AUSTIN — Colorado forward Andre Roberson, a junior from San Antonio, is excited about the opportunity to play in his home state in the NCAA Tournament.
Even better, Roberson, who ranks second nationally in rebounding (11.3 per game), looks forward to showcasing his skills to coaches from Texas colleges who overlooked him in the recruiting process and whose teams are not taking part in this year’s Big Dance.“The Texas schools, they started coming in late, after Colorado came in,” Roberson said, recalling his recruitment out of San Antonio Wagner High School. “I kind of took that as disrespect. So I just felt like going to another Big 12 school and kind of getting back at them.”Roberson’s plan lasted only one season, thanks to conference realignment. Colorado jumped from the Big 12 to the Pac-12 after his freshman year. But Roberson said it “feels great” to be playing basketball in his home state at a time when three schools who overlooked him in high school — Texas, Texas A&M and Baylor — did not make the NCAA field.“Texas came in late. A&M didn’t look at me and Baylor didn’t, either,” said Roberson, whose Buffs (21-11) meet Illinois (22-12) at 3:40 p.m. Friday in Austin. “I definitely have a lot of friends and family coming to the game. It feels great to be back in Texas.”For Roberson’s parents, who still live in San Antonio, it promises to be a busy travel weekend. They will be leave Austin after Friday’s game to watch Andre’s younger sister, Arielle, make her NCAA women’s tournament debut.Arielle Roberson is a redshirt freshman on the Colorado women’s team that plays Saturday against Kansas in Boulder, Colo. The Roberson siblings are one of five brother-sister combinations playing for the same school in the 2013 NCAA tournaments.“It’s definitely cool to have a sister, not just playing in the NCAA, but also at the school,” Roberson said. “Both programs are up and rising.”Happy homecomingMiami reserve guard Steve Sorenson, a freshman from Dallas St. Mark’s, said he “couldn’t have been more ecstatic” when he learned the Hurricanes would open the NCAA Tournament in Austin, the city where his family lived for six years before moving to Dallas.“It feels great to come back. It’s amazing,” said Sorenson, who has scored just one point this season in limited duty. “As a freshman, I literally couldn’t have had more of an amazing season. I have been blessed to be a part of this team having such a special year.”Seeking a repeatOne of the most vivid memories from the 2012 NCAA Tournament involved a pair of first-round upsets by No. 15 seeds over teams seeded second in their regions: Lehigh over Duke and Norfolk State over Missouri.Players at Pacific, the No. 15 seed in the East Regional, said those memories will motivate them in Friday’s game in Austin against second-seeded Miami.“It does, to a certain extent,” Pacific guard Lorenzo McCloud said. “We came here to win. It’s not like we just came here to play the game. We are here to win.”Jimmy Burch, 817-390-7760 Twitter: @Jimmy_Burch
