Yeah that 2011 Final 4 may have been Cal’s best piece of coaching outside the National Championship. The team was not very deep, Knight and Lamb both picked up twisted ankles in the SEC tournament but played through it and you could see that team wanted it bad after going to war and coming up just short in several battles in the SEC. That SEC Tourney win was well earned and very exciting. Cal cared about winning that one, that was back when that dude had some fire.
I could feel it in my soul they’d knock off Ohio State, I liked the matchup for that team. Ohio State had a big, solid, efficient, experienced team, but Kentucky had them in talent. And we had Jorts to set the tone and be a Big 10 type brawler to show there was no intimidation about their size. I was riding the high after beating Ohio State after all their fans talked shit and I just kept saying “all I know is the Cats are ready for them”. Ohio State fans thought that team was unbeatable at that point. I knew we could beat that UNC team because the game with them in November went to the wire. I was excited about that game, expected it to be close, wanted it bad for them but thought they had already proven/redeemed themselves, plus I had been crushed by the Elite 8 loss the year prior so I remember being less nervous going into that game.