Before everybody turns their attention to the upcoming NBA Playoffs, let’s relive some of this year’s March Madness, one of the best NCAA Tournaments we’ve experienced in recent memory. The Tournament was filled with compelling storylines, surprising upsets, instant classics and everything else a college hoops fan could ask for.
Here, we highlight five teams that made the Big Dance and left their mark on this season for one reason or another, each team embodying everything we love about the sport.
FAU
For most college basketball programs, the season starts in November. For the 2023-24 Florida Atlantic Owls, the season kicks off on a chilly March Friday afternoon in Brooklyn, New York. It’s the first round of the NCAA Tournament and they’re up against a tough Northwestern squad; if they lose, their season is over. It’s not to gloss over their 25-8 record entering this game, but another deep run in the Big Dance has been this program’s singular focus since last April.
FAU, led by head coach Dusty May, is a year removed from the best season in program history. The 2022-23 Owls posted a 35-4 record, ultimately falling to San Diego State on a heartbreaking buzzer-beater in the Final Four. It was an impressive run for the Owls, who before last year hadn’t even made it past the quarterfinals of their conference tournament since Coach May took the helm in 2018.
Final Four runs for mid-major coaches all but guarantee that high-major opportunities will follow; the same goes for mid-major players who lead their teams on deep tournament runs. Coach May had his fair share of high-major suitors looking to fill vacancies at the conclusion of last year. But instead of joining the yearly coaching carousel, he doubled down on his commitment to the program he helped build and signed a lucrative 10-year extension to stay put. A handful of his players, like standouts Johnell Davis and Alijah Martin among others, surely had their fair share of high-major suitors, too. But they didn’t even enter the transfer portal. This season, FAU returned every eligible player from last year’s roster (the only player they lost was Michael Forrest who graduated). In the land of NIL and the transfer portal, this is almost unheard of–FAU was one of only five Division I schools to do so.
FAU led by one at halftime; there are now about six minutes left in the second half, and the Owls are down nine points. It’s a neutral site, but the crowd is heavily favoring Northwestern. Coach May, in a navy blue long-sleeve shirt and khakis, is standing on the sidelines cool, calm, and collected. Nothing about his demeanor suggests even the slightest ounce of worry. His tendency to stay consistent in high-pressure moments translates to his players on the court.
They’re chipping away at the lead—a layup here, a three-pointer there, a couple of floaters and free throws—and boom! The score is tied at 58. With seven seconds left on the clock, it’s FAU’s ball. Johnell Davis, the Co-AAC Player of the Year and unanimous All-AAC First Team selection, pushes the ball up the court. Coach May is signaling for him to attack the rim–defenders have struggled to stay in front of him all game. Johnell opts for a pull-up three instead. It’s tipped by the defender and falls flat. Zeros on the clock. Headed to overtime.
The game got away from FAU in the extra period. Northwestern ran away with the lead, and ultimately, the win.
There’s no place for moral victories in a program like FAU, which has such a high standard of excellence. But real college basketball fans should celebrate this team ten times over. This squad represents the essence of college basketball: Loyalty. Commitment. Camaraderie. Staying the course even when things get tough. Building a legacy. Sacrificing personal gains for the greater good. “The relationship we had as a unit, just the unselfishness that we play with and the togetherness we have was a huge factor in everybody coming back,” says Bryan Greenlee, a senior guard who transferred to FAU after spending his freshman season at Minnesota.
It’s amazing that college athletes are able to cash in on their likeness. It’s just unfortunate that this so often happens at the expense of integrity. It’s easier than ever to be swayed by the glitz and glam that surround the game. But FAU’s squad understands that everything that glitters isn’t gold. Or, just maybe, they understand that FAU is a goldmine in its own right.
“There probably was more NIL money and opportunities for players, but just the idea of bringing the same group back who loves playing with each other and trynna do something special again was more important than chasing the money,” says Greenlee. “At the end of the day, the money will find you if you’re a good player.”
Vladislav Goldin, a junior 7-1 big fella who transferred to FAU after his freshman season at Texas Tech echoed Greenlee’s sentiment. “It’s more than just NIL or something else,” he says. “We came [back] because we love each other, and that will pay off in the future.”
They may have fallen short of their goal of repeating their magical run from a year ago, but this is one of the most honorable squads in this new era of college basketball; they’re among the last of a dying breed.
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All season long, Dusty May’s name was thrown around as the top priority for many high-major athletic directors looking to make a coaching change; all season long FAU ignored the chatter. But just a day after their first-round exit, it was reported that he’d agree to become the next head coach of the Michigan Wolverines, turning down offers from Louisville, Vanderbilt and West Virginia among others.
He leaves behind an FAU program that is worlds apart better than it was when he inherited it. It’ll be interesting to see if Coach May is able to maintain the same success in the more competitive Big Ten and bring a Michigan program back to prominence. Now that he’s at one of the most resourceful institutions in the nation, it’s hard to imagine he’ll have a hard time luring top-tier recruits and transfers. But he’s now a big fish in a big pond–unlike his situation at FAU–so keeping five-stars happy and committed to a team-first approach will be the new challenge that Coach May has to embrace.
If his ability to retain his entire roster after a Final Four run at a mid-major is any indication, it’s obvious that hoopers love playing for him and are willing to sacrifice personal gain to be a part of something bigger than themselves. That’s what basketball is all about. Well, that’s what it should be all about.
North Carolina State
This is the obvious one. NC State was 17-14 and on a four-game losing streak heading into the ACC Tournament. But the way March Madness is set up, that doesn’t matter. NC State unsurprisingly won their first two games in the ACC Tournament against Louisville and Syracuse. It was after beating Duke in the quarterfinals that the basketball world started to sense there may be some March magic surrounding the Wolfpack. They’d go on to beat UVA in an overtime thriller before punching their ticket to the NCAA Tournament by upsetting UNC in the ACC championship. That momentum (and a few stellar performances by DJ Burns and DJ Horne) carried them all the way to the Final Four, where their Cinderella story came to an end against Purdue. They hadn’t been to the Final Four since 1983. The ACC (and college basketball at large) is better when NC State is thriving; let’s see where they’re headed after this unprecedented and historic season.
Long Beach State
Long Beach State, led by their head coach Dan Monson, hadn’t made the NCAA Tournament since 2012, and nobody expected this year to be any different, not even their athletic director. At the conclusion of the regular season and right before the Big West Tournament was getting ready to start, the AD let Coach Monson know he’d be relieved of his duties once the season was over. While the decision alone wasn’t unordinary, the timing of it was and drew a lot of criticism from the college hoops community. Well, Coach Monson’s players responded in the best way possible. After he shared the news with his team, they put their heart on the line for their coach and rattled off three straight victories, winning the Big West Championship and earning a spot in March Madness. It’s not very often a coach is fired before leading his team on a championship run. Long Beach State wound up losing in the first round to a tough Arizona team, but they did the unimaginable and sent off a well-respected coach in a dream-like fashion. “I’m proud, happy, reflective … mostly proud,” says Coach Monson in the press conference following his loss to Arizona. “Proud of my tenure. I’m proud of doing it the right way. Proud of the student-athletes that came out of here, that came in as young men, left as men. Came in without a college degree and left with a college degree. Came in here with skill development, leaving here with skills enough to go play professionally.”
Oakland
Another obvious choice. Oakland was by far this year’s biggest bracket-buster. They earned a 14-seed in this year’s Tournament and were set to face off against a 3-seed Kentucky squad many picked to win the whole thing. In interviews heading into the game, Oakland’s confidence was on full display; once the game started, it was apparent why they were so confident. You could point to the funky matchup zone they play that kept Kentucky’s offensive firepower out of sorts. You could point to a few lucky breaks that went their way. But mostly, you could point to this year’s most prominent “overnight celebrity” made by Tournament success, Jack Gohlke. He connected on ten threes en route to 32 points and an Oakland victory. Coming off the bench for Oakland, Gohlke was a transfer from Division II Hillsdale College. This one performance on the brightest stage positioned Gohlke to become a NIL star with deals ranging in the tens of thousands of dollars. Gohlke’s hot streak continued in the Round of 32, where he connected in six threes in a loss to NC State. But by then, they’d already overachieved. Led by Coach Greg Kampe, who’s been the head coach at Oakland for 40 years, this team will be etched in Tournament history for their major upset in the first round. Some will take pride in shifting the power of college hoops; their win catapulted a messy divorce between John Calipari and the Kentucky Wildcats, which will likely have major implications on the college basketball landscape.
Grambling State
Many teams experienced “firsts” in this year’s Tournament. There are arguably none that meant more to their respective programs than Grambling State. Despite their impressive historical success, this was the first time Grambling State made the Big Dance in program history. Not only did they make the Tournament, but they won a game in the First Four and advanced. Simply making the Tournament can elevate a program beyond measure, let alone winning a game. For HBCUs, it’s even more heightened. Coach Donte Jackson and the Tigers have been knocking on the door for quite some time; this year, they finally forced their way in. Despite their loss in the Round of 64 to the eventual Championship runner-ups, Purdue, Grambling State (and fellow HBCUs) can rest assured that they’re putting the college basketball world on notice for all the right reasons.
Photo via Getty Images.
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