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How good was this Villanova team that won the national championship in such impressive fashion over its Michigan counterpart Monday night?

From November until mid-March, they obviously weren’t as consistently as good as they were during the three-week NCAA Tournament – if that was the case, they would not have had four losses going into Selection Sunday.

The best team during the 2017-18 regular season was the University of Virginia Cavaliers.

Sure, history will remember Coach Tony Bennett’s team was the first-ever team to lose to a No.

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What separates this Final Four field from most others:

*The second Saturday semifinal features No. 1 seeds in Villanova and Kansas, arguably as successful and well-rounded programs as there are in the sport, led by coaches (Jay Wright and Bill Self, respectively) who are as well-respected as there is in the profession.

*The Wildcats and Jayhawks are led by not only the two most-complete “point guards”, in Jalen Brunson and De’Vonte Graham, respectively, but also the two-best college players – not the two best “NBA prospects”, mind you, but the two best college players.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL – The ultimate choice for the BurlisonOnBasketball Southern California Player of the Year got easier to make with each week in the final month or so of the 2017-18 season.

In its 10-game run to CIF Southern Section Division 1 and State Division I championships, Chino Hills High got strong performances from two of the state’s most underrated (well, not any more, or course) seniors in 6-foot-2 Ofure Ujadughele and 6-6 Andre Ball.

But the lynchpin for Coach Dennis Latimore’s team’s success, during the 16-11 regular season and the playoffs, was 6-9 junior Onyeka Okongwu.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – So, what does Andre Chevalier do for an encore?

Chevalier capped a remarkable first season as the head coach of the Sierra Canyon High basketball program Sunday night, guiding the Trailblazers to a State CIF Open Division championship victory over Sacramento Sheldon in the Sacramento Kings’ in Golden 1 Center.

Sierra Canyon not only navigated its way through the post-season landscapes that are the CIF Southern Section’s and Regional Open Division playoff fields but did so with a completely revamped roster from the 2016-17 season.

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LAGUNA NIGUEL, Ca. – Some randomness, re: Thursday night’s NCAA Tournament semifinals in Atlanta and Los Angeles:

*Twelve programs remain in the NCAA Tournament and none of them are even remotely considered to be based in the “West”.

With Nevada getting bounced by Loyola of Chicago in Atlanta and Gonzaga toppled by Florida State in Los Angeles Thursday, the best from the Mountain West (the Wolf Pack won the regular season) and West Coast Conference have now taken their last NCAA-funded charter flights for the season.

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