DAYTON, Ohio — Say this about the First Four. Not everybody wants to be there, but it can bring together the most fascinating storylines. One night can show that. Wednesday’s teams for example.
They are a composite of what this event is about, what this month is about. Bring them on.
Here comes the 68th-seeded team in the tournament. Bottom of the bracket.
Not that Prairie View A&M cares much about that. The Panthers were once 11-17 this season but scrambled through the SWAC tournament and won seven games in a row. That takes a lot of belief.
Coach Byron Smith was discussing that Tuesday.
“They've said from the very beginning that we're going to be here in the NCAA tournament. I had my concerns. Obviously, when you don't win a game, I had my concerns, like, are you guys sure? They had a quiet confidence about them, and if you see them right now, they're looking at me like `Coach, why were you worried? I told you we were going to be here.’”
There was a comment Tuesday that showed what this chance means to Prairie View A&M. Several players were asked their favorite NCAA tournament moments from the past. Ask other teams and most invariably say the Kris Jenkins’ buzzer-beater shot for Villanova that won the 2016 title, or Gonzaga’s Jalen Suggs buzzer-beater beating UCLA in 2021 or Trey Burke’s 30-footer that saved Michigan against Kansas in the 2013 Sweet 16.
Not leading Panthers scorer Dontae Horne. “This is my favorite moment because I'm actually in it.”
Perfect.
Here come the drama kings from Lehigh.
The Mountain Hawks played seven overtime games this season. Then they won their Patriot League tournament quarterfinal against Holy Cross with Nasir Whitlock’s half-court shot at the buzzer. “I didn't know it was going in,” he said Tuesday. “God put His hands on that ball, and I'll take a win.”
Lehigh is a most unusual roster in these transfer portal days. The Mountain Hawks returned 11 players this season and do not have a single Division I transfer. But they’re here.
“I know the college basketball climate has changed,” coach Brett Reed said. “We certainly, and myself, can be super adaptable to that. But I also think there's a value that I place where it's wonderful that these guys are celebrating their championship, they've been here together. This is homegrown.”
Who cares if they’re just 18-16, when a team is glued together by something as simple as playing cards?
“I've always prayed that we would end up here, but I think one time we were playing spades and it was a great game and I was just like, this team is really connected,” Whitlock said. “We've really got a chance.”
Which begged the question of who’s the best spades player, leading to this public debate on the press conference podium Tuesday.
Hank Alvey: “Nas will say him, but . . .”
Whitlock: “Who you going to say?”
Alvey: “Me.”
Whitlock: “Oh my God.”
Alvey: “But off the record, yeah.”
Whitlock: “You don’t believe that.”
Alvey: “It’s one and two right there.”
Whitlock: “I’ll give him that, 1A and 1B.”
Reed’s the picture of stability. This is his 19th season at Lehigh. He was on the job in 2012 when there was a rather stunning score from the first round in Greensboro.
No. 15 seed Lehigh 75, No. 2 seed Duke 70.
“If I were to draw some parallels, this is what I would draw,” Reed said. “No. 1, these guys believe in themselves, and they believe in each other. There's an unbelievable bond that's taking place with these young people. If you look at the climate and complexion of college basketball, a lot of times people are in the door and out the door. Yeah, they might be playing for that team for that season, but these guys are committed to each other.
“The same thing could be said for that 2012 team.”
This team’s unity might even be more extraordinary. Nobody ever heard of NIL in 2012.
Here comes the 31-1 team everyone has been talking about.
🎮 PLAY:
Few teams in the nation have been discussed nationally in recent weeks more than the Miami RedHawks. Should they have been seeded higher? Should they even be in the field? What about the schedule? Yeah, but what about a 31-0 regular season?
“It's been a pretty unreal experience just opening your phone and seeing a Miami logo or a picture of someone,” Brant Byers was saying. “I can't say it's something that any of us expected.”
Teammate Eian Elmer mentioned, "It was good and bad out there, so I think we did a great job of just not paying too much attention to it.” And if they win against SMU out of the ACC? “I definitely see it as a game where we can quiet some noise that's been around our team the entire year.”
The RedHawks caught one huge break in being sent to the First Four. The campus is 42 miles away. It’ll be a Miami crowd Wednesday night. Elmer even won a high school state championship in this building. “As soon as I walked in, just got hit with a whole bunch of nostalgia,” he said. “We're even in the same locker room when we won State. Small things like that. I have great memories of this place and I want to continue to make some more.”
They’ll not only have friendly fans, but they'll have their superstitions in place, which carried them through 31 wins.
Team captain Peter Suder will be wearing the same socks as usual. “The same ones. It’s disgusting,” teammate Luke Skaljac said. “They are washed, though,” Suder said. “There's some holes and loose threads in them now.” Byers will have his usual pre-game bag of candy; Life Savers, Jolly Rancher, gummies, anything. Never mind what his dentist might think. “It's something I just started, and we didn't lose. I'm like, I'm not going to stop now.”
Coach Travis Steele will have his lucky shirt, just not sure which one yet.
“My daughter will decide on that shirt. She's the boss in our household," Steele said. "Three-year-olds, if anybody has any daughters, you guys will figure out that real quick. I have a feeling she's going to pick out a different one (from what he wore at the MAC tournament loss), which is good. We might have to burn that other one. We lost a game; the world is ending in our household.”
Finally, here come the bad guys.
That’s what the SMU Mustangs will be Wednesday night, at least to most of the customers in the building. The villains here are trying to rain on the Miami story. This will give a little idea of what they’ll be up against:
On online ticket services Tuesday, you could get a seat to that night’s First Four session for $19. Wednesday’s session was starting at $112. The Miami Effect. It’s not SMU fans driving up that price.
“It’s going to be more of a home game for them, but as long as we take care of what we need to take care of, there shouldn't be any worries,” SMU’s Corey Washington said. “Just being where our feet are, listening to each other and playing as a team. There's going to be noise regardless.”
Some disquieting numbers for the Mustangs. They were 5-10 overall on games away from home. And this will sound like it’s a long way from Dallas. Coach Andy Enfield understands what’s coming. His first reaction when he saw the pairing Sunday was elation that SMU was even invited.
“And then we realized that it's Miami of Ohio, not of Florida, so they're going to be pretty close driving distance to Dayton. I think it's going to be awesome, a great environment. Dayton supports this tournament regardless, but to have a local team in it is going to be a lot of fun.
“I think our players feed off of energy, and there will be a lot of energy in the arena tomorrow.”
SMU could use a boost of energy. The 20-13 Mustangs staggered to the finish line, losing five of their last six to finish 11th in the ACC. But their name was called anyway.
Enfield has been in the tournament before with USC. Also Florida Gulf Coast in 2013, when Dunk City became a national phenomenon as the Eagles were the first No. 15 seed to ever survive to the Sweet 16.
The current Mustangs were in elementary school and many have no clue what their coach once did. “I don't know nothing about Dunk City,” Jaron Pierre Jr. said. “I know I'm Dunk City, when you talk about Dunk City.”
But Washington has learned about it. “I was watching TikToks. It popped up on my page not too long ago. I took a moment just to soak that in. It's a shock. It was really lob city, Dunk City. It was actually true.”
Those two magical weeks propelled Enfield to the USC job, and now SMU and Wednesday night, where a struggling Mustangs team will have few friends in the building and Miami will try to prove the skeptics were wrong all along. It’s kind of hard to decide who the underdog story is.
The First Four knows how to start a tournament. With plot twists.
