Canzano: Portland was the place to be
NCAA Tournament stage provided great theater.
Moda Center was buzzing. Portland’s NBA arena was the place to be on Thursday. No. 12-seed High Point had made a very good point in an upset of No. 5 Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament.
Arkansas and Texas showed up to play, too.
So did Gonzaga.
Nestled in a courtside seat, here was the normally reclusive Trent Bray, the former Oregon State head football coach, suddenly as visible as Machine Gun Kelly.
There was some fascinating stuff to unpack on the opening day of the NCAA Tournament. High Point coach Flynn Clayman, for example. The 37-year-old first-year coach has obviously been harboring bad feelings about high-major programs that are colluding and refusing to schedule mid-majors such as HPU.