By Dylan Butler
He’s been criticized and scrutinized throughout his four-year career at the University of Connecticut; he’s been forever linked with fellow point guards Andre Barrett and Omar Cook.
But on Monday in San Antonio, Taliek Brown finally silenced the critics and separated himself from the other two-thirds of what was known as the New York City point guard triumvirate by leading the UConn men’s basketball team to the NCAA national championship.
“This should shut everyone up now,” Brown said. “I broke all the assist records at Connecticut. I scored more than 1,000 points. I won a championship. What can they say about me now?”
Brown, along with freshman forward Charlie Villanueva, became the first players from Queens to win the title in 11 years. Former Christ the King star Derrick Phelps, an East Elmhurst native, led North Carolina to the crown in 1993.
Three years later Jason Cipolla and Syracuse advanced to the title game but lost to Kentucky.
In the Huskies’ 82-73 win over Georgia Tech, Brown’s numbers weren’t gaudy — they rarely are — but he played within himself and let teammates Emeka Okafor (24 points) and Ben Gordon (21 points) do all the scoring.
The former St. John’s Prep star from LeFrak City had nine points, four assists and six rebounds. He hit a corner jumper, his first basket of the game, and then had a steal and a scoop layup to extend UConn’s lead to 28-16 with 8:57 left in the first half. The Huskies led 41-26 at halftime and cruised from there.
“He’s had so many people criticize him through all (103) wins that he’s had — he only averaged 26 wins a year — three Big East championships, two Big East tournament championships, a national championship, two Final Eights,” said UConn coach Jim Calhoun. “You name it and he’s done it, our all-time assist leader, and he is without question one of the toughest human beings I’ve ever met in my life. To top it off he’s streetwise and lovable all at the same time.”
Brown’s critics were louder than ever heading into his final collegiate game. In the Huskies’ come-from-behind semifinal win over Duke Saturday night, he scored four points on 2-of-8 shooting and had a season-high seven turnovers.
“I told him he didn’t need to score 20 points tonight for us to be real good,” Calhoun said of his pregame conversation with Brown. “He took eight shots against Duke and turned it over seven times because he wasn’t as comfortable with who he was because he really wanted to win that game for us, almost too bad.”
Added Calhoun: “He never needed to be vindicated in my eyes but he’s one of the best point guards to ever play at UConn and he’s one of the toughest warrior-athletes that I’ve ever coached.”
Villanueva, a 6-foot-10 freshman forward from Woodhaven, chose Connecticut over the NBA last year and the move paid dividends.
After scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds in the Huskies’ 79-78 win over Duke, the former Newtown High star had a rebound and an assist in seven minutes off the bench for the Huskies, who won their second national title in five years.
Reach Associate Sports Editor Dylan Butler by e-mail at TimesLedger@aol.com or call 718-229-0300, Ext. 143.
