodexes. I also spent a lot of my own resources going around the country, going to see practices, building relationships for a foundation for a career that still has a long, long way to go.
Q: “Three things not to bring up socially: 1. Politics, 2. Religion, 3. At-large résumés to bubble teams during the first two weeks of March.”
A: If you go to a cocktail party today, and you want to talk about why Villanova should be in over Indiana State, or Texas A&M should be ahead of Wake Forest, you might have a real social issue on your hands.
Q: “Three rules to live by: Never acknowledge “The Godfather Part III.” Never waste calories on pizza out of Eastern Time zone. And always foul up 3 late.”
A: I’ve never been more enthralled in an original movie and a sequel than “The Godfather” I and II. Probably the greatest six hours of cinema we’ve ever had in the history of movies. The third piece of the trilogy is one of the great disappointments we have in the history of theater and movies. You know that pizza is gonna be great in the tri-state area, and everywhere else it might be OK, but it’s not worth spending the calories on. Butler lost a game in December at Providence, it was up 3 and late in the game, didn’t foul up 3. Providence drilled a 3, won in overtime.
Q: One game to win: Who do you want coaching your team?
A: Jim Calhoun. I firmly believe if Jerome Dyson didn’t suffer a torn meniscus in 2009, UConn would have won a national championship that year and he would have had four.
Q: Dickie V.
A: You learn a lot from Dick Vitale in life, not because of the broadcaster he is, but because of what he’s done for cancer research. That’s his greatest legacy in life, and every day we think about him.
Q: What do you think of Ian Eagle replacing Jim Nantz for the Final Four call on CBS?
A: Nobody is more prepared, nobody is more deserving, and nobody, in my opinion, has the ability to be so quick-witted on his feet than Ian Eagle. The thing that doesn’t get talked about with Ian Eagle is how much he is a rabbi of sorts for young and up-and-coming broadcasters. For the last 15 years when I’ve had questions or issues, he’s always been there for me and counseled me through certain situations, and I’ll never forget that.
Q: Your All-American team?
A: Tristen Newton [UConn], RJ Davis [North Carolina], Jamal Shead [Houston], Dalton Knecht [Tennessee], Zach Edey [Purdue].
Q: Your all-time team?
A: Bobby Hurley [Duke], Christian Laettner [Duke], Tyler Hansbrough [North Carolina], Shabazz Napier [UConn] Carmelo Anthony [Syracuse].
Q: The best March Madness games you’ve witnessed?
A: Duke over UNLV, 1991; Duke over Kentucky, 1992; UConn over Duke, 1999; Gonzaga over UCLA, 2021; Villanova over Carolina, 2016.
Q: What drives you?
A: The truth in life is that the process of becoming what we’re supposed to become is much more rewarding than getting where we dream to go. There’s still certain things that I aspire to achieve, and I think about them all the time because I know I can give so much more to CBS Sports and all the other places that I’m working. I’m so grateful for the opportunities I’ve gotten and am getting in my career, but I know that I can give so much more. I remember what people said about Evander Holyfield before he fought Mike Tyson. Until I keep progressing and keep improving, I’m Holyfield without Tyson. We can’t become what we need to be in life by remaining what we are.
Q: Boyhood idol?
A: Christian Laettner, and then my father told me, “Yeah I think you have a good voice.” He was the most and is the most accomplished college basketball player of my lifetime.
Q: Did you play high school ball?
A: Not well. I was told I had a good personality.
Q: What was your boyhood dream?
A: To cover college basketball for CBS Sports.
Q: So that’s how your love of college basketball began?
A: My love of college basketball began on March 30 in 1991. My parents will be married 49 years in May. And I can count on my hand, and on my finger, how many times my father had put his foot down with my mother — she had arranged plans for them that night to go out with another couple that she was friendly with from college or whatever, and he refused to go to that double-date. And I said, “Why?” And he said, “I’m not missing this Duke-UNLV game.” So if you remember, in 1990 in the national title game, UNLV blew out Duke 103-73. But the rematch came the next year in the Final Four. So I remember March 30, 1991, being the first time I watched college basketball at a really close level with my father. And then, the game was tied 77-all with 12 seconds left, Laettner made two free throws and UNLV at that time was 34-0 and on a 45-game winning streak, and I just remember just being shocked and awed ever since. My parents would probably tell you that it’s a blessing that at that young of an age, Jon found out what he wanted to do with his life, but the downside is we had to listen to him ever since.
Q: How did your love for food begin?
A: One of the great things as you know about being in New York is that eating isn’t something that you do to live, eating is a hobby. As you get to diversify your palate a little bit, and you have access to all these great restaurants and all these great dishes and recipes and sauces, it’s the ultimate way to enjoy life, in my opinion.
Q: Your favorite New York City restaurants?
A: Campagnola, Elio’s, Primola, Philippe Chow, Avra Lilia [Brooklyn], STK [Meatpacking District], Catch [Meatpacking District], Sarabeth’s [brunch].
Q: Outside of NYC?
A: Committee [Boston]; Gibson’s Italia [Chicago]; Armando Al Pantheon [Rome, assist to Stanley Tucci], best rigatoni amatracciana I’ve ever had; Lo Scoglio [Amalfi Coast, assist to Stan Tucci]; Cheval Blanc [Paris], best bar setting I’ve ever encountered; Honor Bar [Montecito, Calif.]; Vincent’s Clam Bar [Carle Place, Long Island].
Q: Your College Hoops Today podcast airs 52 weeks a year. Is your wife Alana the most understanding woman in America?
A: She’s my best friend. … First team All-Credit Card. She’s the strongest person that I know, and she just made it real, real clear that on April 9: “You’re in charge of pickup from daycare.” She has a line in our house, she said: “I don’t want to hear about ‘This is March,’ ’cause every month is March for me.”
Q: Three dinner guests?
A: John F. Kennedy, my wife Alana, Stan Tucci — ’cause I’m so jealous of him ’cause I watch that “Searching for Italy” show, and I don’t understand how a guy can eat this much and be that skinny.
Q: Favorite movies?
A: “A Few Good Men,” “Wall Street,” “The Godfather,” the “Rocky” series, “School Ties.”
Q: Favorite actor?
A: Al Pacino.
Q: Favorite actress?
A: Julia Roberts.
Q: Favorite singer/entertainer?
A: Billy Joel.
Q: Favorite meal?
A: That’s like picking between somebody’s children. Italian or steak.
Q: Favorite NYC pizza?
A: Cassiano’s on 55th and Third. One regular pie, one drink Grandma Nonna slice.
Q: Describe the state of college basketball today.
A: Volatile (laugh). College basketball to me is in a really, really good place from a personnel standpoint. I think the unpredictability of the sport draws people on from the periphery. Everything off the court right now is obviously a little volatile, but hopefully in time we can stabilize that. The games are great, the storylines are great, there’s so much interest with obviously so much player movement.
Q: Do you understand why Rick Pitino said this was as unenjoyable a year as he’s experienced?
A: The job has gotten a lot harder for coaches in college basketball. It has become more than just coaching your team and then recruiting a team for the following year. You have to manage your own players, you have to be prepared to get other players if obviously you lose players. You have to raise money for Name, Image and Likeness. But, with that said, it’s a privilege to be a high-level college basketball coach, and these guys know that, but also because the job requirements have changed a bit. You’re seeing more and more people like Roy Williams, Jay Wright, Jim Boeheim opting out.
Q: Explain “Grab your nitroglycerin pills.”
A: This is a one-and-done type scenario. This is a scenario where if you don’t play your best for 40 minutes, your season is over. Obviously nitroglycerin pills help if you have any cardiology issue, so that’s what we’re encountering when you’re dealing with March Madness, grab your nitroglycerin pills.
Q: “Anarchy? Nope. Just college basketball.” How did that start?
A: That just started really with me being home and really witnessing that one game had absolutely no bearing on the next game. The perfect example of that is what happened last year with Fairleigh Dickinson. Fairleigh Dickinson was not good enough last year to win the Northeast Conference Tournament. That went to Merrimack. But Merrimack couldn’t make the NCAA Tournament because of the transition rule to Division I, so FDU made it kind of by default, won a game in the First Four in Dayton and then was in a situation where it pulled off the biggest upset in the history of the NCAA Tournament against a team in Purdue that had the national Player of the Year in Zach Edey, and won both the Big Ten regular-season and tournament title. It wasn’t anarchy. It was just college basketball.
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