Author: Scott Gleeson / Source: USA TODAY
SportsPulse: Instead of repressing the memory of arguably the most embarrassing loss in sports history, coach Tony Bennett’s team embraced it. Now they’re on the cusp of one of the best comeback seasons ever. USA TODAY
MINNEAPOLIS — Virginia coach Tony Bennett thinks size is all relative.
While recruiting freshman guard Kihei Clark, Bennett said he saw past a 5-foot-9, 155-pound frame.
“So many people get caught up in dimensions, and there’s value and importance in that,” Bennett said, “but toughness, quickness, feel, savvy, those things (matter).”
Bennett, standing slightly below 6-foot in height himself, said he learned to look closer for intangibles from his time playing back-up to one of the NBA’s smallest point guards during his stint as a player with the Charlotte Hornets in the 1990s.
“I was Muggsy Bogues’ backup in the NBA,” Bennett said. “When you see someone who has it and has that kind of heart and determination, that sold me. It’s not like I’m a giant myself. If you can play, you can play.”
Clark, an overlooked guard from Woodland Hills, Calif., decommitted from UC Davis to reopen his recruitment. By the time blue-blood UCLA came around with a last-minute scholarship offer, Clark said Virginia — a program that Bennett’s built on underrated talent — got to him first and had already won his heart because of its style outworking more hyped teams with a disciplined system.
“Being my size, I never pass the eye test,” Clark said. “But I had the confidence to prove I could play with the best. That’s why I came here. I’ve always played with a chip on my shoulder,…
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