Element of surprise makes success sweeter for WSU
Mar 8, 2007 18:23:43 GMT -5
Post by Admin on Mar 8, 2007 18:23:43 GMT -5
www.daytondailynews.com/s/content/oh/story/sports/college/wsu/2007/03/08/ddn030807audible.html
Element of surprise makes success sweeter for WSU
By Sean McClelland
Staff Writer
Thursday, March 08, 2007
If you've ever rooted for the underdog or been one, Wright State is your school and the Raiders should be your team.
I'm thinking that's what led more than 10,000 people to the Nutter Center on Tuesday night to watch WSU beat Butler, 60-55, for the Horizon League championship and the prized automatic NCAA tournament berth.
Many were students taking advantage of cheap tickets wisely provided by an administration that finally, it seems, gets it.
Still more, I'm guessing, were simply avid basketball fans looking for an emotional outlet not being provided lately by the school across town.
Let's face it. WSU is an underdog nationally, but also in its own backyard, where the University of Dayton generally rules in terms of media coverage, tradition and, up until a moment ago, credibility.
That gap is narrowing, thanks to an upstart WSU team that snuck up on even those of us who think we know a thing or two about college basketball.
Don't even try to say you saw this coming when the Raiders were 3-5 and had lost to Chicago State and been obliterated by Bradley.
Don't try to say you noticed DaShaun Wood emerging as the best under-6-foot guard in the country.
And don't try to say you forecast first-year Brad Brownell taking this team where it's headed. Not in one year anyway.
It's all been a surprise, and that's what makes it so much sweeter for long-suffering WSU fans.
The underdog, to the delight of many, will have its day.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2408
or smcclelland@DaytonDailyNews.com.
Element of surprise makes success sweeter for WSU
By Sean McClelland
Staff Writer
Thursday, March 08, 2007
If you've ever rooted for the underdog or been one, Wright State is your school and the Raiders should be your team.
I'm thinking that's what led more than 10,000 people to the Nutter Center on Tuesday night to watch WSU beat Butler, 60-55, for the Horizon League championship and the prized automatic NCAA tournament berth.
Many were students taking advantage of cheap tickets wisely provided by an administration that finally, it seems, gets it.
Still more, I'm guessing, were simply avid basketball fans looking for an emotional outlet not being provided lately by the school across town.
Let's face it. WSU is an underdog nationally, but also in its own backyard, where the University of Dayton generally rules in terms of media coverage, tradition and, up until a moment ago, credibility.
That gap is narrowing, thanks to an upstart WSU team that snuck up on even those of us who think we know a thing or two about college basketball.
Don't even try to say you saw this coming when the Raiders were 3-5 and had lost to Chicago State and been obliterated by Bradley.
Don't try to say you noticed DaShaun Wood emerging as the best under-6-foot guard in the country.
And don't try to say you forecast first-year Brad Brownell taking this team where it's headed. Not in one year anyway.
It's all been a surprise, and that's what makes it so much sweeter for long-suffering WSU fans.
The underdog, to the delight of many, will have its day.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2408
or smcclelland@DaytonDailyNews.com.