Historic upset still resonates
Pirates stunned No. 2 seed Iowa State 20 years ago, but it feels like yesterday to team
The NCAA Tournament’s first weekend again featured some unforgettable upsets, punctuated by memorable post-game celebrations that will be replayed for years.
One such scene we’re sure to see again this year: Hampton University’s David Johnson lifting his coach, Steve Merfield, in the air, his legs pointed to the sky. It was the day 15th-seeded Hampton upset second-seeded Iowa State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2001. Hard to believe it’s been 20 years, but it seems like yesterday to Hampton’s players.
Hampton’s Tarvis Williams hit a turnaround jumper with 6.9 seconds remaining to give Hampton a one-point lead, and Jamaal Tinsley’s last-second layup fell off the rim at the buzzer to give Hampton a 58-57 win.
As fans poured onto the court, Johnson — a Maury High grad — lifted Merfeld during the bedlam.
Johnson said he’s often asked if that moment was a “spur-of-themoment” reaction.
“And I’m like, ‘No,’” said Johnson, now the girls basketball coach at Indian Land High in South Carolina, about 20 minutes south of Charlotte, North Carolina. “I planned to get on TV somehow.”
“I watched the tournament growing up,” Johnson added. “There are only two things that happen when the underdog wins, and it’s a buzzer-beater. The cameras look for the guy who made the shot, and the coach.”
Johnson said he couldn’t get to Williams because someone was in his way.
“Sometimes, your second choice is better than your first choice,” Johnson said, laughing. “So I ran and grabbed (Merfeld) and lifted him up. Next thing I know, he’s holding his feet in the air. It happened just like that. And we’ve been talking about it ever since.”
Marseilles Brown, who starred at Kecoughtan High in Hampton, also was on that HU team, which lost to Georgetown in the second round.
“It doesn’t feel like it was 20 years ago, I tell you that,” Brown said. “When reporters ask me about the game and what I was thinking, that’s when I realize how long ago it was because I can’t remember every piece of it like I used to.”
Brown is the owner of Hoops and Life Basketball Training in Columbia, South Carolina. For the past 12 years, he has trained athletes, including James Reese, who helped No. 13 North Texas upset No. 4 Purdue in the first round of the South Region last week.
“It makes you feel good,” Brown said about the 20th anniversary of Hampton’s monumental upset. “It makes you proud that we represented our school and our families. It’s something that we can tell our kids, and the kids I work with now.”
Merfeld now is an assistant coach at Creighton — the fifth seed in the West slated to play No. 1 seed Gonzaga on Sunday afternoon in the Sweet 16.
He recently sent a text message to members of the Hampton team recognizing them for what they accomplished 20 years ago.
The win over Iowa State wasn’t Brown’s first upset in the NCAA Tournament. He also played for Richmond when the No. 14 Spiders upset No. 3 South Carolina.
“I think the Hampton one was more special because I got a chance to go back,” Brown said. “Also, being an HBCU and doing it in my hometown where I was born and raised was memorable.”
Johnson said he uses his “shining moment” as a teachable moment to encourage and motivate his players. To his surprise, many of them know about the upset.
“I tell my kids, ‘Don’t tell me dreams can’t come true because I’ve done it,’ ” said Johnson, who was the 1999 All-Tidewater Player of the Year after he helped lead the Commodores to Eastern District regular-season and
tournament titles. “I don’t know how many times in my backyard I pictured myself playing in a championship. For me, it’s a surreal moment. So, don’t tell me dreams can’t come true. They can if you put your mind to it.”
Both Brown and Johnson said that hearing about their upset never gets old.
“It’s one of those memories that you create, and you’ll literally never forget,” Johnson said. “We didn’t celebrate because we shocked ourselves. We celebrated because our hard work paid off.”