If March Madness were a fairy tale–and who says it isn’t?–Valparaiso coach Homer Drew would have passed along his glass slipper to Creighton, if not to Samford or, at the very least and very late, to George Washington, the school, not the bridge.
“That’s what makes the NCAA tournament, ” Drew said. “You’ve got to have Cinderellas.”
Well, this place was full of them. You couldn’t swing a fairy godmother’s wand in this South Regional without poking one of them in the eye.
Take Samford. Please. Poor Samford didn’t score a point for the first 8 1/2 minutes against St. John’s. Yet here’s how spooky the NCAA tournament can be: Samford is from Birmingham, giving that Alabama city two more tournament entries than the entire state of Illinois.
Samford is the champion of the Trans America Athletic Conference, or TAAC, not to be confused with the Mid-Continent Conference, which Valparaiso has dominated five years in a row.
And don’t confuse the Atlantic Coast Conference with the Atlantic 10, which actually has 12 teams, proving that in the world of higher education someone can count even worse than the Big Ten.
George Washington was one of three tournament entries from the Atlantic 10, but the only one with a bronze hippopotamus on campus, a symbol of good luck and fertility, and a decent fit for one of Indiana coach Bob Knight’s sweaters.
It was fitting that this be the setting and the companions for the reappearance into the NCAA tournament of the Madness’ incumbent-slipper wearer, last year’s Sweet 16 darling, the Crusaders of Valparaiso.
“We were hoping our players would make a whole new memory,” Drew said, “and win another NCAA game.”
That’s what they all want, these lesser lights and second thoughts, to win an NCAA game. Just one, once in a while, and life is good.
On this day and in this town, where the aforementioned Cinderella appears in costume just down the interstate, where the pro team unblushingly calls itself the Magic, where, to use Drew’s words and Disney’s marketing, “big dreams come true,” Valpo became Val-who? again.
“People know how to say our name now,” Drew said, though giving no guarantees they can spell it. “They know we’re in northwest Indiana, 50 miles from Chicago. They know Valparaiso basketball.”
Maybe so. What is certainly known is that Valparaiso gave us one of the better recent memories of college basketball, one of those special moments for the unsung and the obscure.
Here’s a replay for those whose missed it. Opening round last year. No. 13-seed Valparaiso is down by two to fourth seed Ole Miss with 4 seconds left. Jamie Sykes inbounds a long pass to Bill Jenkins, who relays to the coach’s son, Bryce Drew, who catches and shoots from 23 feet. Nothing but net.
Yet, invariably, the Madness ends with a Kentucky or a Duke–once upon a time an Indiana–standing alone. So these early rounds are for the Valpos and the Gonzagas and the Winthrops.
Second-seeded and earnestly ambitious Maryland paid Valpo the ultimate compliment Thursday, taking last year’s sweethearts seriously enough to rout them by 22.
“It was important to us to make a statement,” Maryland guard Steve Francis said. “We want to let everyone know this Maryland team is for real.”
There is no higher endorsement than being used to impress strangers. One season a house pet, the next a menace. Valpo is on the rise.
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Possibly there will never be a more charmed or well-received moment from down there amongst the cinders than last year’s three-point, three-cushion carom. It is now known as the “Shot Seen ‘Round the World,” or from Merrillville to Bristol, Conn., anyhow.
“You have to be aware of a team whose shot won an ESPY,” Maryland coach Gary Williams said.
That’s the standard now, isn’t it? Valparaiso has raised the astonishment bar. There may be upsets, like Creighton’s dismissal of the more pedigreed Louisville here Thursday, but the achievement will win no awards, or even be remembered far beyond Omaha.
It may no longer be enough for an unknown to whip its betters. True Madness requires that it must Valpo them, not merely hang on while the favorite self-immolates, as Louisville did for Creighton.
“For us to be able for one day to compete with a team known nationally and around the world, a team with Louisville’s tradition and with a great coach like Denny Crum, it doesn’t get much bigger,” Creighton coach Dana Altman said.
Sure it does. Valpo knows.