GRAND CANYON WILL HAVE A `CHANCE' IN MARCH MADNESS
Former Bethel and St. Pat's star McMillian to compete in NCAA tournament once again
As Grand Canyon University sophomore Chance McMillian dribbled down the clock on Saturday night, all he could think about was how far his team had come in the past week.
As the final second hit, McMillian released all those emotions.
He jumped up and down, screamed, hugged his teammates and began dancing.
After all, he is going to the Big Dance — March Madness.
McMillian, a 2019 Jesse Bethel High School graduate who also played at St. Patrick-St. Vincent, is headed with Grand Canyon to the NCAA Division I tournament for the second time in three years. After clinching the tourney bid with Saturday's win over Southern Utah, Grand Canyon was given a No. 14 seed, and with it a date with No. 3 seed Gonzaga in Denver Friday night.
“Sorry, I still haven't gotten my voice back from screaming so much on Saturday,” said the former Jaguar, fighting off a cough while chuckling. “But when I was dribbling the ball out in the win against Southern Utah I reflected back to the start of the tournament. We had a team meeting where all of us sat down and talked about locking in the next few weeks. Our backs were basically against the wall. We needed to win four games in five days in order to make the NCAA tournament.
“And we had gotten the job done.”
In the stands, McMillian's former coach and current Bethel High counselor, Dwanye Jones, was watching.
Well, watching is an understatement.
“Oh man, I was jumping up and down,” Jones, said with a laugh. “It was so big because they didn't get a No. 4 seed so they had to play an extra game. I had to rebook my flight to see them play because of that extra game.”
Grand Canyon, located in Phoenix, came into the Western Athletic Conference tournament a week ago as the No. 5 seed. The odds were against the Antelopes, but to heck with the odds. After all, they were playing in Las Vegas.
The Antelopes rolled the dice and started the conference tournament with a win over UT Arlington, led by 18 points from McMillian. Then Grand Canyon defeated Seattle, with McMillian adding another nine points.
In the semifinals, McMillian may have been at his best, scoring 17 points in a 78-75 win over Sam Houston.
Finally, on Sunday, McMillian dribbled out the final seconds of Grand Canyon's easy 18-point win over Southern Utah.
“Besides thinking about how far we came, I immediately felt great because I knew all the hard work I had put into the gym had paid off,” he said. “From the moment we had lost our last game the year before I had stepped into the gym prepared to put in a lot more hours. I would often shoot for 30 to 45 minutes before and after each practice. Looking back at that year I knew I had to be more consistent in 2022-23. That's what I was focused on. I think my coaches saw that and started playing me a little more after that.”
McMillian and Grand Canyon have only been to the Division I tournament once in the program's history — two years ago when McMillian was a freshman. That year the Antelopes lost to No. 2-seeded Iowa.
This year, however, McMillian is more prepared.
“This year means a lot more to me, because even though I helped the team two years ago, I was new,” McMillian said. “This year I felt I really impacted the team. Also, there are a lot of people who didn't think we'd be here after we were the No. 5 seed in the conference tournament.”
McMillian is the first player coached by both Jones (ex-Bethel and Hogan) and Derek Walker (St. Pat's) to compete in March Madness. Former Vallejo High and current Elite High head coach Duke Brown said in 2021 that he believes McMillian to be the first men's player from Vallejo to compete in the men's tournament since DeMarcus Nelson played in games for Duke from 2005 through 2008. Nelson played for Vallejo before transferring to Sheldon of Sacramento.
McMillian plays for head coach Bryce Drew, who knows a thing or two about March Madness. In 1998 against Ole Miss, 13-seed Valparaiso trailed 69—67 with 4.1 seconds remaining when the Crusaders used a play known as “Pacer.” Jamie Sykes inbounded to Bill Jenkins, who passed the ball to Drew, who made a 23foot 3-point shot, giving him his 22nd point of the night, and clinching the Crusaders' 70—69 upset to advance in the tournament.
Although McMillian loves his coaches at Grand Canyon, he said he still gets advice from his former coach, Jones, just about every day.
“Oh yeah he gives me his two cents a lot,” McMillian said, with a laugh. “He was actually there at the WAC tournament watching me play. I'd speak to him and he would tell me to just be aggressive and play my game. It felt good to have him out there.”
Jones said he watches every single game McMillian plays in because he has ESPN plus.
“After each game I send him a text while he's in the locker room and I evaluate how he played and the team played that night,” Jones said. “His game these days has gotten a lot stronger. His ball handling is better. His jump shot is still there, but he's more of a true point guard now. He has to be more selective with his shots now. When I coached him I just let him go. But now he has to be more selective.”
McMillian said it was also nice to see longtime friend Jaden McClanahan from Salesian High at the tournament to wish him luck.
“We had a nice small talk and he gave me confidence by saying I should go out there and `kill it'” said McMillian.
McMillian grew up watching March Madness, with the Villanova 2017 National Championship as his No. 1 memory. However, the point guard said he never gave it much thought growing up about playing in the tournament himself.
“I loved watching the games, but it was always more of an `if it happens, it happens' for myself,” the Antelope sophomore said. “I'm just grateful to be doing this and representing Vallejo. But more than anything I'm appreciative that I'm in the tournament. There are a lot of college basketball players that went four years and never had this chance. But I'm the same kid that I was at home, just someone wishing I could play the game at a high level.”