Here’s why you want to root for Stephen Curry and the Davidson Wildcats. It’s not because they are playing the role of "Little Mid-Major that Could" to perfection, and it’s not because we all like underdogs. It’s because their best player is a hot shooting hero with a baby face, and the last time we saw something remotely close to this was in a certain guard out of Duke University a couple of years ago.
You guessed it. JJ Redick.
Curry is everything you wanted JJ Redick to be. He goes to a school not named Duke University. Where Redick resembled Superman, Curry favors T.I. Both were blessed with a deft shooting touch that could rip out your beating heart at a moment’s notice, but in clutch moments, Redick mostly resembled the jangled father in the emergency waiting room, while Curry has morphed into Dr. Ben Carson in front of the watching sports nation.
If for no other reason than the front of his jersey reading "Davidson," Stephen Curry has already carved out a niche as the bright star of this tournament. There have been plenty of athletes that have earned the coverage and fawning at major programs, but there’s nothing like a shooter gone Contra in tournament time. Dunkers and scorers come and go, but those who can make you breathless with every attempt come straight out of the premium section of the basketball gene pool, and only every so often.
The only shot that you can take at JJ Redick is that he went to a school most people despise, and didn’t live expectations that he helped to set. Problem is, with every shot Stephen Curry takes, it makes the target on JJ Redick’s notable career that much wider.
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