SAN ANTONIO - It's only fitting that the strangely parallel lives of Saddi Washington and Drew Valentine are intersecting at the Final Four.
Washington, an assistant at Michigan, and Valentine, an assistant at Loyola, will be on opposite benches at the Alamodome on Saturday night when the Wolverines and Ramblers play in a national semifinal matchup (6:09 p.m., TBS).
The game will be the latest intersection for the two close friends in a lifetime full of them.
Both Washington and Valentine grew up in Lansing and played for Sexton High School a decade apart. After Washington went to Western Michigan and became an assistant coach for Oakland, he recruited Valentine out of high school to play for the Golden Grizzlies.