00:00All right, Michigan was just a little bit too much for Dan Hurley's UConn Huskies
00:04en route to their first men's basketball title since 1989.
00:08In a national championship game, folks, there's always a hero and a zero on the biggest stage.
00:14So let's put the season to bed with our New York Post College Hoops reporter, Zach Braziller.
00:20Zach, I mean, great game last night, 69-63.
00:25I think Michigan was kind of in cruise control throughout the course of the night,
00:29but the Huskies did rally a little bit.
00:31Again, we talk about the heroes and zeros on college basketball's biggest stage.
00:37The floor is yours, sir.
00:39Who was the hero of the national championship game?
00:44No question about it.
00:46The hero was Elliot Cadeau.
00:47You know, all year there was kind of the question is, was he kind of a weak point for Michigan?
00:54You know, he was kind of inconsistent at times and he was great this weekend.
00:59Most outstanding player of the Final Four.
01:02He had 19 yesterday.
01:04Saturday he had 10 assists.
01:06You know, he was terrific.
01:08New Jersey kid.
01:11You know, I thought coming in, UConn had to win the ballot point guard.
01:15And it wasn't close.
01:16You know, Silas Demary had foul trouble, scored only two points.
01:21And Cadeau, you know, was the best guard on the floor.
01:26He was, he was great.
01:28And, you know, he talked post-game about how there's a lot of doubts and questions about him.
01:34And, you know, obviously he really answered big time.
01:37Shout out to Elliot Cadeau, the pride of Bergen Catholic High School in New Jersey.
01:45Jersey's in the building and Jersey showed up on the national stage.
01:49But who's your biggest zero of the game last night?
01:54Yeah, like I mentioned it, Demary, the UConn point guard, I know he's, you know, he's been dealing with an
02:00ankle injury.
02:01That's obviously been a factor.
02:02He had foul trouble.
02:05UConn needed to win the backcourt, you know, by a major margin yesterday to win this game.
02:12And that obviously didn't happen.
02:15You know, there were, there were some questionable fouls.
02:18There's no doubt.
02:19I didn't, I didn't, I didn't like the way that the game was officiated.
02:22It was very inconsistent.
02:25And Demary obviously got, got, got the wrong end of it where, you know, he just, he was only on
02:31the court for 21 minutes.
02:32But there's no, look, UConn needed him to be better and he wasn't.
02:36Yeah, two points, two assists in 21 minutes.
02:39I feel like I can do that at the LA Fitness open gym.
02:43I don't know if I can do it in the, in the national championship though, Zach.
02:48Let's get your unsung hero.
02:50Who, who deserves to get some Zach Braziller flowers right now that no one's talking about from the night?
02:57How about the former junior college star, Yatza Lenderberg?
03:01You know, he, he could have been a late first round pick had he gone to the draft last year,
03:06decided to come back, played his one year at Michigan, was a first team All-American.
03:12And then Saturday he gets a bad injury.
03:14He's got a sprained MCL, a bone bruise in his left knee.
03:18And he wasn't, look, he wasn't healthy.
03:19There's no doubt, but he still was terrific.
03:22You know, he scores nine of his 13 in the second half, playing through the pain, made some really big
03:27plays.
03:28I thought his defense in the second half was really good.
03:32But, you know, look, the game is probably a little more lopsided if he's healthy.
03:35He's one of the best players in the country.
03:38But still, he gutted it out and he gave Michigan what it needed in that second half.
03:44So, look, he, Yatza deserves his flowers.
03:48Guy who went from junior college who, you know, admittedly didn't really take school seriously in high school.
03:55Thought he was going to never even go to college.
03:58He was working at a warehouse and he was accepted that his life, that was going to be his life,
04:04but his mom refused to let it happen.
04:06And now the guy's going to be a lottery pick.
04:08A cool, a really cool story.
04:10Man, he better buy his mom the biggest house on the block for sure after that.
04:15Shout out to the moms out there who are behind their sons on their journey,
04:20especially when they don't know where to go within their journey.
04:23So, shout out to his mom for keeping him or getting him back on track.
04:27I got to throw a little side question in here because this is New York City.
04:31I have to throw in a St. John's angle to this.
04:34The Johnnies won the Big East regular season and the tournament title.
04:38They beat UConn two games to one this season,
04:41but UConn represented the Big East and played in the national championship.
04:46So, what does all this information that I just spewed out kind of tell you
04:52about how far Rick Pitino's red storm is from being considered a national powerhouse?
05:01Look, if St. John's beats Duke in the Sweet 16, I think they're playing last night.
05:07I do.
05:08I think they would have beat UConn, the Elite Eight.
05:10I think they would have beat Illinois.
05:11They were not far off at all.
05:14And, look, you know, they took a lot out of Duke in that Friday night game.
05:21And I think with how far they pushed Duke definitely helped against Connecticut.
05:28Now, look, let's see what their roster looks like.
05:31Obviously, they have a lot of work to do here in the transfer portal,
05:34which started today and is humming.
05:40But, yeah, look, they had a great year and they weren't far off.
05:44You know, they obviously beat UConn two or three, really pushed Duke,
05:49gave Duke all it could handle.
05:52They're a few missed shots away from beating Duke.
05:54And I think, I mean, St. John's fans, this is probably painfully here,
05:58but, I mean, look, I don't think they would have beat Michigan either.
06:02But, yeah, if St. John's beats Duke, I think they're playing last night
06:06in the national championship game, which is kind of crazy to think about.
06:10But that's kind of what I think and what I feel.
06:15I think they were better than UConn.
06:17At least they matched up really well with UConn.
06:20And I didn't think that Illinois team was great, wasn't very good defensively,
06:25wasn't that tough.
06:26I think they would have beat Illinois.
06:28And, look, now we see what they can do in the offseason.
06:32It's another year where they've got to reload.
06:35But I fully expect them to do that and for them to be, you know,
06:39a very good team that's got a chance to go really far again next year.
06:43All right, I'd say Zach to school, but the season is officially over.
06:47So put the 2025-26 men's college basketball season to bet for us.
06:54Final thoughts.
06:57Yeah, look, to me it was a great year.
07:00You had all the amazing freshmen.
07:02You had this Michigan powerhouse.
07:05You had these vampire UConn Huskies that just refused to die.
07:10I thought it was a really good tournament.
07:12I thought it was a really fun season.
07:15Really fun season here in New York with how good St. John's was.
07:18You know, with Hofstra having a great year at LIU.
07:22Yeah, it was a terrific year, and, you know, last night was fun.
07:26It was kind of clunky, not great officiating, but, you know,
07:33you had a close game with some drama, and I think that's all you can ask for.
07:35And now we hit free agency where basically everyone and their brother is in the transfer portal.
07:44And, you know, no rest for the weary.
07:47Flying home tonight, today, and we'll see what the transfer portal has for us these next weeks and days to
07:55come.
07:55Well, we'll be talking to you about some of the bigger names that not only have hit the portal,
08:01but land a new destination and a new college basketball team to play for.
08:06Zach Braziller, appreciate your coverage on the 2025-2026 men's college basketball season,
08:13and congratulations to the Michigan Wolverines.
08:16All right, my guy.
08:17Have a good one.
08:20Have a good one.
08:22Have a good one.
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