OKLAHOMA CITY -- So, of course, the wisecracks will come. Oklahoma's Courtney Paris said on her senior night that she would pay back her scholarship money if the Sooners didn't win a national championship. Then on Saturday, OU fell 74-62 to Texas A&M in the Big 12 tournament semifinals. Some people will no doubt say, "If you can't win your league tournament, how do
you expect to win the NCAA tournament?"
At OU, all 15 scholarships have been endowed and are linked to a past player. Courtney Paris' promise to win an NCAA title was a heartfelt message that she felt she "owed" a championship to the fans, her scholarship endowed and the university.
Except the two really are not the same animal. Weird things will happen in league tournaments that usually won't happen in the NCAA tournament. There's the familiarity factor between opponents. There's playing on consecutive days. There's the fact that some teams are playing for their NCAA tournament lives or better seeding and some aren't.
Look at recent years: In 2003 and 2004, Connecticut won the NCAA title without winning the Big East tournament. Maryland won the national championship in 2006 but fell in the ACC tourney. Tennessee won it all in 2007 but didn't take the SEC tournament trophy.
So from that perspective, the Sooners' loss here is not necessarily an indicator of NCAA doom. Yet OU certainly is left with questions. On Friday, the Sooners steamrolled Kansas in the quarterfinals, 76-59. Paris had 27 points and 14 rebounds, and everything seemed to be clicking.
One day later, the Sooners looked out of sorts almost from the start against Texas A&M, the only Big 12 team that has beaten them this season. Paris was in foul trouble in the first half and eventually fouled out, playing 24 minutes and getting 15 points and 15 rebounds. She was the only Sooner in double figures, as OU struggled particularly from 3-point range (2-of-14).
Whitney Hand, who had been such a boost for OU in her freshman season, suffered a broken hand on Feb. 21. She came back for the Big 12 tournament, but was 0-for-9 in the Sooners' two games.
Texas A&M now has beaten the Sooners twice in the past three weeks. The consensus seems to be that A&M won't get a top seed, even if the Aggies beat Baylor for the Big 12 title. But I have to wonder if A&M (if it wins Sunday) hasn't established itself as the league's true top team at this point in the season.
Still, the Sooners appear likely to hold on to a No. 1 seed and surely will be placed in the Oklahoma City Regional. Last season, the Sooners were assigned to this regional as well, but didn't make it out of the second round. Incidentally, that team had been upset in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 tournament by Missouri.
This year's Sooners seemed to be the cohesive bunch that last year's team wasn't. OU's losses, before Saturday, were against North Carolina, Connecticut and Texas A&M -- the last on the Aggies' home court on a Takia Starks basket with six seconds left.
On Friday, this Oklahoma team was on top of the world. On Saturday, observers were wondering which OU squad was the "real" Sooners.
"I think this game can remind us what makes us so special," Paris said after the loss. "And I think that's the fight that we have, and that togetherness and urgency we get in games, even when it is not going our way.
"I think [this] will remind us. That's the X factor for Oklahoma, and we have to get back to that."
Some will wonder if Paris "hurt" herself or her team with what she said about her scholarship. Frankly, I think the whole thing was overblown. Paris' statement was not boastful or confrontational. Unfortunately for her -- or for any athlete, really -- once you say something, you don't have any control over how it's going to be interpreted by others or presented by the media. To understand her sentiment, I think it's important to know that OU is one of the few women's basketball programs that has all of its scholarships endowed. Coach Sherri Coale established the scholarship setup so that every OU player knows who endowed her scholarship and which previous player had it.
She did this so that each Sooner would take her scholarship very personally, and that's what Paris has done. Her statement was not spur-of-the-moment, nor was it foolhardy bragging. It was a heartfelt sentiment, developed over four years, about the responsibility she feels to the program.
Now, you certainly can question whether it was a good idea to say it, no matter the feeling behind it. Some might consider it a big mistake. Others have suggested that it's a good thing if it brings more attention to women's basketball.
Ultimately, it didn't surprise me that Paris felt that way about her scholarship. And I don't think her statement will have much to do with OU's fate.
What will matter? How well Hand is able to shoot in the NCAA tournament with a little more recovery/practice time. How well Courtney's twin sister, Ashley, plays -- because she has scored in double figures just three times in the past 11 games. How well the Sooners other than Courtney Paris rebound. How hard the Sooners play, because that was something that bugged Coale about Saturday's loss.
When it comes right down to it, all those things are what OU really does have to worry about -- just to get to the Sweet 16, Elite Eight or Final Four, let alone actually taking the title, for which UConn is, of course, favored.
They are the legitimate concerns -- not whether Paris should or shouldn't have made a public senior-night promise.
