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Tracy Wolfson uses ladder for interview with Donovan Clingan, Dan Hurley after being dwarfed by Zach Edey earlier

On3 imageby:Andrew Graham•04/06/24•

AndrewEdGraham

Syndication: Arizona Republic
Cheryl Evans/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

Ian Eagle was probably mostly joking about colleague and sideline reporter Tracy Wolfson getting a ladder for her sideline interviews at the Final Four after she gave up more than two feet to Purdue center Zach Edey. But somewhere in State Farm Stadium in Phoenix, Wolfson tracked down a step ladder.

And when she spoke with UConn center Donovan Clingan and head coach Danny Hurley after the Huskies won against Alabama, 86-72, to advance to a second straight national championship game, Wolfson got to see more eye-to-eye with her interview subjects. But first, she made sure to note the addition to her interview set up.

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“That is right, Ian. You said I needed a ladder, I got myself a ladder,” Wolfson said, with Clingan and Hurley beside her. 

Earlier, with Wolfson getting dwarfed by the 7-foot-4 Edey — Wolfson is apparently around 5 feet, 2 inches tall — Eagle got in a quick joke after the early game.

“Tracy, we just ordered you a ladder,” Eagle said after Wolfson interviewed Edey, with only the top of her head visible for most of it.

As for the game itself, Clingan and Hurley were both pleased with the way UConn rallied in the second half. After Alabama trailed by a handful going in the half, and shooting 73 percent from 3 at the time, Hurley urged his team to stay the course and trust their defense would start to work.

“Just keep guarding and just try to run them off the line and force them into me to take tough twos, tough middies, tough floaters,” Clingan said. “And it’s hard to sustain shooting 73 percent from the 3-point line.” 

Clingan finished with 18 points but it was freshman guard Stephon Castle who led the Huskies in scoring, who finished with 21 points on 7-of-13 shooting and a 2-for-6 effort from 3.

Castle hasn’t been the greatest shooter and scorer this season, but when the opportunity presented itself on the biggest staged, he capitalized.

“They made the decision to play him with one of their front court players and they played him real soft and he really made them pay for that. He was awesome today and he was awesome defensively. But he’s been a winning freshman the whole year,” Hurley said.