 Richard "Rip" Hamilton goes to work at the end of the 1999 NCAA Tournament Game between the Connecticut Huskies and the Duke Blue Devils. (Image: Youtube.com) | In the first installment of “Tuesday Turnover,” The College Basketball Nostalgic will review the 1999 NCAA Tournament. So why begin with this tournament? Well, there are several reasons. |
First, this tournament was the first that I fully recorded on VHS tape, beginning an obsession that has continued to the present day, though I transitioned to DVD-R in 2006.
At the time, I was a junior in high school, which possibly meant missing the first two days of the tournament. As that was not going to happen, I was usually able to convince my parents to skip school for at least the first Friday of the tournament. As for the Thursday, that was much harder, thus leading to my decision to start recording as many games as possible, which meant a run to Best Buy to load up on tapes.
At the time, I was a junior in high school, which possibly meant missing the first two days of the tournament. As that was not going to happen, I was usually able to convince my parents to skip school for at least the first Friday of the tournament. As for the Thursday, that was much harder, thus leading to my decision to start recording as many games as possible, which meant a run to Best Buy to load up on tapes.
| Second, this tournament marked an important transition in my basketball fandom. Having grown up in Chicago, I was naturally a huge Bulls and bigger NBA fan up until this point. However, this changed in |  By the start of the 1999 NCAA Tournament, it was quite clear that the Chicago Bulls were a long ways away from winning another NBA title. |
1998-1999 when the Bulls began the ill-fated “Organizations Win Championships” experiment, which meant no more Michael, Scottie, Dennis or Phil and too much Krause.
Knowing that the Bulls would no longer be worth watching, I turned my attention to college basketball, which had slowly begun to steal my interest around the 1997 NCAA Tournament, when Arizona won the title as a four seed and became my favorite non-Illinois team for the next ten years.
Knowing that the Bulls would no longer be worth watching, I turned my attention to college basketball, which had slowly begun to steal my interest around the 1997 NCAA Tournament, when Arizona won the title as a four seed and became my favorite non-Illinois team for the next ten years.
Third, I was looking for a new local basketball team to follow. With the Bulls in disarray, I began focusing on DePaul and Illinois.
Of course, in 1999, DePaul had a stud recruiting class of Quentin Richardson from Whitney Young High School, Bobby Simmons of Simeon fame, and Lance Williams from Carver. While seemingly headed to Kansas, Richardson had been a late get for DePaul and predicted a Final Four that season, which did not happen. DePaul did not even make the tournament in 1999.
As for the Fighting Illini, I began taking notice in 1998, when an unheralded team of five seniors got the team to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In 1999, Illinois had a ton of promising freshmen that finished last in the Big Ten but made it to the final of the Big Ten Tournament, just missing out on the 1999 tourney.
Nonetheless, 1999 holds a special place in my heart as the year college basketball surpassed the NBA.
With all of this said, here is brief recollection of the major story lines that come to mind from the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
Of course, in 1999, DePaul had a stud recruiting class of Quentin Richardson from Whitney Young High School, Bobby Simmons of Simeon fame, and Lance Williams from Carver. While seemingly headed to Kansas, Richardson had been a late get for DePaul and predicted a Final Four that season, which did not happen. DePaul did not even make the tournament in 1999.
As for the Fighting Illini, I began taking notice in 1998, when an unheralded team of five seniors got the team to the second round of the NCAA Tournament. In 1999, Illinois had a ton of promising freshmen that finished last in the Big Ten but made it to the final of the Big Ten Tournament, just missing out on the 1999 tourney.
Nonetheless, 1999 holds a special place in my heart as the year college basketball surpassed the NBA.
With all of this said, here is brief recollection of the major story lines that come to mind from the 1999 NCAA Tournament.
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