Posted on Mon, Apr. 07, 2008

DAVIDSON COACH MINGLES AT FINAL FOUR, WONDERING WHAT MIGHT HAVE BEEN

It was no ordinary week for McKillop

KEN TYSIAC

ktysiac@charlotteobserver.com

SAN ANTONIO --

As he was running Saturday morning, Bob McKillop imagined what it would have been like if Davidson were playing that night.

He envisioned the Wildcats going through their pregame meal and walk-through practice.

"You kind of pinch yourself and think, `Wow, we could have been there,' " McKillop said Sunday morning in the lobby of the coaches' hotel at the Final Four.

If Jason Richards had hit his hurried 3-point attempt at the buzzer in the Midwest Regional final, Davidson would have reached the Final Four instead of Kansas, which will play Memphis in the NCAA final tonight at the Alamodome.

Instead, McKillop has come to the Final Four for the coaches' convention with unusual emotions. He's proud of the program he's coached for 19 seasons captured the hearts of sports fans nationally.

But he's disappointed Richards, Stephen Curry, Thomas Sander, Andrew Lovedale and the rest of the Davidson players couldn't experience the environment along with him.

Kansas coach Bill Self, who lost in four regional finals before defeating Davidson 59-57, explained how difficult it is to fall one game short of the Final Four.

"Next to losing the championship game, I can't imagine there's a tougher game to lose than the Elite Eight game," Self said, "because a successful season in so many ways is envisioned by getting to the Final Four."

McKillop's situation is a bit different because Davidson wasn't a high seed. As he would during an ordinary year, he has spent time with Phil Martelli and Bobby Cremins in San Antonio. He was scheduled to have dinner with Rick Barnes and Fran Fraschilla on Sunday night.

But McKillop will receive the Clair Bee Award for coaching excellence during a ceremony this morning. McKillop and his players also have had a lot of media opportunities.

Attending Catholic Mass on Sunday is a ritual for McKillop. Going on CNN's Sports Sunday before Mass is unusual.

So is watching Curry on Conan O'Brien.

"It gets repetitive, and sometimes taxing from the standpoint of the amount of time to do it, but I really understood this is an opportunity, not an obligation," McKillop said.

Davidson's deep run in the tournament also could give McKillop opportunities to leave for other coaching jobs. He said he looks forward to speaking soon with Davidson President Thomas Ross about his future there.

One thing he would like is better compensation for his staff, which he said has great chemistry. He referenced the Brazilian national soccer team, known as "the beautiful team," as an example of what he'd like to build.

"We were pretty close to it this year," McKillop said. "Do I think it can happen at Davidson? I'm certainly going to sit down with Davidson at the end of this, I'm going to talk with Tom Ross and we're going to talk about that beautiful team."

McKillop also has spoken to TV executives about scheduling attractive games and moving some games into slots to be televised. Though he's not sure how to do it, he wants to sustain the affection the state and nation developed for his team.

He wore a North Carolina blue tie to the NCAA semifinals Saturday night to thank Tar Heels fans for supporting the Wildcats when both teams were in Raleigh for first- and second-round games.

Memphis coach John Calipari said Sunday that getting to the Elite Eight is like winning three NCAA championships for McKillop at a school like Davidson.

But McKillop isn't satisfied. He wants to coach a team in the Final Four, and he was overcoming his disappointment last week by trying to figure out how to do it.

"We're the common man, and there's common ground with us," McKillop said. "That got people excited about, `They're just like me.' Or, `I like those guys.' I'm really going to try to have our program and our school capitalize on that."