UC Irvine’s Mamadou N’diaye Will Be Tallest Player In NCAA Tournament [PHOTOS & VIDEO]

Well, it's here, the Madness! The most equally satisfying yet frustrating three weeks in sports all year. We know the narrative, the Kentucky Wildcats have an excellent shot at a championship and the ever elusive perfect season. They have the size, the defense, and the shooters to make it happen. However, what UK doesn't have is a 7'6" center. Big West champs UC-Irvine (the Anteaters!) do. Let me introduce Sophmore Mamadou N'Diaye (pronounced N jai).

My Dad and I are hard core sports fans. Okay, hard core may be a stretch, but we both love high school and college basketball. He coached middle school basketball for 20 years and I was one of his players. I learned to dribble when I was really little. We swap stories all the time and we love to talk about how tall players (girls or boys) are. This weekend, we were watching various conference championship games and one of the last ones was the Big West title match between UC-Irvine and Hawai'i, the Rainbow Warriors.

First of all, Hawai'i attempted a lot of perimeter shots, and I can guess why, there's a giant guarding the paint. At one point, N'Daiye blocked a shot and I know UK blocks a lot, but this was with authority, like a human slapping away a pesky fly. And when the Anteaters went to cut down the nets Saturday night, it paid to be super tall, look!

So, if you have already seen the brackets, UC-Irvine landed a no. 13 seed in the East region and their opponent??? The no. 4 seeded Louisville Cardinals; oh wow! The Cardinals will take on the Anteaters Friday afternoon in Seattle. I can't wait!