DREAM A DREAM
Iona faces powerhouse UNC, but UMBC’s upset gives team hope
UMBC changes everything now, changes everything for the dreamers and the wouldbe Cinderellas of March Madness.
Because everyone now knows it can be done — because UMBC last March in Charlotte, shocked Virginia and a college basketball world that had all but given up on the idea that a 16-seed might someday upset a 1-seed.
And so, should a 17-15 Iona College team that rose from the ashes — one whose champion coach thought about a career change — to a fourth straight MAAC championship. Tim Cluess will remind them of that historic upset before the Gaels aim their slingshot at mighty No. 1 North Carolina on Friday in the Midwest Region in Columbus, Ohio. One of those proverbial matchups pitting McDonald’s All-Americans against guys who eat at McDonald’s.
And Cluess will show them the video of The Upset Heard ’Round The College Basketball World.
“We’ll start probably on Wednesday with that,” Cluess said, “or Tuesday even.”
Iona, the 15-seed a year ago, fell 89-67 to No. 2 Duke.
Now the Gaels get to be UMBC themselves.
“You don’t have to be a better team,” Cluess said. “You have to be better for two hours. And, on the right night, when everything aligns just right, anything can happen. ... You have to have that special night where you shoot the heck out of the ball and the other team is off — where breaks go your way, 50-50 balls go your way, you don’t get in foul trouble. So you have to have a lot of things that happen to give you that chance.
“But, again — it happened last year. So there’s a chance for it to happen for anybody. I think it’s just exciting that you get an opportunity.”
Tajuan Agee, a 6-foot-9 forward, remembers watching the game with one of his Tyler (Texas) JC teammates.
“We couldn’t even believe what we were watching. We definitely know that it’s possible,” Agee said. “We know anybody can lose on any given day. Anybody can win on any given day.
“I just hope it’s our day that day and we can make some shots and maybe come up with a UMBC outcome.”
This has been Cluess’ best coa c h i n g j o b. He lost trusted assistant Jared Grosso to the B r ya n t head co a c h’s j o b. He lost a talented senior forward Ro land Griff in to suspension for an altercation with assistant coach Garf ield Jo h n s . He returned only two players, four-time heart and soul MAAC champion Rickey McGill, the lone senior, and E.J. Crawford. He has an eightman team. Eight is Enough.
“I joke around but this wasn’t a joke, I’m home looking on websites looking for bars and restaurants for sale saying, ‘ You know what? I may have to do something else at the end of this year if it keeps going this way,” Cluess said with a chuckle. “I truly was. I probably wasn’t gonna walk out the door then, but it just got my mind off of what was going on, so it was a good distraction for me looking back into things that I had done before that I enjoyed doing.” Cluess owned a bar and a restaurant from 1990-2000. “So I’m like, ‘You know what? Life was pretty good back then,” Cluees said, “so if basketball’s played itself out right now. ... They practiced hard but they get into verbal arguments all practice long with each o t h e r. And if one player tried to correct another player, then it would be like World War 15 all the time.” It wasn’t simply that the Gaels had started 2-9. “It’s not about wins and losses,” Cluess said. “It was about the buy-in and work ethic. ... They had to learn to like each other.” Slowly, but surely, they began to like each other. “I’ve never had a team for me in my 30-something years that was 2-9 and came back and won a championship,” Cluess said. “And to me, the best part about it, was the transformation of who they were, personality-wise as a group, to who they became.
“And I remember saying that to those guys at one time: ‘Can you imagine the story, if we ever turn this around, and find a way to win and get to the tournament? Can you imagine that?’ ”
With all they went through, imagine this: The Gaels will carry a 10-game winning streak into the Dance.
“The man a b ove, and the angels above that watch over us, helped our team out, and kept us together, no doubt about it,” Cluess said. “I really truly believe with what these guys have been through, and the way this season was going, there was a lot more to it than just what we did.” UMBC what happens. “We’re gonna try and come out and do the same thing,” McGill said. “It definitely can be done.”
“It’s March, anything can happen,” Crawford agreed. “If we play Iona basketball, share the ball, play defense, I feel like we could beat anybody.”
Cluess will repeat the message he delivered to last year’s team prior to the Duke game. “Don’t die wondering,” he said. Because UMBC — U Might Be Cinderella.
“Just growing up watching the Xaviers, the Butlers, the UMBCs, just gives us the courage that we can do this. Like it’s not out of reach, it’s not impossible,” Agee said. “We’re not just going to play. We want to win.”