A few folks -- including the writer of The Nose column in the TNT today -- only thought they knew what Isaiah Thomas was grabbing on Selection Sunday.

But the Nose's assumption is so last century. According to Thomas -- the UW star guard from Tacoma and Curtis High -- the explanation is much more current.

"I’m sitting there holding my phones like this," Thomas said, pointing his bottom of his warm-up jacket that hung, oh, just below waist level. "I had two phones right here – and an iPod, actually. I got up, I didn’t want it to go out my pocket."

And the assumption that he was grabbing something else?

"That was just funny to me how they (thought that)," Thomas said. "But my dad was really (angry)."

Thomas says the hand gesture was equally misinterpreted.

"It was a 'C,' for Curtis," he said.

A few other notes from today's interviews:

Home advantage
Unlike Mississippi State coach Rick Stansbury, Purdue’s Matt Painter accepts that Washington will enjoy something of a home-court advantage today in the Rose Garden.

“They’ve earned that,” he said. “When you’re Pac-10 champs and you put yourself in the position they were in this year, you earn that home-court advantage if you have a site relatively close to you when it comes time on Selection Sunday.”

Looking good
The Huskies debuted their new warm-up outfits while meeting the media Friday at the Rose Garden.

The new sweat suits are mostly white with black sleeves and trim.

“I guess we got them for the tournament and for winning the Pac-10,” freshman Elston Turner said. “On front we have ‘NCAA tournament’ and on back ‘Pac-10 champions.’ We walked in the locker room and they were sitting in the lockers. We loved them.”

Loose locker room
The Huskies seemed loose Friday, giving interviews in their locker room that seemed much more upbeat than it had two days before.

Amid the chatter, freshman Scott Suggs took a broadcaster’s microphone and conducted mock “S-C-O-T-T Radio” interviews.

Looking on was freshman forward Tyreese Breshers, who said he’s enjoying the season despite redshirting while rehabbing after shin trouble.

“These guys make me feel like I’m part of the team even though I’m not playing,” Breshers said. “I can cheer for them. I’m just at a hard spot right now not being able to play, but I’m fine overall. This is what the team does: We laugh and we joke, so I’m not just out there sitting in the corner by myself not being a part of it.”

Breshers isn’t the only one recovering. Jon Brockman said he suffered the sixth broken nose of his career in the Pac-10 tournament last week. He said he’s fine and still won’t wear a mask because masks bother him more than the broken noses.

Rick Who?
Among fans of a certain age, the mention of Purdue basketball brings instant images of shooting guard Rick Mount, who led Purdue to the 1969 championship game.

However, Mount’s reputation has apparently faded a bit over the 40 years since he led the school to its only appearance in the finals.

“I’ve definitely heard stories and things of Rick Mount,” current Purdue guard E’Twaun Moore said Friday. “But we really don’t hear his name too much around now. I guess there was some in the past. We really haven’t heard a lot about him.”