NCAA Is in the Midst of a Foreign Affair (washingtonpost.com)
“ATLANTA, March 15 — Georgia Tech Coach Paul Hewitt knows he can count on Luke Schenscher, his 7-foot-1 center, to play well during the NCAA tournament. Last year, when the Yellow Jackets unexpectedly advanced to the national championship game,
Schenscher scored 15 points against Kansas in the regional final and had 19 points and 12 rebounds against Oklahoma State in the Final Four.
“‘Luke always plays his best in the biggest games,’ said Hewitt, whose No. 5 seed Yellow Jackets will play No. 12 seed George Washington in an NCAA tournament first-round game Friday in Nashville. ‘You’re talking about a kid who left home when he was 14 or 15 years old. What’s to get nervous about? He’s 3,000 miles from home. What’s to get shook up about?’
“Schenscher is one of an unprecedented number of foreign-born players in the tournament. Seventy-one players from 32 foreign countries and Puerto Rico are playing on the tournament’s 65 teams, including 10 from Australia, 10 from Canada, five from Brazil and four from Germany. Against George Washington, Schenscher will be matched up against Pops Mensah-Bonsu, from London, and his backup, junior Alex Kireev, from Ukraine. …”