Quantum Leap

A few SEC coaches have grumbled about that NCAA waiver—"How many teams get an All-America in August?" says Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes—but Stansbury was probably due a recruiting windfall. Four years before Outlaw jilted the Bulldogs, Stansbury lost Jonathan Bender, another Mississippi high schooler he had carefully courted for four years, to the Indiana Pacers. "We're the only team in America to lose two signed recruits to the first round of the NBA draft," says Stansbury.

Even so, Stansbury has had four 20-win seasons, the last three in a row—the first such string in the program's 93-year history. With Roberts in the mix, this season's team could surpass the Bulldogs' high-water mark, their 1996 Final Four appearance. "I can't explain how badly I want that, how badly I want to win every championship there is—SEC, NCAA," says Roberts. "I've always wanted that, but I never really had the chance to get there. Now look how close we are."

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