By LARRY VAUGHT

Artist Jason Robichau of Phoenix says he’s a huge college basketball fan who cannot watch enough of March Madness each year. That led him to start three years ago to putting together a painting of the national championship team.

His newest print is, “The Pursuit of Gr8ness,” in honor of Kentucky’s 2012  national championship team.

“I just want to try and commemorat the national champion each year,” said Robichau. “I decided to do a painting of the team’s run to the national title and for Kentucky it just seemed right to pick the eight primary players who played significant time and put them around (John) Calipari to go with the eight national titles.”

Kentucky players Darius Miller, Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist,  Marquis Teague, Terrence Jones, Kyle Wiltjer, Doron Lamb and Eloy Vargas are shown with Calipari as he holds up the national championship trophy.

“I compiled various images to use in the background, too,” Robichau. “I tried to get every player on the team in the background, too. They are all there.”

The background includes Davis blocking Cody Zeller’s shot, Kidd-Gilchrist scoring against Baylor and the team’s visit to the White House.

“It takes so long to do these because I want them to be something fans want to keep around. But I plan to keep doing this every year,” he said. “It is kind of hard to get the word out, especially when you don’t live in the area where the team is from. However, once word gets out a lot of fans buy it and that’s why I try to make sure every player on the team is included.

Go to http://www.jasonrobichau.com/pursuit-of-gr8ness-lithograph for more information or contact Robichau at jasonrobichau@hotmail.com. The limited edition lithograph prints are normally $50 but can be purchased now for $25.