Providence notes: Arizona coach’s sweat becomes national source of consternation

Arizona coach Sean Miller’s sweat-soaked shirt became a national talking point on social media on Thursday night.

Early in the first half of the game Miller removed his suit jacket … and his white dress shirt looked like it had been drenched in water.

It prompted the creation of no fewer than six Twitter accounts, including @sweaty_shirt and @CoachSweatShirt.

It also prompted a handful of hilarious memes, including a split-screen image of the famous scene from the romance movie “The Notebook” in which Ryan Gosling’s character proclaims his love for Rachel McAdam’s character while standing outside during a thunderstorm.

The last tweet from the @sweaty_shirt account gave a nod to the Shockers.

“Hey coach, I gotta (sic) shirt you can wear home.”

Underneath was a picture of a man wearing a WSU shirt with the old WuShock logo on it.

Ice, ice baby — WSU forward Rashard Kelly routinely walks around the locker room during interview sessions with two gigantic bags of ice taped to his knees, prompting some teasing.

Thursday night, after Kelly took two key charges in the 65-55 win over Arizona, it was easy to see why he needs the extra ice.

“The flip side of not making those plays is what happens after,” Kelly said. “You don’t want to be in that film room when you don’t make that play and hear about it. That’s not pleasant.”

And the damage to his body? Kelly could care less.

“(WSU trainer) Todd Fagan is the man,” Kelly said. “He always gets me right.”

Bet my team wins — Former Wichitan Raymond Ridder won a video tribute to the Shockers from Golden State Warriors center Festus Ezeli on Tuesday.

At stake Thursday was dinner during the playoffs, a bet with Warriors coach Steve Kerr, and a T-shirt bet with assistant coach Luke Walton. Both are Arizona alums. If the Wildcats had won, Ridder would have had to wear an Arizona shirt. Since the Shockers won, Walton will wear a WSU shirt during practice.

Ridder, Warriors vice president of communications, is rooting for the Shockers, a tribute to his Wichita roots. He attended elementary school in Wichita and Goddard and spent his sophomore and junior years at Northwest High. Ezeli played for Vanderbilt from 2007-12 before Golden State drafted him with the 30th pick in 2012.

Talk it up — Arizona coach Sean Miller cleverly mixed in recruiting pitches during his media session on Wednesday.

“They’re so incredibly spoiled with the blue sky they see almost every day of the life at Arizona,” he said, asked about two players with roots in the Northeast.

When asked about center Kaleb Tarczewski’s four years at Arizona, Miller hit academics.

“Kaleb is going to graduate from our Eller School of Business,” Miller said. “It’s one of the most prestigious undergraduate programs in our university, very hard to get into, and then even more difficult to finish. Everybody should be so proud of just how he’s represented his hometown.”

Slip slidin’ away — Problems with a slippery court at Dunkin’ Donuts Arena were consistent throughout Thursday’s four games. Duke guard Grayson Allen slipped several times during a close win over UNC Wilmington. Players from Miami and Buffalo were called for traveling during their game while slipping on the floor.

The courts are new and specially made for the NCAA Tournament and not the courts that Providence College plays on during the regular season.

Tell me about Fred — ESPN analyst Jay Williams said Thursday morning on the “Mike & Mike” radio show that a call from Atlantic Records executive Michael Kyser earlier this week asking for help filling out his bracket turned into a three-way call with rap superstar Jay-Z.

Williams said Jay-Z, whose real name is Sean Carter, wanted information on a specific team and a player — Wichita State and point guard Fred VanVleet — so he could make his picks as part of a $500,000 bracket pool.

If you think that’s a lot of money, which it is, also consider this: Jay-Z and his wife, Beyonce, have a combined net worth of $800 million, according to a 2015 Forbes Magazine article.

This story was originally published March 18, 2016 at 12:13 AM with the headline "Providence notes: Arizona coach’s sweat becomes national source of consternation."