He's In The Dance: Jimmy Sherburne

Who: Jimmy Sherburne, 6-foot-3 sophomore guard

Matchup: No. 13 seed Princeton vs. No. 4 Kentucky, East Regional.

When: 12:30 p.m. Thursday in Tampa, FL.

Winner meets: Winner of West Virginia/play-in winner

About Jimmy: Four-year letter winner with the Blue Dukes has played sparingly for the Tigers, who received an automatic bid for the NCAA tournament with a thrilling last-second victory over Harvard in a playoff.

Sherburne saw action in 15 games for Princeton this season, scoring two points. He said Wednesday that knee surgery back in September slowed his preparations for the season, and veterans at his position make minutes hard to come by. Still, he's trying to enjoy every minute of the Tigers' first trip to the NCAA Tournament since 2004.

"It's been pretty crazy the whole time we've been down here," he said. "We chartered a flight down here and that was pretty fun. When we first got to the hotel, they met us with a big spread of food, an ice sculpture, so that was pretty cool."

Princeton faces a daunting task in the Wildcats, who some experts believe are better than a typical No. 4 seed. But the Tigers have a habit of making NCAA history, or near-history.

"Anything can happen, so I think we'll be well prepared," said Sherburne, who added that he's become more familiar with that legacy since arriving on campus. "I think the first few minutes of the game will have an impact on how the rest of the game is going go."

He also said people around Princeton are making comparisons to a 1996 upset of UCLA. In that year, current Princeton coach Sydney Johnson was a player, and the Tigers needed an Ivy League playoff victory — just as this year — to get into the tournament.

What else: East Regional Preview  Bracket Challenge  Watch online