'Cats enjoy President Obama's support

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - Villanova coach Jay Wright and star guard Scottie Reynolds are quite pleased that President Obama picked the Wildcats to make the Final Four. The president picked his bracket for ESPN and his Final Four selections were released Tuesday.

"I always thought he had a great basketball mind. I really did," Wright said about Obama. "I like his game. I saw him play. I hope he's right. If the president likes your program, that's a great thing. I'll take it. I voted for him. If [his wife] Patti gets to meet him, that's even better. She loves him, more than [she does] me. She said, 'What does that mean? Do I get to meet him?' [His son] Reilly wants to meet him to. But Patti's got a crush on him."

Said Reynolds: "Oh, man. I've been trying to meet President Obama, for the longest time. So for him to pick us means a lot. I wish he was at the Georgetown game [on Feb. 6, in Washington, during snowstorm]. The game before that, I saw him at the Duke game [down there]. I don't know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. It feels good, having that under your belt. It's something you can always look at it, the rest of your life."

Reynolds talked about March Madness at today's media session. "Me and Reg [Redding] were just watching some tapes of last-second shots," Reynolds said. "I just remember the feeling [of last year's Final 8 win over Pitt], what it took to get there, all that emotion coming out. We want to get back to that same feeling. We've talked about that, with this team. Every team is different. Not every game, but every group of guys you're with.

"I think that's what makes this program special. The younger guys look to the guys ahead of them. They buy in, respect what they've gone through. You know what's expected of you as a senior. That's how it got to be where it is today. We're going to give it up for each other."

On Wednesday, ESPN released President Obama's entire bracket. His Final Four was Villanova, Kentucky, Kansas State and Kansas. The president picked Kentucky to beat Villanova in the semifinals and Kansas to beat Kansas State. In the title game, he picked Kansas over Kentucky.