Green Jacket trivia
Masters winners dont get to keep their coats
THE EARLY candidate for most interesting nugget from our boys down in Augusta was that Jack Nicklaus, for the longest time, never owned any of the green jackets he earned by winning six Masters. The club never seemed to have a 43 regular on hand, but in 1965 they gave him the one owned by Thomas Dewey, who is best known for the unfortunate 1948 Chicago Daily Tribune headline "Dewey defeats Truman."
The idea that Nicklaus has a closet full of green jackets also is a misperception. Players who win the tournament get to keep their jackets for a year, but then must store them at Augusta and never wear them outside the club again (like anybody would want to). The only exception is Gary Player. He left his jacket back in South Africa after winning the 1961 Masters. It now is housed in a museum.
What those things lack in style, they more than make up for in prestige.
This and that *
Kansas guard Ben McLemore is the third Jayhawks player coached by Bill Self to enter the NBA draft after his freshman season. Xavier Henry was picked 12th by the Grizzlies in 2010. He's a marginal player, averaging about 3.5 points per game this season for New Orleans. Josh Selby was a second-round pick of the Grizzlies in 2011. He played 38 games in the NBA and is now kicking around in the D-League. . . .
* Indiana's Cody Zeller also is entering the draft. His first order of business ought to be to find every videotape of the Hoosiers' NCAA Tournament game against Temple - and burn them. Zeller was pushed around throughout the game by Rahlir Hollis-Jefferson and Anthony Lee. Zeller did have 15 points, but six turnovers, too.
* Know who the next Rutgers basketball coach should be? Geno Auriemma. The guy's done everything he can in the women's game and he'd be a fascinating choice, especially with the Scarlet Knights going to the Big Ten. It couldn't be anymore drastic a change than, say, Chip Kelly leaving Oregon to coach in the NFL.