“My favorite player in the world, right here,” said Krauser, the point guard of the seventh-ranked Pittsburgh Panthers. “I love Isiah Thomas because he’s such a competitive person. He steps on a court, he wants to win. If he’s in a business suit, he wants to win. I want to meet him and get his autograph.”
Krauser, who has a few things in common with Thomas, the Knicks’ president of basketball operations, may have that opportunity in March at the Big East tournament in Madison Square Garden. Krauser’s Panthers will stop at the Garden to defend their conference tournament championship on the way to the N.C.A.A. tournament.
It will be interesting to see how he plays after a week of pub in Sports Illustrated and the Times.