Closely Guarded Matchup Expected for Cavs, Danes

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 15 -- They've been described this week as nearly identical players, but Virginia's Sean Singletary and Albany's Jamar Wilson acted Thursday like two men with nothing in common.

Wilson, a senior, gathered his teammates in the locker room before practice and delivered an impromptu motivational speech. He has become increasingly emotional during these last few weeks of his college career, teammates said.

"I'm not going to lie," Wilson said. "The whole thing makes me almost giddy. I mean, this is the NCAA tournament."

Singletary, in a nearby locker room, slumped into his chair and stared through a college basketball game on television. He regards this trip, his first to the NCAA tournament, with the unconcern of a weary businessman.

"We're not trying to get all excited," Singletary said. "We'll play like we always play, like it's a regular game."

When fourth-seeded Virginia plays 13th-seeded Albany at 12:15 today, the outcome will hinge largely on the teams' two star guards -- and the success of their respective pregame approaches. Wilson and Singletary, both undersized and unconventional, have fortified their basketball programs during the last three years by consistently defying naysayers. Singletary, at 6 feet, fits the stereotype of neither a point nor shooting guard. Wilson twice considered transferring to play in a major conference before emerging into a two-time America East Conference player of the year.

For both guards, a win today would help cement a legacy as the unlikely cornerstone for a rejuvenated program.

"That's kind of the game inside the game: me versus him," Wilson said. "Both of us like to control the game, and we're going to be guarding each other. You don't usually like to talk about one-on-one battles. But this one's important. It could kind of determine the whole game."

Wilson arrived at Nationwide Arena on Thursday morning with bloodshot eyes and a runny nose. He's been sick for almost a week, he said, and Albany trainers put him on a four-day cycle of an antibiotic called Zithromax. Aside from the series of pills he ingests each day, Wilson hardly acts sick. When Albany Coach Will Brown called his team off the floor at the end of practice, Wilson looked at him incredulously.

"That's it?" Wilson said. "I'm just getting warmed up."

Said teammate Jason Siggers: "Jamar's been bouncing off the walls all week."

This is the second year in a row Wilson has led his team to the NCAA tournament, but this time he feels more like a legitimate contender and less like a visitor. In film sessions before the team left Albany, Wilson watched Virginia play and saw a team that looked similar to his: reliant on guard play and susceptible on the low post. Wilson helped Albany coaches create a game plan intended to overwhelm Virginia's talented guards -- Singletary and senior J.R. Reynolds -- by using Albany's forwards as back-court players.

"We're basically going to have four guards playing against two," Wilson said.

In the five years he's spent at Albany, Wilson has transformed the Great Danes, once an annual train wreck, into a popular upset pick this afternoon. As a No. 16 seed last season, Albany led Connecticut by double figures late in the second half of a first-round game before succumbing, 72-59. "I thought, personally, [Wilson] was the best player on the floor in the U-Conn. game," Brown said.

"The last two years have been surreal," said Wilson, who averaged 18.6 points and 6.3 rebounds. "On campus, we've probably doubled our attendance and people are camping out before games. We did a total 180. And when you think about it, we're building a tradition."

Singletary has recognized that same transformation at Virginia -- even if he doesn't react to it with similar exuberance. He played through shoulder and hip injuries for two full seasons on teams that never threatened the powerhouses of the Atlantic Coast Conference. This year, on a team that shared the regular season conference title, he averaged 18.9 points and emerged as a potential first-round pick in a future NBA draft.

In the middle of their crowded locker rooms Thursday, both Singletary and Wilson briefly reflected on their ascent into today's game.

"It's like living a dream," Wilson said. "We're all on a high."

Said Singletary: "I can't get caught up in all that. This time of year, you have to keep everything level."