Zion in Columbia? It could happen if NCAA tournament projections fall into place
The Zion Williamson Show rolled along Monday night.
Returning from an eye injury suffered Saturday at Florida State, Duke’s freshman phenom — and the pride of Spartanburg — set a single game scoring record by a Blue Devils freshman with 35 points in an overtime loss to Syracuse.
Williamson, who last January committed to Duke after pursuit by South Carolina and Clemson, has come as advertised this season. He’s the headliner for the No. 1 Blue Devils, well on his way to becoming the first pick of June’s NBA Draft.
But his college career isn’t over yet. Duke (14-2) is destined for the Big Dance — and its first stop could be in Williamson’s home state.
Colonial Life Arena will host the NCAA Tournament’s first and second rounds, March 22-24. As of Tuesday morning, ESPN “bracketologist” Joe Lunardi had Duke, as 1-seed in the West region, playing in Columbia.
Scott Powers, executive director for the Columbia Regional Sports Council, told The State in October that it would be the “ultimate goal” to have such an ACC power here as the Blue Devils would drive interest and plenty of fans to the area. He downplayed things Monday during a news conference at the Columbia Metropolitan Convention Center.
Other Columbia-bound teams, according to Lunardi’s latest projection, are Wagner, Ohio State, LSU, Virginia (1-seed in the East), Detroit Mercy, Ole Miss and Central Florida.
CBS Sports on Tuesday had Virginia (1-seed in the East), Sam Houston State, Purdue, Mississippi State, Tennessee (1-seed in the Midwest), Weber State, Iowa and TCU coming to CLA.
“Obviously some of those teams that are being talked about in projections would be fantastic,” Powers said, “but I don’t want to say, ‘God, we have to have a Duke or a North Carolina or a Virginia or one those teams.’ We’re going to get some very good teams.”
Virginia, which faces Duke in Durham on Saturday, is undefeated in Columbia this season after a 69-52 win over the Gamecocks in December. Tennessee (14-1) will be in CLA on Jan. 29 to play the Gamecocks.
“There’s a lot of good basketball being played,” Powers said. “And basketball has once again taken hold of some parts of the South it hasn’t in a while. I don’t want people to be disappointed if I say, ‘Oh, Andy Katz says we’re getting Duke and Virginia, we’re going to have two No. 1 seeds in Columbia,’ and we don’t get them. I don’t want people to feel like it’s a disappointment because we got North Carolina and Tennessee, or whatever the case may be.”
Duke last came to the Palmetto State for the Big Dance in 2017. The second-seeded Blue Devils, playing at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, were upset by South Carolina in the second round. That weekend featured Duke, USC and North Carolina all playing in the same building.
Greenville reported an estimated financial impact of $3.6 million.
“We’re so happy and so excited to show anybody that’s never been to Columbia before, or hasn’t been in a while, what we have to offer,” Powers said. “From my perspective, from the tourism bureau, that’s why we’re here. We’re here to show off the community and we look forward to having Montana State or Southwest-Northeast Louisiana State.
“We’re going to get some good teams. We’re going to get teams that travel well, that are well-covered by the media, that their fans will have a nice, easy drive. And then we’re going to have some teams that may have some struggles getting here with flights and everything. But I think we’re gonna have a wonderful tournament.
“I think we have a much easier job just hosting the eight teams we get instead of determining who those eight teams are. I don’t want to be on that committee.”
Per NCAA rules, South Carolina, off to a 3-0 start in SEC play, would not be able to play on their home floor, should it make the NCAA Tournament. The 15th-ranked USC women, Big Dance hosts in the past, would also have to travel elsewhere.
This story was originally published January 15, 2019 at 11:20 AM.
