AIR FORCE ACADEMY — He recruited them, nurtured them, guided them to college basketball's promised land.

Now that Joe Scott is headed back to Colorado as the new coach at the University of Denver, his former Air Force players have nothing but good things to say about their former coach.

"It was kind of surprising when I heard about it, but when I thought about it, I wasn't surprised because I knew coach Scott and his family loved it here in Colorado," Air Force senior forward Jacob Burtschi said Wednesday night after his layup with 7.7 seconds left beat DePaul and sent the Falcons to the National Invitation Tournament semifinals in New York.

"Denver's in a good conference, and they always seem to have some good athletes. Maybe he can make Denver like a mini- Georgetown."

Burtschi and five other key seniors were recruited to the academy by Scott, who took the Falcons to their first NCAA Tournament in more than 40 years in 2004 before leaving for his alma mater, Princeton.

The three seasons in Princeton didn't work out for Scott, but DU fans are hoping his presence will lead another college hoops renaissance in Colorado.

Guard Matt McCraw, another of the seniors Scott brought to AFA, said he thinks Scott will be a good fit at DU.

"He's a great coach, and I'm just glad he has another chance to turn around another program," McCraw said. "He'll bring discipline and heart to that program and, hopefully, he'll be as successful as he was here."

Meanwhile, McCraw and his happy teammates are headed for midtown Manhattan, with the team probably leaving Sunday in preparation for its game Tuesday night.

McCraw and fellow senior Nick Welch have been to New York once previously, but their stays were short and they didn't have much time to see the sights. Burtschi never has been to the Big Apple.

"The first thing I'm going to do is get me some genuine New York pizza," Burtschi said. "I mean, going to New York City, playing where so many great players have played at Madison Square Garden, this is really special.

"That's the place everybody wants to be in basketball, where everybody who's a basketball player wants to play."

The Falcons will face Clemson in the semifinals Tuesday night. But on a feel-good Wednesday night, as they walked off the Clune Arena floor for the final time in their careers, Clemson wasn't on their minds just yet.

They were thinking about how they resurrected their season from the debris of NCAA disappointment. They were thinking about the Apple.