Former Owasso star Shake Milton gets his shot in NCAA Tournament
TULSA — There wasn’t much in the way of sadness last year when Shake Milton had to watch the NCAA Basketball Tournament go on without him and his SMU teammates.
By the time March rolled around, the thenfreshman had more than five months to process the reality that the Mustangs would not be in the NCAA Tournament, even though they were 25-5 and clearly worthy of an at-large berth.
There was, though, at least a twinge of thought — he won’t quite go as far as regret — over his decision to head to Dallas after a standout career at Owasso High School.
“At the end of the day, it’s pretty simple when basketball is the game that you love,” Milton said. “You get to focus and just focus on working out and making sure you’re bettering yourself for that craft.”
But Friday, Milton will make his NCAA Tournament debut and do it at home as the sixth-seeded Mustangs play USC at approximately 2:10 p.m. in the first round on truTV.
“I’m just excited to get on the floor and finally get my feet wet,” he said.
Milton chose SMU over Oklahoma in late 2014, deciding that playing for an up-and-coming program coached by legendary coach Larry Brown was too enticing to pass.
Not long after his signing, the Mustangs were embroiled in controversy when an NCAA investigation determined that a former SMU basketball secretary took an online course for then Mustangs standout Keith Frazier and that Brown had lied to investigators.
The investigation led to the postseason ban for SMU and a nine-game suspension for Brown, who resigned before this season due to a contract dispute.
Milton was strong last season as a freshman, averaging 10.5 points and 2.7 assists despite playing off the ball much of the time.
This season, primarily playing the point, Milton is averaging 13.1 points and 4.5 assists.
When he was at Owasso, Milton took on the scoring load. Now that he’s surrounded by other scorers at SMU, the pressure has been lessened.
“He’s not having to carry them,” Owasso coach Mark Vancuren said. “He’s expected to score. … I think they’re better when he does score, but it’s not something that it is imperative for his team to be successful.”
SMU coach Tim Jankovich wondered when he saw the Mustangs were headed to Tulsa whether or not the draw would be positive for Milton or whether it would be a distraction.
But Milton has been good — really good — in his two collegiate trips to Tulsa. In two games against Tulsa at the Reynolds Center, Milton has combined for 43 points and 12 3-pointers in a pair of wins. Vancuren scheduled a spring break vacation to Colorado for his family so he won’t be at Friday’s game. Like plenty of others in Owasso, Vancuren will be doing some tickethunting should the Mustangs beat USC.
“I didn’t think that it was going to be anybody that I wanted to see and then, bam, we’re on vacation and they get it,” Vancuren said. “So if they win their first game, I’m definitely going to the second game.”