updated 9:58 p.m. ET March 17, 2007

SPOKANE, Wash. - A little white lie and a pot full of random luck has Craig Bradshaw starring in the feel-good story of this NCAA tournament.

Tiny Winthrop and Bradshaw, the 11th-seeded Eagles’ big man from New Zealand, have already taken down Notre Dame. Next up is third-seeded Oregon on Sunday in the second round of the Midwest Regional.

The only thing more unlikely than Winthrop playing for a spot in the round of 16 is how Bradshaw ended up in South Carolina playing for the Eagles in the first place.

First, Bradshaw’s parents didn’t know he was detouring to basketball practice in the afternoon before playing rugby in the evening as a teen in New Zealand.

“My Dad thought basketball was a sissy sport,” Bradshaw said, smiling Saturday knowing Robert Bradshaw, like most Kiwi fathers, wanted his son to become a member of the famed national rugby team, the “All Blacks.”

To get to Winthrop, it took a college professor named John Watson — whom Bradshaw didn’t even know — sending a social-league game tape of him from New Zealand to the South Carolina school of 6,600 students. Bradshaw, of course, had never heard of Winthrop.

Plus, he says the only reason he’s still at Winthrop is because the Eagles (29-4) wouldn’t let the gifted 6-foot-10 center leave.

“He’s something we haven’t seen before,” Oregon coach Ernie Kent said of Bradshaw, who has played in the Olympics and in the World Championships for his native country, against Carmelo Anthony, LeBron James and Yao Ming.

Much of the pregame attention is on these teams featuring more guards than Fort Knox. All-Pac-10 point guard Aaron Brooks leads a four-guard offense for Oregon (27-7) against Winthrop’s trio of Torrell Martin, Michael Jenkins and Chris Gaynor.

But just as he was Friday in Winthrop’s first-round win over Notre Dame, Bradshaw will be the tallest player on the floor most of the game — unless Kent wants to counter with 6-10 bruiser Mitch Platt or 7-footer Ray Schafer for more than the seven and six minutes per game each averages.

Since he probably won’t, Maarty Leunen will be the man contending most with this Bradshaw. And Leunen, 6-9, is much more comfortable outside.

“He’s definitely big. And he can definitely shoot,” Leunen said. “I’ll try to take him out on the perimeter, just to take him out of the middle.”

Smaller Notre Dame tried that. But Bradshaw ditched his usual, 3-point game and moved wherever he pleased inside, scoring 16 of his 24 points in the second half of the Eagles’ 74-64 win.

Slide show   Glimpses of March Madness Top images from the first and second rounds of the men’s NCAA Tournament.

“That’s unusual for a mid-major to have a talent like that,” Kent said.

Kent doesn’t even know how unusual.

That tape that Professor Watson sent as if from heaven to Rock Hill, S.C.? It was in an international format that wasn’t compatible with anything on campus. So Winthrop coach Gregg Marshall sent an assistant across the state line to Charlotte, N.C., to get it converted into a format the Eagles could see.

Boy, were they shocked when they got a look at Bradshaw.

NCAA tournament coverage Gators win 2nd straight title | Brackets Opinion: Florida among best teams ever Donovan’s future now takes center stage   Top images from Florida vs. Ohio State Brewer, Horford step up | Deadly shooters Oden's big game not enough for Ohio State Vote: Gators best team in last 25 years? Opinion: Hoyas team to beat in 2008   More images: Final 4 |   Elite 8 |   Sweet 16 Women's tourney: 7th title for Vols | Brackets Opinion: Banner night for Parker, Lady Vols   DISCUSS: Sound off on tournaments |   MORE

“He was long. He had post moves. He could dunk with either hand. He could shoot the international 3,” Marshall recalled. “I turned to my wife and said, “We might be on to something here.”

But after Marshall said “we had to jump through blazing rings of fire to get the school to approve him as an international transfer,” Bradshaw played in 27 games and averaged just 2.3 points per game as a freshman.

“It was the toughest thing I’ve ever done,” Bradshaw said of moving from the big city of Wellington, New Zealand, to tiny Rock Hill.

Slide show   Week in Sports Pictures Pain on the skating rink, flying high on the hardwood, upsets on the football field, and more. more photos

“The climate, the humidity. The food — they fry everything down there, even bananas. ... I remember running the mile the first day of practice and throwing up. I was losing weight.

“It toughened me up.”

So did the 2004 Olympics — and especially his post-Olympics.

When Bradshaw got back to Winthrop, he was flooded with scholarship offers from what Marshall said were the most elite schools in the country. Bradshaw said Washington State — 70 miles south of where Bradshaw is playing this weekend — was one. Current Cougars coach Tony Bennett played and coached professionally in New Zealand.

MORE FROM COLLEGE BASKETBALL

College basketball Section Front

No. 6 Purdue survives No. 9 Vols in a thriller Beyond the Arc: A ranked showdown that delivered No. 3 Longhorns beat Iowa to reach CBE title game Cincy starts fast, upends No. 24 Vandy in Maui Wisconsin edges Arizona at Maui Gonzaga rallies past Colorado Beyond the Arc: 'Cuse can't get better ... or can it? Beyond the Arc: 5 things to watch this week Calipari encouraged by quickly maturing freshmen Lawyer: UCLA's Dragovic will plead not guilty College basketball Section Front   Add College basketball headlines to your news reader: