Unbeaten Sharks bonded with Bengals, rise to No. 1
Nova Southeastern is the only undefeated men’s basketball team among NCAA Division II schools, and the Cincinnati Bengals are AFC champions — two facts that are intertwined in a way.
The Sharks were ranked No. 1 in the nation when the new poll was released on Tuesday, but that’s only part of the story.
Sharks freshman standout Kobe Rodgers spent the final five frantic minutes of Cincinnati’s 27-24 overtime upset win over the Kansas City Chiefs on Jan. 30 on the phone with his mother, Dorothy, who was back home in Ohio.
“We were going play after play — screaming every single time,” Rodgers said of his experience watching the Bengals reach the Super Bowl for the first time in 33 years.
Rodgers is one of six Ohio natives on NSU’s 13-player roster. The
Sharks players who are from the Cincinnati area and root for the Bengals include Rodgers, star guard Eddie Puisis and reserve Alex Mangold.
“Knowing how the [Bengals have] struggled,” Rodgers said, “it’s crazy to see.”
The same can be said about the transformation made by the Sharks, who were a 6-20 team when coach Jim Crutchfield was hired on March 21, 2017.
Due to the pandemic, Crutchfield has only had two completed seasons at NSU so far. His first season brought an 11-win improvement (17-10), and he followed that with an equally amazing 12-win improvement (29-4) and a berth in the NCAA’s Elite Eight. The Sharks were 23-6 and about to start the 2020 NCAA Tournament when the pandemic stopped everything.
NSU decided to skip last season because of COVID concerns, which brings us to this season’s 20-0 record. The Sharks had just pounded Florida Tech, 115-58, this past Saturday in Melbourne when Crutchfield heard “a nice hoot” coming from the back of their bus.
As it turned out, Lubbock Christian — which was ranked No. 1 — had lost, and NSU’s players were overjoyed to learn the news on their phones.
NSU, which started the season ranked 13th, is now ranked No. 1.
“It’s something we should be proud of,” Crutchfield said of the ranking. “It gives us more credibility.”
The Sharks seemingly have plenty of that as evidenced by their 15-0 record in the Sunshine State Conference.
NSU is powered by Brooklyn’s Sekou Sylla, who leads the conference in scoring (22.7) and ranks fourth in rebounds (9.5). The Sharks’ RJ Sunahara, who is from Cleveland, ranks sixth in the league in scoring (19.3) and 11th in rebounds (6.9).