Forget All The Guards: Beware Of The Big Kiwi

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) _ A little white lie and a pot full of random luck has Craig Bradshaw starring in the feel-good story of this NCAA tournament. <br/><br/>Tiny Winthrop and its big man from New Zealand

Saturday, March 17th 2007, 9:00 pm

By: News On 6

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) _ A little white lie and a pot full of random luck has Craig Bradshaw starring in the feel-good story of this NCAA tournament.

Tiny Winthrop and its big man from New Zealand have already taken down Notre Dame. Next up for the 11th-seeded Eagles is 3rd-seeded Oregon Sunday in the second round of the Midwest Regional.

Bradshaw says his father considered basketball a (quote) ``sissy'' sport as opposed to his home country's love for rugby.

A college professor Bradshaw didn't even know sent a tape of Bradshaw playing to the South Carolina school of 6,600 students.

It took some work for coach Greg Marshall to convince the school to approve Bradshaw as an international transfer. Then Bradshaw played in 27 games and averaged just 2.3 points per game as a freshman.

The came the 2004 Olympics when Bradshaw played for his home country and caught the eye of bigger schools.

There's some disagreement about why Bradshaw didn't leave Winthrop, but both are happy now he stayed.