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SAN ANTONIO - Ron Lewis? Coach Thad Matta had never heard the name.
As the coach of Xavier, Matta always searched for players overlooked by the nation's powers.
"I'm embarrassed to say we didn't know who he was," Matta said.
The 6-foot-4 swingman's name was hardly any more familiar a year later when the Bowling Green freshman approached Matta about transferring to Ohio State.
"We were like if he can walk and chew gum, we'll take him," Matta said. "When the fax comes through and Ron Lewis is transferring, we were like, 'oh, who is this kid.'"
Today, three years later, this kid is why the Buckeyes are heading to Final Four this weekend. Playing his most inspired ball at OSU, Lewis is averaging 24 points in the tournament and has established himself as the team's end-game virtuoso.
Matta said he noticed a palpable change in Lewis, who was suffering through an underwhelming senior season, last month when he began "really taking personally" where this season was headed.
Now, Lewis can do no wrong.
"You just live for the moment, and my whole thing is I don't want my college career to end on a loss," Lewis said. "I have all the confidence in the world right now."
Back off, woman
The question was benign enough.
"Hey, do you want a take a walk on the Riverwalk?" Matta's wife asked him at their hotel last week.
Matta shot her a puzzled glare.
"I guess my look answered the question for me, because she then apologized for asking the question," Matta said.
Such is life of a coach during the tournament, where coaches tirelessly search out every last edge. Heck, Matta even called Xavier coach Sean Miller to get his "thoughts on our team and what they were trying to do to us."
Matta can't help it. Nothing against the wife, but there's always another tape to be watched and games to be won.
"I think that I'm so in love with this team and I want them to be successful that I feel like we have to put all our efforts into getting them prepared," Matta said.
Oden on Oden
On spring quarter: "All the guys say the Oval at spring time is great because the girls are all out sunbathing in the middle of the day. I'm looking forward to that."
On school: "Classes aren't that hard. I'm getting good grades. Everything about college is easy."
On what he'd buy if, oh, he ever happened to stumble across a pile of money: "A Best Buy, and I'd use it like a toy store."
On flying commercial: "I ask for the exit row. (But) some of the business guys who have their laptops are like, 'I need my space.'"
On his five favorite movies: "I'm a big fan of 'The Departed.' 'The Wood,' that's a good movie. 'Love and Basketball.' 'American Pie 2,' a classic. 'Anchorman,' and anything Will Ferrell."
On dorm life: "My mom's not there. It's kind of dirty. I take out the trash like every five weeks. But we've got David Lighty. He's pretty clean."
Matta to Kentucky?
Matta's vagabond coaching path appears to have reached a dead end.
Despite coaching at three schools in the last seven years, Matta bolting town might be a long shot. Last week, when his name came up for the recently vacated Kentucky job, he went as far as saying he wouldn't even talk to the folks from Lexington.
"That thought has honestly never crossed mind," Matta said. "I love the path we're on - to do what we set out to do at Ohio State when we came here."
Bucks extras
Conley insisted last week he will return next season, even as some mock drafts see him as a late lottery pick ... A hard elbow to Andre Allen's face left the Memphis forward bloody and dazed during Saturday's first half. The blow was delivered by teammate Robert Dozier. Of course, such a gory scene must not go unpunished, so Lighty was whistled for a foul. This led Memphis ill-informed fans to clamor for Lighty's ejection ... OSU must be America's team. The Buckeyes' 85-84 win Thursday against Tennessee was seen by 68 percent of the country while the much-hyped Pittsburgh-UCLA match-up went to just 32 percent in the same time slot ... Following Saturday's win, Matta said the last time OSU reached the sport's final weekend was in 1968. "I take great pride in that," he said. Come on, folks. Nothing the NCAA says and no amount of banners taken down can erase OSU's 1999 ride to the Final Four. Not only do statements such as this slight members of that memorable team, they're ignorant and absurd ... David Robinson, Oden's NBA idol, watched the Buckeyes' win against Tennessee Thursday from OSU's section of the Alamodome. The two did not meet.
Quotable
"It changed the game. I really hope it was an intentional foul, because it was the difference maker in the game. Everybody knows if you were watching. It changed the whole complexion of the game. It put fire in them and took the wind out of our sails." - Memphis coach John Calipari on Chris Douglas-Roberts' intentional foul of Greg Oden late in Saturday's second half.
David Briggs can be reached at briggs.166@osu.edu.
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