Among the thousand-odd texts filling Miami coach Jim Larrañaga’s telephone within the moments after making the Final Four final Sunday, one stood out for its uniqueness.
“Congrats, see you in Houston!” Florida Atlantic University males’s basketball coach Dusty May wrote.
Larrañaga texted again, “Looking forward to it!”
Here they had been Friday, too. Practicing within the 70,000-seat NRG Stadium the place the NFL’s Houston Texans play. Answering nationwide media questions. Sitting on the largest stage in school basketball and, effectively, wanting snug.
“I’m having enjoyable,’’ May mentioned.
FAU is the nationwide shock, a small-name college having a giant second. Miami is so often called a soccer college Larrañaga was jokingly requested if he feared soccer coach Mario Cristobal may recruit 6-foot-7 heart Norchad Omier.
“I hadn’t considered that,’ Larrañaga mentioned, laughing.
The rub-your-eyes facet for a sports activities market that’s by no means had a Final Four group abruptly to have two such groups was summed up by FAU senior guard Michael Forrest. He spoke for all of us, saying, “I never thought I’d be here. It wasn’t even a thought.”
Today’s query: Does this fantasy Final Four have a miracle end to it? Can Florida Atlantic beat San Diego State on Saturday and Miami win towards Connecticut? Could the championship recreation that will probably be watched by thousands and thousands be the identical matchup that couldn’t fill FAU’s 2,900-seat stadium when performed final season?
“We’re not getting forward of ourselves by pondering what’s subsequent,’ May mentioned.
He can’t. But we will. Miami and FAU making the Final Four collectively is the largest shock in South Florida sports activities historical past. If they go to the ultimate it will rocket to the largest shock in NCAA Tournament historical past.
“Do you know the last time one state had two teams in the Final Four?” Larrañaga was requested this week.
“I don’t,’ he mentioned.
Ohio State and Cincinnati didn’t simply make the Final Four in 1961. Cincinnati beat Ohio State for the nationwide title. But they had been powerhouses, having been within the 1960 Final Four, too. FAU had by no means gained a event recreation earlier than this. Miami has gained seven event video games previously two years in comparison with eight in its earlier historical past. Now take a look at them.
“An unconventional Final Four,’ Larrañaga said, noting no top-30 recruits, no McDonald’s All-America high school players — and, well, FAU, Miami and San Diego State. “There’s just one blue-blood in Connecticut.”
Connecticut is enjoying like basketball royalty, too. It grew to become the tenth group this century to have 4 double-digit wins to succeed in the Final Four. Eight of these groups performed for the title recreation. Six of them gained it. That’s what Miami is up towards Saturday.
Connecticut can be capturing 41.9 p.c from 3-point vary and has a center of 6-foot-9 Adama Sanogo and, behind him, 7-2 Donovan Clingan. Is this the sport Miami’s lack of top turns into an issue? Can Omier shoulder this burden?
“Norchad’s an undersized big man [at 6-7], but he’s competed against big guys throughout the season,’ Larranaga said. “Duke has two 7-footers in their lineup. Carolina has Armando Bacot. And Wake Forest has huge guys. Virginia has [players] like 6′11″, 7-foot. So he’s faced size. He’s learned how to attack it.”
Florida Atlantic has dimension in 7-2 Vladislav Goldin. The query is that if it has flexed the type of muscle that San Diego State brings alongside the entrance line. How to arrange for that?
“I think you schedule a Tennessee Volunteers in the NCAA Tournament and do it recently as well,’ May said of the Owls’ win last Saturday “I think that helped prepare our guys. It’s a mindset. Our expression is you’re either the hammer or the nail despite your size. Both teams are probably going to be the hammer on Saturday night.”
Both Miami and Florida Atlantic are underdogs on this recreation. But then they’ve been underdogs in six of their previous seven event video games (FAU vs No. 16 seed Farleigh Dickinson within the second spherical was the outlier).
“Don’t choose us, we’re fantastic with that,’ Larrañaga mentioned of being a 5.5-point underdog to Connecticut.
“We’ll take our possibilities,’ May mentioned of being a 2-point underdog.
FAU and Miami final performed in November 2021 in Boca Raton. Miami had wanted a recreation a pair years earlier. May agreed to it on the situation Miami return a house recreation to FAU.
“The first half, we weren’t ready for that moment,’ May said. “It was essentially the same group for us, but we were young and inexperienced for that kind of atmosphere. The second half we played like we belonged.”
Miami’s Isaiah Wong made a shot on the buzzer to win it 68-66.
“I left pondering [FAU] was going to be an excellent group,’ Larrañaga mentioned.
That recreation had 2,772 followers. If they meet Monday, the gang can be greater than 70,000. As May mentioned, the groups aren’t wanting forward like that. As Forrest mentioned, “I never thought I’d be here.”
No one thought they’d be right here collectively. But everybody in South Florida is rooting for the largest shock of all, the one no one even considered to see coming: Miami and Florida Atlantic for the nationwide title? Does anybody nonetheless imagine in miracles?
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Source: www.bostonherald.com