Villanova guard Donte DiVincenzo is the most popular man in Philadelphia right now, and he may never need to pay for a drink in that area for as long as he lives.
DiVincenzo entered Monday’s national championship game with his team trailing Michigan, 21-14, but thanks to him, they weren’t behind for long. The Sixth Man of the Year caught fire as soon as he took the court, and he literally could not miss, no matter where he shot from. He finished with 31 points on 10-of-15 shooting, and drained five of seven shots he attempted from the perimeter.
Not only that, DiVincenzo got it done on the defensive side of the ball as well, coming up with two blocks — one of which, of the two-handed variety, was arguably the best of the entire tournament.
DiVincenzo was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament, and understandably so, but for some reason, he wasn’t talked about much leading up to the Final Four. FOX talking head Skip Bayless offered a scorching-hot take on Tuesday as to why.
“Seriously, I’m serious about this,” he said. “Why isn’t anybody talking about Donte DiVincenzo as a potential lottery pick? And there’s one reason and only one reason. He’s white.
It’s as simple as that. He’s not black. And again, I’m not saying this is wrong or bad. It’s just it. It’s just a fact. Because we have been conditioned by history to know that if you project American white kids to pro basketball – at either of those two positions – whether you want to call him a point guard or a combo guard. He’s got a lot of two guard in him. He’s got handles and he can pass it. He can leap now. He’s got some hops. I’m not saying that he jumps out of the gym but he’s got reasonable hops. And he’s got skills – all kinds of skills.”
Of course Bayless went there. Why provide a thoughtful, analytical take when you can just play the race card?
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