UMBC basks in 15 minutes of fame
CHARLOTTE, N.C. » As the sun rose on the Saturday morning celebration of their unprecedented NCAA Tournament upset, Ryan Odom implored his suddenly-famous basketball team to get some sleep.
It was time for family and friends of UMBC to leave the hotel and for the Retrievers to return to their rooms. On any other night, they’d have started a “Fortnite” video game battle to unwind.
The gamers sat this one out. The only devices the Retrievers were tethered to were their phones.
UMBC had made history as the first No. 16 seed in NCAA Men’s Tournament history to knock off a No. 1 seed and the texts and the calls never stopped buzzing.
And it wouldn’t take more than a quick scroll to find out they were trending. Up next, UMBC plays No. 9 seed Kansas State (23-11) Sunday with a Sweet 16 berth at stake.
UMBC is a commuter school in Baltimore — one in which the chess team reigns supreme, no less — and they had just checkmated No. 1 Virginia. The bracket-busting sweethearts were suddenly linked with Buster Douglas, the Miracle on Ice and Chaminade on the short list of sports all-time upsets.
The pithy tweets from its Twitter account made highlight reels. The school website crashed. Virginia turned into a punchline.
For these players, the ones no other teams wanted, it was simply surreal.
“I’m getting so many notifications that my phone froze,” said K.J. Maura, the emotional floor leader who played all 40 minutes Friday night.
Joe Sherburne, who drained three big 3-pointers against Virginia, spent his newfound time in the spotlight hoping NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers will notice him. Sherburne is a Wisconsin native.
On one of his few chances to shine on the sport’s biggest stage, Sherburne hit a secondhalf 3 and mimed Rodgers’ trademark “discount doublecheck” celebration.
“I’m his biggest fan. I want him to see it on TV, (so) if anybody knows him ...,” Sherburne said.
He made his next plea a brief one. He didn’t pack enough clean underwear for two rounds of the tournament, and could use another pair.