Israeli NCAA b-ball champ: Dream come true
University of Maryland’s superstar guard Shai Doron, named by ESPN as MVP of tournament title game against Duke, revels in team’s ‘fantastic achievement,’ says ‘I am happy people in Israel have been following my success’
After leading the U.S. women’s basketball team to a gold medal in last summer’s Maccabiah Games, Shai Doron, the 21-year-old University of Maryland superstar guard, capped a storybook season by being named MVP of the NCAA tournament title game against Duke.
Doron, who scored 16 points in the 78-75 overtime victory, spoke to Ynet about her teammates, friends back home in Ramat Hasharon and proving the ‘experts’ wrong:
A dream come true - that's the only way to describe my feelings after a fantastic month in which I won the NCAA basketball tournament.
After the game I could barely speak. I cried and shook – it was incredible. You had to be there to believe it.
I am happy people in Israel have been following my success. The adjectives used to describe me have been ascribed to the entire country, who are fanatic supporters, to my friends from Ramat Hasharon and to anyone else even remotely supportive.
Doron (left) and teammates celebrate NCAA title win (Photo: AP)
I dedicate this championship to the people of Maryland, to my fantastic teammates – they are simply amazing. They have all helped me become what I am today.
'Celebrations will continue for a long time'
Because I am the oldest player on the team, I took the game ball at the end. I wanted to be aggressive, I knew I am mature enough to take the important shots and of course I am thrilled that I scored the first four points in overtime.
At the end of the day, and despite the cliché, I wouldn't have achieved this without my teammates and the Maryland coaching staff. It is a fantastic achievement for a fantastic team.
This is the first title of any kind for a women's team from this school, and the celebrations will continue for a long time. I can't totally believe how huge this victory is. In the final minutes, I didn't want to leave the court. I knew I had to be there for the deciding minutes.
I loved every time we managed to exceed expectations and "expert" predictions and proved them wrong. No one even considered us contenders, and we proved that we are the best team in the country.
Overtime? Nothing to say here, that's when we are at our best. This team does it every day and in every game, every year that I've been here we've taken a step forward.
