Jimmy Baron, Erin Andrews and a Classic Rhody Joke Job

The NCAA D1 Skills Competition was held last night at the Palace at Auburn Hills, an annual tradition held during the week leading up to the Final 4. I have mixed emotions about this event as it excludes some of the best athletes still in the mix for a National Title. At the same time, it is far more entertaining than the NBA's skills competitions since its void of professional egos and money. Most of the competitors in the NCAA version will never play in the NBA and a lot come from schools most people forget exist.

URI sent some representation in the form of Jimmy Baron, a noted 3 point specialist. In the first round, he did not disappoint knocking down 25/30 to lead all competitors. In fact, he had the highest overall single round score, boys or girls, of the whole event. But much like Josh Hamilton in last year's HR Derby, young Jimmy shot his load a little too soon. He was only able to hit 14/30 in the Semi's and lost a tiebreaker to eventual winner Jack Mclintock.

Really, it was a classic representation of JB's 4 years in Kingston, RI. Doing the easy stuff and making the big shots when the pressure was off but failing to deliver down the stretch when he needed to step it up the most. ESPN rolled the highlights of his performance at Cameron Indoor Stadium earlier in the season when he torched the Blue Devils prompting a rare compliment from Coach K. Duke won the game, barley, but it was a low pressure situation for Jimmy and the Rams, on the road in a game nobody thought they would win. When the Rams' needed a Duke like performance out of Baron down the stretch, he couldn't quite deliver and URI slipped from the Bubble to the NIT for what seems like the 25th straight year.

Either way, it was good seeing Baron on the national stage and despite struggling in the Semi's he represented URI and the A10 well. I loved his involvement in the Slam Dunk conference, feeding the runner up with a perfect alley-oop in the video above. He also performed well in his interview with EA.

Awkward moment of the night - EA's interview with the entire Baron clan. Jim Sr. isn't quite as smooth as a Calipari or Pitino when it comes to big time interviews.