WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina

It's not quite Gonzaga's time for a Final Four

By Tim Hall

Mar 26, 2009

Gonzaga is the mid-major college basketball powerhouse in the Northwest that no one is allowed to call a mid-major anymore.  It has gone to 11 straight NCAA Tournament, four sweet 16s, and one elite eight.

It was long ago when the Bulldogs were last called a "Cinderella story" in the tournament.  But even in their days as a basketball powerhouse, the 1999 run to the Elite Eight was the deepest they ever went.  Is it Gonzaga's time to finally break through to a Final Four?

"I think it's North Carolina's time to be quite honest, I think this is the team of destiny," broadcaster Kevin Harlan said on 99.9 The Fan's Sports Lunch.  "I sense nationally that people are not as enthralled as they were at the beginning of the season, they thought this would be one of those teams for the ages that in 10 years everyone would be talking about."

Harlan has called college basketball games for CBS for the past 12 years.  He now works on Westwood One's coverage of the NCAA A Tournament and can be heard calling the games in Memphis Friday evening on 99.9 The Fan ESPN Radio.  He believes that this year's North Carolina team has entered this tournament with an attitude and that the nation doesn't understand how good they really are.

"I think North Carolina is that special team," Harlan said. "Not a lot of people are talking about them.  There is a lot of UConn, Memphis and even Oklahoma talk, and I think (Carolina) has got this thing in perspective and I bet they come in very sharp and I think they work their way to Detroit."

Though a fan of Gonzaga after seeing them in the first and second rounds, Harlan doesn't see how much more the program can expand being in the WCC and located in the Pacific Northwest.

Harlan noted how excited he was to sit courtside in Memphis and do the only three radio broadcasts he'll do all season.  He's mostly television now.  But if your listening to Tyler Hansbrough's first dunk, you might catch a "with no regard for human life!"