D.C. Cab Rolls Into Boise

March 14, 2001 / 9:53 PM EST / CBS/AP

The nation's capital has moved to Idaho for this weekend.

Don't expect many lobbyists or politicians wandering the streets of Boise, but the best college basketball teams from the Washington, D.C., area are in town for the NCAA tournament.

Maryland, Georgetown and George Mason - schools separated by about 30 miles traveled more than 2,000 miles this week, giving the West Regional in Boise a very familiar feeling.

"We're 30 minutes from each other. We played summer leagues together. We know them and they know us," said George Evans, George Mason's 30-year-old Gulf War veteran who leads the 14th-seeded Patriots (18-11) against third seeded Maryland (21-10) on Thursday. "We won't be intimidated. There won't be any surprises."

That's a common theme here this weekend, as old friends and former teammates gather together far from home.

Even Georgia State, which opens against sixth-seeded Wisconsin (18-10), has a Beltway connection. The 11th-seeded Panthers (28-4) are led by Georgetown transfer Shernard Long (18.1 ppg) and former Maryland coach Lefty Driesell.

In the other first-round games at Boise, seventh-seeded Arkansas (20-10) plays 10th-seeded Georgetown (23-7), and second-seeded Iowa State (25-5) faces 15th-seeded Hampton (24-6).

The most intriguing story line in this region involves Georgia State. Driesell tied a record by taking his fourth team to the tournament and, with an upset against Wisconsin, could face Maryland, the school that fired him in the fallout from Len Bias' cocaine-related death in 1986.

Getting there won't be easy. Standing in the Panthers' way is Wisconsin, a Final Four team from last season that frustrates opponents with its physical, grind-it-out style.

"Playing a Wisconsin is almost like everybody doesn't want to play Princeton," Driesell said. "It's a great challenge for our team. When you're coaching, you like to play against different styles."

Mike Kelley, one of the nation's best defenders, will have his hands full with Georgia State's talented backcourt of Long and Kevin Morris, who try to push the ball upcourt at every opportunity.

Georgia State averaged 81 points per game, while Wisconsin gave up more than 70 just three times all season.

"It will be an issue of whether we can impose our stye on them," Badgers coach Brad Soderberg said. "They'll try to impose their style on us. It's a very intriguing matchup."

With the help of transfers like Long, Morris (Georgia Tech), and Darryl Cooper (LSU), Driesell has transformed Georgia State from the losingest team in NCAA Division I basketball to a team that is tied with Stanford for the second most wins in the country this season.

"He told me he was going to put the players in place to make the NCAA tournament," said Morris, the first transfer Driesell lured to Atlanta. "He was trying to change Georgia State into a known basketball school."

Just like Maryland, where Driesell won 348 games in 17 years. But the Terps the popular choice to come out of this regional after winning six of seven games to end the season first must overcome their tournament struggles.

They haven't made it to a regional final since Driesell took them there in 1975 and have never played in a Final Four.

It hasn't been much better recent years, as the Terps were knocked out in the first round in 1996 and '97, and last year, as the No. 3 seed, lost by 35 points to UCLA in the second round.

"We've been to four Sweet Sixteens in seven years," coach Gary Williams said. "It's not the Final Four like Duke or North Carolina. But a lot of coaches in the country would like to have those problems."

Iowa State made it to the regional final last year before falling to eventual champion Michigan State. That experience should come in handy this year as point guard Jamaal Tinsley, a second-team All-American, returns to lead the Cyclones.

In the other game, Georgetown returns to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 1997 and for the first time since 1943 without John Thompson on the sideline.

The Hoyas play a pressing team with a similar style in Arkansas, which forced more than 20 turnovers per game.