USA Today/Players from small schools get their shot at spotlight
Players from small schools get their shot at spotlight
By Erik Brady and Andy Gardiner, USA TODAY
Tiras Wade and Orien Greene
Louisiana-Lafayette guards Wade and Greene are opposite sides of the coin. Wade, a 6-6 junior, has never played for a team in the NCAA tournament. Greene, a 6-4 senior, has never played for one that didn't go to the Big Dance.
They are both transfers with smudges on the résumés. Wade played at East Tennessee State and left after 18 games in 2003 — missing out on playing for the Buccaneers in the NCAA tournament in Tampa, his hometown. He transferred to Louisiana-Lafayette and sat out last season while his new teammates played in the tournament.
Greene played two seasons at Florida. The Gators went to the tournament both times. The second time, in 2002, the Gators had a two-point lead vs. Creighton with 29 seconds left in the second overtime. Greene was inbounding the ball but could not find an open man. Florida turned it over on a five-second violation — and lost.
Much of the blame for the upset landed on Greene. The Gators had three timeouts remaining. "Anybody could have called it, not just me," Greene says.
He had always wanted to play for Florida — he grew up in Gainesville and was Mr. Basketball as a high school senior — but within weeks he transferred to Louisiana-Lafayette. He says he did not transfer because of the inbounds play. "It was just a lot of things," Greene says. "I felt like I needed a change. And it worked out for me here."
Wade says he left East Tennessee State because he wanted to score more, "like the role I have here," where he averages 20.4 points. Plus, he knew Greene had fared well when he transferred "and I thought this place would be a good fit for me."
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