Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats (Thanks for the memories)

We'd seen them take down Gonzaga in the first round of the NCAA men's basketball tournament. In other years, that game would have been a crowning achievement as they captured their first NCAA tournament win in 40 years.
The Davidson Wildcats then set their sights on the No. 2-seeded Georgetown Hoyas. After dropping 40 points on Gonzaga, sophomore guard Stephen Curry's sharpshooting had captured the nation's imagination.
After falling behind the Hoyas in the first half, Curry ignited for 25 of his 30 points in the second half and Davidson stunned Georgetown, 74-70.
Next came Wisconsin, the Big 10 champs, and Curry twisted, spun and rained down jumpers on his way to 33-points. The Wildcats coasted to a 73-56 win in front of LeBron James and hundreds of Davidson students bused to the game by the school's trustees.
One more win would mean the seemingly impossible - this tiny, academically challenging school of 1,700 students would be headed to the Final Four.
I'd first seen Curry play as a high schooler when I was assigned to photograph one of his games for The Charlotte Observer. He was overlooked by the bigger schools and Davidson pulled off an incredible coup when he enrolled there.
At Davidson, we saw him play as a freshman and were immediately impressed. We went to several games and even photographed a few this year.
With our studio in Davidson, we felt a connection with the team and the town. My brother and dad both followed the team's progress and I would get calls from Georgia and New York as they talked about the team's exploits.
Our son Sean and I made a frantic trip to Davidson on Easter Sunday to catch as much of the Georgetown game as we could at The Brickhouse, a gathering place for local fans.
We had a small family party at our house for the Kansas game and Betsy cooked up some chicken wraps with a special spice (Curry) and red-velvet cupcakes with chocolate chips in keeping with Davidson's red and black color scheme among other dishes.
Davidson played incredible defense and seemed to have the Jayhawks on the ropes much of the game until they made a late run to take 59-57 lead with 16.8 seconds left.
Everything seemed to be in place for an amazing upset as Curry brought the ball upcourt.
Kansas bottled Curry up and he passed off to teammate Jason Richards, whose 26-foot shot was off the mark as the final buzzer sounded.
It was hard to believe it was over.
As a former journalist, I appreciated what made Davidson's run such a great story. Although led by an amazing star, Davidson won as a team under the leadership of coach Bob McKillop. And the players are true student-athletes who aren't just using college as a stepping stone to the NBA.
As a fan, I just enjoyed following along like everyone else.
Congratulations to all involved.
It was a great ride!

I love this shot our son Sean got of Curry in a game at Belk Arena

Coach McKillop helps out on defense against UNCG

Sharpshooter

These guys always seemed to be having fun

Ugly Shirts

I woke up early this morning and flicked on the television. As I searched the channels I stopped at one of those biography shows called "Beyond the Glory," which was featuring Duke University coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Even though I'm a Carolina fan, it brought back memories of my days as a sports photographer when February and March meant covering college basketball in hoops crazy North Carolina.
The Burlington Times News hired me as their Director of Photography in the early 90s and I found myself smack in the thick of "Tobacco Road." Covering the likes of Duke, Carolina, N.C. State and Wake Forest on a regular basis was a unique and special opportunity.
Fast forward a few years and many ACC Tournaments later and I had joined the staff of The Charlotte Observer and I got many opportunities to cover the NCAA Regionals and several Final Fours.
Duke was making another run at the national championship in 2001. We had a close-knit group of photographers from the state who were picked to cover whichever of the Big Four schools had a dog in the hunt that particular year. For some reason I can't remember, the North Carolina contingent covering Duke's run in the Final Four all decided to wear Hawaiian shirts - the uglier the better. We even made a special trip to the Mall of America in Minneapolis to make sure everyone had them.
Now Coach K had picked up on the trend and got a kick out of it. After Duke defeated Arizona, 82-72, for its third national title, Krzyzewski was surrounded by photographers sporting these extremely loud, tacky shirts. It was pretty funny.
The game was over and Coach K had finished most of his interviews as we spotted him walking through one of the tunnels in the Metrodome. Somebody asked him if we could get a quick snapshot. He laughed about the shirts and was gracious as we got a nice memento minutes after his historic win.
Pictured with K are, from left, Bob Jordan, the legendary Associated Press photographer who retired but keeps on working, me, K, former Observer photographer Patrick Schneider, and Raleigh News & Observer photographer Chuck Liddy.
Even though I sometimes hate Coach K when he beats Carolina (not so much this year), I must admit he is a great coach and give him his due as a leader.
A quote from Krzyzewski: "When you are passionate, you always have your destination in sight and you are not distracted by obstacles. Because you love what you are pursuing, things like rejection and setbacks will not hinder you in your pursuit. You believe that nothing can stop you!"
I threw in another photo from the 2000 Final Four in Indianapolis. That's me on the upper left with Charlotte Observer photographer Jeff Siner and Patrick Schneider in the front. Michigan State won that year.
Even though Duke had beaten Carolina, 77-75, at Cameron Indoor Stadium in the last photo, I still love the moment. Steve Wojohowski, now an assistant coach, had helped the Blue Devils to the win and he rushed down the court to find Coach K. I happened to be in the right place with a wide angle lens to catch the moment.
So here's to March, college basketball and ugly shirts - and go Heels!!!