Close your eyes for the briefest of seconds when he speaks and you would swear it was 1985 all over again. Oh sure, there are a few more pounds these days and the New Yorker accent has softened a bit, but time and travel has a way of doing that sort of thing.
We should all be so lucky.
But to hear Ed Pinckney talk about his alma mater on Wednesday when he returned to Philadelphia with the Minnesota Timberwolves, it may as well had been that crazy run through the first-ever field of 64 nearly 25 years ago.
A last-second win over Dayton on the Flyers’ home court followed by an upset over the top-seeded Michigan, set up Pinckney’s Wildcats up against Len Bias’ Maryland team.
Yeah, that’s right – an ACC team.
“I actually got a chance to go to practice yesterday before they took off for Boston and they looked good,” said Pinckney, who spent the last four years working as Jay Wright’s assistant before jumping to the NBA. “They looked confident, they played consistent all year and all of the senior and rising juniors have matured to great players. Jay has put himself in a great position and I’m feeling very confident about this one. They have a great chance to win Thursday night.”