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unusual facts about Final four



1965–66 FIBA European Champions Cup

Simmenthal defeated Slavia PRague 77–72 in the final of the first ever Final four held in the competition, with two venues used:a venue in Milan and the Palazzo dello sport arena in Bologna, Italy.

2008–09 UCLA Bruins men's basketball team

On Friday, April 3, Alfred Aboya will play in the Hershey's all-star game, which is part of the kickoff celebration to Final Four weekend at Ford Field.

2010–11 Eurocup Basketball

It began with qualifying round matches on September 29, 2010, and ended on April 16-17, 2011, with the 2010–11 Eurocup Finals, which was played at the Arena Palaverde, in Treviso.

Bobby Fong

Butler advanced to the Final Four, beating Michigan State before losing to Duke in the championship game.

Dana Schoenfield

Afterward, retiring from swimming, she was selected to the 1975-76 UCLA Spirit Squad as a Songgirl/Dance Team member, where she performed at the 1976 Rose Bowl and the NCAA men's basketball Final Four.

Francisco García

He averaged 15.7 points per game as a junior and, along with teammate and best friend Taquan Dean, led his 4th-seeded team to the 2005 Final Four in Saint Louis, Missouri.

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets men's basketball

In the 1990 tournament, the trio of Kenny Anderson, Dennis Scott, & Brian Oliver (nicknamed "Lethal Weapon 3") carried the Yellow Jackets all the way to the Final Four, where they lost to eventual champion UNLV in the national semi-finals.

J. A. Adande

Adande's assignments at the Los Angeles Times included the Olympic Games, Wimbledon, the Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four, the NBA, Major League Baseball and World Cup 2006.

James Enright

After retiring in 1964 from a refereeing career that saw him officiate the 1954 NCAA tournament Final Four and the 1948 and 1952 Olympic basketball qualifying tournaments, Enright resumed a career he had abandoned for refereeing in 1930 and covered basketball and baseball for such publications as The Sporting News and the Chicago Evening American.

John Giannini

His 1992-93 team, lead by Terrence Stewart, went to the Final Four.

Jones Angell

In 2005, after Mick Mixon became the play-by-play man for the Carolina Panthers, Angell succeeded him as longtime announcer Woody Durham's partner, and was on hand for two Final Fours and the Tar Heels' most recent national championship, in 2009.

Kenny Lofton

The Wildcats made it to the Final Four in 1988.

Kevin Kugler

In 2008, Kugler replaced Kevin Harlan as Westwood One's lead play-by-play voice for the Final Four and has called the games ever since alongside John Thompson and Bill Raftery.

Oscar Furlong

He graduated in 1956 after reaching the Final Four, while playing alongside All American and future NBA player Jim Krebs.

The Battle of I-10

The programs both experienced their greatest national prominence in the late 1960s and early 1970s, when both schools were led by young up-and-coming coaches who would eventually win more than 700 games (Don Haskins at UTEP, Lou Henson at NMSU) and appeared in the NCAA Tournament's Final Four within four years of each other.

THG Sports

It has organised hospitality functions at distinguished events such as the US Grand Prix, World Cup Soccer, Masters, US Open and the Final Four.

Tim Stoddard

He is one of only two men to have played in both a World Series and a Final Four of the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship .


see also

1955–56 Blackpool F.C. season

They competed in the 22-team Division One, then the top tier of English football, finishing second, their highest finish in the English league system to date, despite losing their final four League games.

1990–91 Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team

In one of the biggest upsets in Final Four history, however, Duke got its revenge from a year ago by a score of 79–77 after Laettner hit two free throws with 12 seconds remaining and UNLV guard Anderson Hunt missed a three-point attempt.

2003–04 ABA Goodyear League

There were 26 rounds played in the regular part of the season, best four teams qualified for the Final Four Tournament which was played in Zagreb from April 16 until April 18, 2004.

2008 Masters Series Monte-Carlo

The last occurrence of this had taken place at the 1999 Cincinnati Super 9 event, with Pete Sampras, Patrick Rafter, Andre Agassi and Yevgeny Kafelnikov all reaching the final four.

2008–09 LEB Plata season

A best-of-five series and a Final Four hosted at Fuenlabrada (with re-seeding) decided who promotes to LEB Oro.

2008–09 LEB season

The Final Four is the last phase of the LEB Oro season, and is held over a weekend in Fuenlabrada.

2009–10 Eurocup Basketball

The first-ever "final four" in the history of the competition, officially called the Eurocup Finals, was held at Fernando Buesa Arena in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.

2009–10 Euroleague Final Four

The 2009–10 Euroleague Final Four was held at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Paris, France on May 7 and 9, 2010, to determine the winner of the 2009–10 Euroleague.

2009–10 VTB United League

The Final Four took place between January 21 and 22, 2010 in Kaunas, Lithuania at Kaunas Sports Hall, the home court of Žalgiris Kaunas.

2010 CERS Cup Final Four

After the qualification the four final clubs to participate in the final four are: Igualada HC, HC Liceo La Coruña, SL Benfica and Blanes HCF

2010 Men's European Volleyball League

In the final four tournament, the semi-final matches featured Portugal and Spain defeating Romania (3–2) and Turkey (3–0), respectively, to produce a rematch of the 2007 final.

2012–13 Liga ABA

2012–13 ABA League Final Four will be held in Laktaši Sports Hall, Laktaši.

Aljon Mariano

In the Philippine Collegiate Champions League later that year, Mariano would play a key part in the Tigers run in the tournament as they first won the Metro Manila-Luzon tournament by defeating both the Letran Knights and the Adamson Soaring Falcons to enter into the PCCL Final Four with the Ateneo Blue Eagles, San Beda Red Lions and the Southwestern U Cobras.

Arizona Wildcats

Their championship team was led by future NBA players Mike Bibby and Michael Dickerson, as well as Final Four MVP Miles Simon.

Billy Donovan

He is one of only four men (Dean Smith, Joe B. Hall and Bobby Knight being the others) to appear in the NCAA Final Four as a player and win the NCAA national championship as a coach.

"Billy the Kid," as Providence fans soon nicknamed him (after the 19th century outlaw), averaged 15.1 points as a junior and 20.6 as a senior, when he led the Friars to the Final Four and earned the Southeast Regional Most Valuable Player honors.

Clark Bautista

In the Philippine Collegiate Champions League later that year, Bautista would play a key part in the Tigers run in the tournament as they first won the Metro Manila-Luzon tournament by defeating both the Letran Knights and the Adamson Soaring Falcons to enter into the PCCL Final Four with the Ateneo Blue Eagles, San Beda Red Lions and the Southwestern U Cobras.

College Slam

It includes most major Division I colleges, but there are many, such as the University of Tennessee, the University of Notre Dame, and Mississippi State University (who had just made a run to the Final Four that year), that are not included.

Eastern Michigan Eagles men's basketball

EMU reached the Final Four of the 1972 NCAA College Division National Championship, led by All-American George Gervin, an NBA Hall of Famer selected as one of the 50 Greatest Players in NBA History.

Elmar Bolowich

The 1987 edition of the Tar Heels won their first ACC tournament championship and advanced to their first Final Four (1987 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship where North Carolina lost to Clemson University in the semi-final round.

Eurocup Basketball 2009–10 Finals

The first-ever final four in the history of Eurocup Basketball, officially called the Eurocup Finals, was held at Fernando Buesa Arena in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Spain.

FEU Tamaraws men's basketball

The Tamaraws failed to make it to the Final Four that year after losing to UST for the last Final Four slot, though Santos won season's Rookie of the Year award.

Frank Haith

The Tigers defeated #5 Florida in Mizzou Arena and won three of their final four games heading into the SEC Tournament.

Garage Hymns

RedEye stated that the "explosive 'Hell’s Heroes,' unveiled when Empires landed in the final four in Rolling Stone’s competition to land an unsigned band on its cover, demands a big venue from which to soar.".

Ilija Petković

The score from the first leg eighteen days earlier in Marseille was 1–1 and the qualification for the final four tournament in Italy was at stake.

Jules Alex Nyom

2009 was his most successful season, being named the team captain for the NPSL Final Four Tournament (as Juan Fiz was injured), winning another Midwest Region title, earning a name on the Midwest All-Star team, and making many key saves in the Final Four Semi-Final, but eventually losing to Sonoma County Sol 4–1.

Karim Abdul

In the Philippine Collegiate Champions League later that year, Abdul would play a key part in the Tigers run in the tournament as they first won the Metro Manila-Luzon tournament by defeating both the Letran Knights and the Adamson Soaring Falcons to enter into the PCCL Final Four with the Ateneo Blue Eagles, San Beda Red Lions and the Southwestern U Cobras.

The Tigers would make their way back to the UAAP Finals for the 2nd straight season after surviving three knockout games which included their final elimination round game in which they knocked out the defending champion Ateneo Blue Eagles for the last Final Four slot, and stunning the top-seeded NU Bulldogs by winning two straight games to advance to the UAAP Finals where they battled the De La Salle Green Archers.

Kevin Ferrer

Unfortunately, the Tiger Cubs were eliminated by the Kiefer Ravena led Ateneo Blue Eaglets squad in the Final Four despite having a twice-to-beat advantage against the Eaglets.

In their Final Four, Ferrer once again faced off against Kiefer Ravena and the Ateneo Blue Eagles, this time in the senior's division.

In the Philippine Collegiate Champions League later that year, Ferrer would play a key part in the Tigers run in the tournament as they first won the Metro Manila-Luzon tournament by defeating both the Letran Knights and the Adamson Soaring Falcons to enter into the PCCL Final Four with the Ateneo Blue Eagles, San Beda Red Lions and the Southwestern U Cobras.

Kevin Korjus

Of those podiums, three were race victories that came in the final four races of the season, including a double at Ahvenisto.

Lisa Cole

2005-2006 Florida State University, Women's Soccer Assistant Coach, under Head Coach Mark Krikorian 2005 - NCAA FINAL FOUR - ACC Playoffs

Mecia Simson

She managed to make it to the final four without being in the bottom two, before surviving over Ashley Brown and Jade McSorley in consecutive weeks.

Nancy Darsch

As an assistant under University of Tennessee head coach Pat Summitt from 1978 to 1985, Darsch helped lead the Lady Vols to five Final Four appearances.

New Mexico State Aggies men's basketball

The Aggies hold the distinction of being one of 34 college basketball teams with multiple NBA retired jerseys from former players (Sam Lacey and John Williamson) and a team that reached the NCAA Final Four (in 1970).

Sam Lacey (#44) – played for the Aggies from 1968 to 1970, including a trip to the Final Four.

Patrick Peterson

He started the final four games of season, including the Chick-fil-A Bowl win over Georgia Tech.

Petr Čuhel

In May 2009, Čuhel took charge of Příbram for the final four games of the season after the dismissal of manager Massimo Morales.

Richard Tarrant

In college he was a first-team All-American in basketball and led the Purple Knights to the Final Four of the 1965 NCAA Men's Division II Basketball Tournament, where they were defeated 93-70 by the University of Evansville, who had Jerry Sloan and Larry Humes, both All-Americans.

St Mary's Grammar School

Jim Eastwood - one of the final four contestants in the 7th UK series of The Apprentice

Stan Heath

He worked at Wayne State University in Detroit the following three years, including serving as associate head coach in 1994 when WSU set a school record for victories (25–5), helping the Tartars win two Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference titles with a trip to the NCAA Division II Final Four in 1993.

Terry Don Phillips

Under Phillips, the Cowboys basketball team continued their success under coach Eddie Sutton, reaching the NCAA Final Four in 1995 and the Elite Eight in 2000.

The Final Four of Everything

The Final Four of Everything is a 2007 book written by Mark Reiter and Richard Sandomir on the subject of bracketology.

The Wreckers

This allowed them to have various live performances including one in Indianapolis, Indiana at Monument Circle in August 2006 as part of the Final Four celebration.

Tommy Irvin

He was elected to his 10th and final four-year term in November 2006.