The Morning According to Us

Is Courtney Paris crazy? No, just a PR genius.

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Broadway joke?

If you aren't already aware, Courtney Paris is a wonderfully talented basketball player, a perennial All-American center for the venerable Oklahoma Sooners squad. This lady hoopster may have made the boldest, brashest prediction west of Broadway Joe.

Paris' promise? A money-back guarantee, really, delivered on Senior Night: the Sooners will win the NCAA women's national championship or she'll pay back her scholarship. Um, excuse us? This sounds more like something a soused student would shout at spring break. Honestly, do the Sooners stand a realistic chance against a Connecticut Huskies powerhouse that thumped them by 28 points in late November? This is the $64,000 Question which, incidentally, is the cost of Courtney Paris' four-year ride at Oklahoma.

Man, has she opened rival team's eyes with this proclamation. The nation's top female rebounder is crashing every opponent's bulletin board, a low-post phenom with a high Post-It note presence. Don't fuel the already fiery Geno Auriemma. Dude's a pit bull. Think Denis Leary with a better fashion sense.

But look again at Paris' lofty prediction. It really is an unintentional stroke of PR genius that could inject much-needed life into a flatlined women's hoops ratings. Perhaps it was intentional. (Hey, she is a journalism major.) Let's face it, if it's not UConn vs. Tennessee (aka Pat vs. Geno), then people run for the remote.

Oklahoma won't likely hold Paris' feet to the fire should the March mission fail. She's a legend down there, and her leadership qualities have never been more apparent. Even if Courtney and her crew don't cut down the nets in St. Louis, this will be one interesting story to follow. And Courtney does have a fallback: she can blame the whole thing on teammate and twin sis Ashley.

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