Anthony's run could inspire Wall

**BestdamnUKfanperiod** Thu Mar 25, 2010 1:42 pm

Anthony's run could inspire Wall

By Eric Lindsey on March 24, 2010 6:10 PM

SYRACUSE, N.Y. -- If John Wall needs a reminder of how just how tough and just how special it is for a player to lead a team to the national championship in his freshman season, he need look no further than the southeast corner of the Carrier Dome.

Perched above the Syracuse basketball floor sits a gigantic picture that honors Syracuse's 2003 national championship run. On it stands former freshman sensation Carmelo Anthony, one of the few and last great freshman to lead his team to a national championship.

Wall was asked Wednesday if seeing a picture of a freshman that faced similar expectations meant anything to him.

"I watched the game he played," Wall said. "It was great to see him win a championship. It's tough and it's going to be hard. It's not an easy road to get there. We're just trying to take it one game at a time and we're preparing ourselves for this game and hopefully we'll get to the next."

It is rather fitting in a way that if Kentucky were to cut down the nets, it will go through a place that hosted the last great freshman to carry a team all the way to the national title.

Since then, teams have tried but failed to win without experience (see Ohio State in 2007). Even the Fab Five, a starting five of freshmen that led Michigan to the national championship in 1992, failed to capture the ultimate prize.

The Cats are the youngest team in the tournament in terms of experience according to kenpom.com, and the seventh-youngest in all NCAA Division I men's college basketball.

Wall is aware of how rare it is for freshman-laden team to win it all. He's seen teams like Kansas, Villanova and Georgetown lose in the early rounds.

"I think ever since the tournament started, we started taking practice more serious," Wall said. "It's one game and you go home. Coach told us anybody can lose. Everybody is coming to play. Most of these teams don't want to go home."

Will Wall take notice of Anthony's run and be the next great freshman to win a national championship? Syracuse will be the final springboard.