The first half of the first game of the 2015 NCAA Tournament left fans and the Internet talking about one name in particular: Quinton Chievous.
The former high school basketball standout at Notre Dame led off the nationally televised halftime show, as his first half double-double sparked Hampton’s First Four upset of Manhattan.
“It’s just an amazing thing, especially when everyone’s counting you out,” Chievous said. “I don’t think anyone in the country had us winning. We’re all just blessed.”
The 6-foot-6 Chievous can hold onto that feeling a little while longer. Hampton (17-17) opened as a 32-point underdog against overall No. 1 seed Kentucky and will play the undefeated Wildcats on Thursday evening.
Chievous’ status, after spraining his ankle — twice — against Manhattan, is uncertain. His reputation, after his 15 points and 13 rebounds against the Jaspers, is not.
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“He was a terrific player,” Manhattan coach Steve Masiello said. “He had a blue-collar mentality. He competed. He really mixed it up well. He used his size to his advantage.”
“I’m so proud that now everybody’s really getting to see the player that he is,” Hampton coach Edward Joyner Jr. said.
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Dons coach Tom Les spent Tuesday night texting back and forth with his assistants about Chievous’ big night. He was thrilled.
“He has worked very hard to get to where he’s at,” Les said. “When he came to Notre Dame as a sophomore, people don’t realize he was just a part-time player and he jumped from sophomore year to his junior year to be a 20 and 10 guy.”
Averaging a double-double — and being 1988 NBA first-round draft pick Derrick Chievous’ son — created plenty of interest, and he committed to Tennessee.
He averaged 10.2 minutes per game as a redshirt freshman, but that fell to 3.6 his sophomore season, after which he decided to make the switch.
“Obviously, he didn’t get the opportunities that he wanted at Tennessee,” Joyner Jr. said. “It’s not for me to say whether he deserved them or not, but I think coming here he knew he would get those opportunities.”
This year, in his first season at Hampton, Chievous started 17 of the Pirates’ first 18 games. He never started a game during his time in Knoxville.
He then came off the bench in 11 of Hampton’s next 12 games.
When Chievous hit the bench, the Pirates had lost two straight games. That streak climbed to six with a 19-point loss at New Jersey Institute of Technology on Feb. 2.
Hampton was 8-14 and looking anything but NCAA Tournament-bound.
“Believe it or not, as a team we never stopped believing,” Joyner Jr. said. “We’ve heard everything, they’ve heard everything, when we were at that point, but they never stopped.”
Chievous, a young team’s “heart and soul,” according to Joyner Jr., persisted, no matter his role.
“As a leader, he’s very vocal, very vocal,” junior guard Deron Powers said. “He comes hard every time, every day in practice, every game. He’s just playing as hard as he can, and therefore, we all follow suit.”
“He took that role. He relished it. His contributions went up and down some nights because it’s hard, I understand that, but he’s a stand-up guy,” Joyner, Jr. said. “He’s a warrior, a hard-playing young man.”
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The Pirates needed a warrior on Tuesday night as they encountered long odds, scorn and even derision.
Derision is what you get when you’re the 24th team in history to enter the NCAA Tournament with a losing record.
The Jaspers were 19-13, making their second consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance under Masiello. They nearly upset Louisville in last year’s second round.
The Pirates participated in March Madness in 2011 and last won in the tournament a decade earlier.
Chievous brought experience. His Volunteers began last year’s Sweet Sixteen run with a victory in Dayton.
“I’ve been here before,” Chievous said. “I wasn’t playing a lot, but I experienced stuff and I saw stuff.”
Last time he made the trip to Dayton, Chievous didn’t see the court. This time, he seemingly couldn’t get off the court. He played 34 of 37 minutes before crumpling to the ground with 2:59 remaining with a sprained ankle.
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He flashed athleticism with a soaring first-half dunk. He demonstrated power with a dunk over 6-9 Zane Waterman. Most important, he wanted the ball — on offense and on the boards. Over and over, he held his hands out on the free-throw line, cajoling his teammates to give him the ball.
“He just showed he wanted it more,” Manhattan senior forward Emmy Andujar said.
“I’m just enjoying the moment,” Chievous said.
Jonah L. Rosenblum is a freelance reporter for Pioneer Press.
Twitter: @jonahlrosenblum