Inga and Tony Price will be there in Detroit tomorrow night, as always. Danny Green Sr. will be there, too, which is a new and enjoyable thing for his son.
All of Long Island will be there, in a sense. UConn senior A.J. Price and North Carolina senior Danny Green have weathered the ups and downs of life in big-time college basketball, and here they are, competing tomorrow night for a shot at facing off for a national championship.
It's a neat way for the college careers of the two top local players of the last five years to finish: together, with families watching.
With all of us watching Price and Green at their best, because we've seen them at their worst, too.
"I remember when they played for the same AAU team, nine and 10 years old, for the Roadrunners and Reggie Carter," Danny Green Sr. said. "Me and A.J.'s mother in the stands. It's a great feeling to see where they've gone to. All of Long Island should be proud."
There have been unhappier moments, of course. Price's first two years at UConn, one spent mostly in a hospital for treatment of a brain hemorrhage, one spent off-campus after he was expelled for stealing computers.
And Green, whose struggles during his first three seasons as Roy Williams' sixth man were hardly ever about coming off the bench. His father's arrest in a drug sting, the uncertainty of having three younger brothers at home during that time, not being able to call his father during nearly two years Danny Sr. spent in prison.
Danny Sr. wasn't permitted to attend last year's Final Four in San Antonio due to parole restrictions. This one, with his son averaging 13.3 points a game as a starter, Danny Sr. wouldn't miss.
"He's a lot happier, he's more free on the court," Danny Sr said. "It just doesn't seem like as much pressure for him."
The same is true for Price, who is playing the best basketball of his college career this March. Last March, he made it through nine minutes of NCAA Tournament time before his ACL snapped and UConn's first-round game with San Diego went down with him.
Now, with Inga Price sure to be leading the cheers from the family section and Tony Price, who led Penn to the 1979 Final Four, likely sitting a couple dozen rows away in nervous silence, there is no pressure anymore.
"It's been that way since I was 12 years old, my mom in the stands, screaming and yelling and cheering," A.J. Price said. Of his mother appearing on CBS' cameras so much during the Huskies' run, A.J. smiled.
"She says she doesn't like it," he said, "but I think she does."
The cameras will find Danny Green Sr. Saturday, too. One other thing that Long Island's two Final Four stars have in common: They're direct and honest. Price has never failed to answer a question about his own arrest, and Green talked again yesterday, for the thousandth time, about his father's prison time and what it did to their family.
"I'll know he's there," Danny Jr. said. "It's a big difference from last year because he wasn't able to come last year. This year he's been at most of the games and able to support, especially in the year '09. In the preseason - before we started in the ACC - he wasn't able to get out as much and watch the games. Either way he'd find a way to watch the games, whether it was on TV or listening to the radio or play-by-play on the computer. For him to be here makes it that much more special for me."
It has a chance to be very special for either one. Price and the Huskies are a solid favorite to get past Michigan State, and Green and the Tar Heels are an even bigger favorite to take down Villanova.
If those two things happen, Monday will be the last game for both of these guys. Our guys. Head-to-head for a national championship, with parents and brothers and sisters watching.
All of Long Island will be there, in a sense. UConn senior A.J. Price and North Carolina senior Danny Green have weathered the ups and downs of life in big-time college basketball, and here they are, competing tomorrow night for a shot at facing off for a national championship.
It's a neat way for the college careers of the two top local players of the last five years to finish: together, with families watching.
With all of us watching Price and Green at their best, because we've seen them at their worst, too.
"I remember when they played for the same AAU team, nine and 10 years old, for the Roadrunners and Reggie Carter," Danny Green Sr. said. "Me and A.J.'s mother in the stands. It's a great feeling to see where they've gone to. All of Long Island should be proud."
There have been unhappier moments, of course. Price's first two years at UConn, one spent mostly in a hospital for treatment of a brain hemorrhage, one spent off-campus after he was expelled for stealing computers.
And Green, whose struggles during his first three seasons as Roy Williams' sixth man were hardly ever about coming off the bench. His father's arrest in a drug sting, the uncertainty of having three younger brothers at home during that time, not being able to call his father during nearly two years Danny Sr. spent in prison.
Danny Sr. wasn't permitted to attend last year's Final Four in San Antonio due to parole restrictions. This one, with his son averaging 13.3 points a game as a starter, Danny Sr. wouldn't miss.
"He's a lot happier, he's more free on the court," Danny Sr said. "It just doesn't seem like as much pressure for him."
The same is true for Price, who is playing the best basketball of his college career this March. Last March, he made it through nine minutes of NCAA Tournament time before his ACL snapped and UConn's first-round game with San Diego went down with him.
Now, with Inga Price sure to be leading the cheers from the family section and Tony Price, who led Penn to the 1979 Final Four, likely sitting a couple dozen rows away in nervous silence, there is no pressure anymore.
"It's been that way since I was 12 years old, my mom in the stands, screaming and yelling and cheering," A.J. Price said. Of his mother appearing on CBS' cameras so much during the Huskies' run, A.J. smiled.
"She says she doesn't like it," he said, "but I think she does."
The cameras will find Danny Green Sr. Saturday, too. One other thing that Long Island's two Final Four stars have in common: They're direct and honest. Price has never failed to answer a question about his own arrest, and Green talked again yesterday, for the thousandth time, about his father's prison time and what it did to their family.
"I'll know he's there," Danny Jr. said. "It's a big difference from last year because he wasn't able to come last year. This year he's been at most of the games and able to support, especially in the year '09. In the preseason - before we started in the ACC - he wasn't able to get out as much and watch the games. Either way he'd find a way to watch the games, whether it was on TV or listening to the radio or play-by-play on the computer. For him to be here makes it that much more special for me."
It has a chance to be very special for either one. Price and the Huskies are a solid favorite to get past Michigan State, and Green and the Tar Heels are an even bigger favorite to take down Villanova.
If those two things happen, Monday will be the last game for both of these guys. Our guys. Head-to-head for a national championship, with parents and brothers and sisters watching.
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