Shabazz Napier, Connecticut knock out Michigan State
NEW YORK — The first thing Shabazz Napier did after doing everything he could to lead Connecticut to a Final Four appearance was ask his mother to do one thing for him.
Don't cry.
He hugged her, and she cried. Then cried some more.
"I was kidding with her," Napier said. "I knew this moment was going to come up for her."
It's been a long time coming, he and his mother said, and it took a lot to get to this point. The idea of Napier standing on a ladder cutting down the net at Madison Square Garden as Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York" blared from the arena's speakers seemed unfathomable years ago. Even weeks ago.
But it really happened. No. 7 seed Connecticut beat No. 4 Michigan State, 60-54, in front of a deafening crowd Sunday afternoon with a distinct Husky flavor to secure a spot in next weekend's Final Four.
The Huskies' next game will be against No. 1 overall seed Florida, a team that hasn't lost since Dec. 2 — a loss to these same Huskies.
This, a season after UConn was barred from the postseason due to poor academic standing scores. This, two seasons into head coach Kevin Ollie's tenure. This, three seasons after the magical Kemba Walker led the Huskies to a national championship.
It is a most unlikely Final Four run from a squad that nearly bowed out in the round of 64 against St. Joseph's, before its season was saved by a frantic comeback. The Huskies have been underdogs in every game since. They beat No. 3 Iowa State handily on Friday and rode Napier to victory on Sunday afternoon against Michigan State.
On Sunday, Napier led all scorers with 25 points, going 9-for-9 from the line. He added six rebounds and four assists, rounding out yet another sensational performance that has become so routine.
Though the box score tells Napier's story well, it leaves out a few significant details. It ignores the way Napier drained multiple threes with defenders in his face, or that he drew Michigan State point guard Keith Appling's fifth foul doing just that. It doesn't describe Napier's poise down the stretch – his back-breaking jumper to put UConn up four with 1:45 to play and his three calmly made free throws in the final seconds, for example. His overall leadership is missing, too.
"When he says calm down, they calm down," said former UConn coach Jim Calhoun, who recruited Napier to the school. "If there was a glass of water 100 miles across the desert, they'd walk with him. He truly is a leader. I've had some great leaders in Kemba Walker, Ray Allen, Richard Hamilton, and others. He's right in that group. He's in that mix of great, great ones.
"He's as valuable as any player in the country."
His teammates know that, too. They understand the value of Ryan Boatright, their irreplaceable defender and other half of a backcourt tandem with Napier that might be the nation's best. They understand that forward DeAndre Daniels can be a game-changer. They understand their other bigs have gotten better and better as the season has gone on, another key to their success.
But they know Napier, the 6-1 senior point guard, means the most to the program. Napier was a freshman on that Kemba-led championship team; his career had its ups and downs since, including a time in which he considered transferring.
"He was placed in a very tough role as a sophomore, to take over a program that just won a national championship," senior forward Tyler Olander said. "It's not the easiest thing to do by any means. But since then, he's grown. Last year, he could really just focus on being a leader; he didn't have to think beyond the regular season (because of the ban). He focused on being a better player and person."
Last offseason when he could have gone pro, Napier decided to return to school and fulfill a promise to his mother, Carmen Velasquez. He told her he'd get his college degree.
"May 11," Velasquez said, the date of Connecticut's commencement on the tip of her tongue. "When you start something, you finish it."
Velasquez instilled more than just that in her son, the youngest of three children she raised as a single mother in Roxbury, Mass. She didn't always have a job, Napier said, but she never stopped trying to make things better for her kids.
"She never gave up," Napier said this week. "My mom is my Superwoman, and she continues to be my Superwoman. Without her, I wouldn't be in this position. … I don't think a lot of people understand what a mother has to go through to get her children to where she wants them to be, successful. My mother's been through a lot her entire life, but she always pushed her children to be better than her. That's the biggest thing. It didn't matter if we didn't have the lights on."
Calhoun called Napier's relationship with his mother a "love affair, in a really positive way. "You can never say a bad word about his mother," he said. "Don't. It's just not a good idea."
And why would you? That relationship drives Napier, who drives this Connecticut team.
"He could never let me down," Velasquez said. "He's accomplished so much over the years. A lot of people doubted him in Boston, a lot of people. I knew I had something special, that he had something special with the ball in his hands.
"He took the opportunity and ran with it, and now we're going to the Final Four."
