PROVIDENCE, R.I. --- Is this Providence or Perth?
When No. 10 seed St. Mary's plays seventh-seeded Richmond in the South Regional today, six of the players suiting up will be from the deep, deep south: Australia.
Five Aussies play for the Gaels, who have had a pipeline from Down Under since Adam Caporn came over in 2001. He attracted Daniel Kickert to the program, who helped attract Patty Mills , and the rest followed.
"Mills kind of opened up the flood gates as far as that goes because he's such a big-name guy all the kids look up to," said St. Mary's coach Randy Bennett . "If it was good enough for Pat and Daniel and Caporn, I guess the rest of them thought it was good enough for them."
Forward Ben Allen said he transferred from Indiana after talking to fellow countryman Lucas Walker while on an Australian basketball tour.
Allen said he doesn't know Josh Dunker , the sophomore from Sydney who plays for Richmond.
PICKS AND POLITICS: Kansas State guard Jacob Pullen tried to act nonplussed when told President Obama picked the Wildcats to reach the Final Four out of the West Regional.
"I voted for him so he had to vote for us," Pullen said.
Actually, the Wildcats were honored to be a favorite on the executive bracket.
"We're from small Manhattan, Kansas, and we've got President Obama watching us, which means we're doing something big," said forward Curtis Kelly said.
Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl thinks there might have been a political motivation behind Obama's decision to pick his No. 6-seeded Volunteers to advance past No. 11 San Diego State in the first round of the Midwest Regional.
"I think President Obama overwhelmingly carried the state of California," Pearl said. "He doesn't need to be concerned there. He didn't carry Tennessee."
FORMER NEIGHBORS: Villanova coach Jay Wright will be playing a former neighbor when his No. 2 seed Wildcats take on 15th-seeded Robert Morris in the South Regional today.
Colonials coach Mike Rice used to live right down the street in Philadelphia when he was an assistant at Saint Joseph's from 2004-06.
And there's just a little bad blood there.
"I'm just upset that Mike told a story about me smoking a cigar when I told my wife I wasn't smoking cigars at my kids' Little League games," Wright joked.
Rice took advantage of his time in Philly to build a recruiting base. Robert Morris has four players and three coaches from the city.
SUNFLOWER LOCKER ROOM: Here's an interesting locker room pairing in Oklahoma City: Kansas and Kansas State.
The two in-state rivals aren't actually in the same room, but they're right next to each other inside the Ford Center.
Has there been any animosity?
Not yet.
For all the heat of this rivalry, the players actually like each other.
"I don't know if I'm pulling for them, but they're good guys," Kansas guard Tyshawn Taylor said. "We have good competition and I love playing with them. I'm rooting for my Big 12 teams, so I guess I can say I hope they do well."
The Augusta Chronicle ©2012. All Rights Reserved.
