CHARLOTTE, N.C. — This is truly a family affair.
It has serious and complex consequences.
Doug Wojcik is an assistant coach to Tom Izzo at Michigan State University.
Paxson Wojcik is a graduate guard at the University of North Carolina.
they are father and son.
Michigan State and North Carolina will meet in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. at the Spectrum Center, a staple of the Sweet 16 in Los Angeles.
Now you get the point. This is very unique and special.
“It’s going to be really fun and obviously special…not many fathers and sons get to share March Madness together like this,” Paxson said Friday.
“This is a father’s dream,” Doug Wojcik said Friday from inside the Spartans’ locker room. “First of all, he’s playing at North Carolina. And second, I’m coaching at Michigan State. So that in itself is a win-win.”
In fact, this will be Doug’s second time coaching against Paxson. Paxson played at Brown last year before transferring to UNC, his final year of eligibility. Brown played at Michigan State last season and Paxson had 10 points and 13 rebounds in a 68-50 loss.
“It was really great to play at Michigan State last year as a senior at Brown University. It was a great experience for my family and me,” Paxson said. “But obviously there’s a lot more at stake than that given the stakes of this tournament with the loser going home. So it’s definitely going to be difficult.
“There’s definitely going to be some emotion involved. Just watching him do his job as a coach on the opposite sideline, just watching him watch me as an opposing player. , it’s definitely different from a normal match, so there’s definitely going to be some emotions.”
Asked if she should avoid the possibility of becoming too emotional and overdoing it in front of her father, Paxson suggested it might be the other way around.
“There’s a video going viral online of him crying when the starting lineup was announced.” [for the Brown game last season] A lot of people saw that, so I think he might have to control his emotions a little better than I did,” Paxson said.
It will definitely be the hardest and definitely torn apart for Lael Wojcik, Paxson’s mother and Doug’s wife, and Paxson’s younger brother Denham, who just finished his sophomore season as a guard on the Harvard hoops team. It will definitely be the most difficult for anyone.
“I think my wife will root for the Heels and my other son will root for the Spartans,” Doug said.
Mr. Paxson confirmed the information.
“My mom is definitely going to have the hardest time, but my brother had already texted me and said he was rooting for Michigan State, so it was very cold,” Paxson said.
Schieffelin during a game earlier this season. AP
UNC guard and leading scorer RJ Davis said, “I think it’s going to be a game filled with a lot of emotions, whether it’s excitement or nerves.” “If it was me and I was playing against my dad, I’d be locked in. But if I hit a corner 3-pointer near my dad’s bench, I’d definitely turn around and talk trash to my dad. right.”
Paxson, who averages 8.3 minutes per game, had one 3-pointer and two rebounds in the Tar Heels’ 90-62 win over Wagner in Thursday night’s opener. His father was sitting in the stands at games watching his son while scouting for the Tar Heels, where he was an assistant coach from 2000 to 2003.
“It must be a strange position for him to be looking serious while scouting, but also looking out for his son,” Paxson said.
“It would be really cool if we talked about it before the game, leading up to the game, and years later after the game. But once the ball tipped, he was on his sideline and I We’re on the sideline and we’re just trying to win and it’s just a ball game.”
No, it’s not.
Paxson grew up around Michigan State University and was close friends with Izzo’s son Stephen, a graduate guard on the Spartans team, during his father’s first stint coaching there.
“We used to take them on recruiting trips,” Izzo recalled. “We beg mothers to feed their children and let their sons come to our homes.”
Izzo took a more pragmatic approach regarding Doug and Paxson’s meeting on the other side Saturday.
“We played Brown last year and it was an emotional time,” Izzo said. “How can I be more emotional than this? On the positive side, [Doug] Either way, you’re going to Los Angeles with me or with Pax. So I think that’s a positive aspect for him. ”
