USA Today on WSU
Mar 7, 2007 21:18:04 GMT -5
Post by raiderrunt on Mar 7, 2007 21:18:04 GMT -5
A new day at Wright State
By Mike Lopresti, Gannett News Service
FAIRBORN, Ohio — This is what a Cinderella moment is supposed to look like.
A packed arena, which not long ago sat mostly empty. The students edging forward to rush the floor; the same students whom the basketball coach sent 10 dozen doughnuts to the previous day as they waited hours in line for tickets.
And when it was over, the star guard dancing on the court. The 5-11 senior from Detroit who stayed all four years through bad records and his own doubts, for this very moment — when a Wright State team with a new coach and only 10 players barges into the NCAA Tournament.
RAIDERS RULE: Wright State wins Horizon crown
"Wright State has a lot of good people," DaShaun Wood would say later. "It's hard to turn your back on good people."
The Raiders, with one previous NCAA Tournament bid in 1993 to their name, won the Horizon League title Tuesday night, and lots of people weren't happy about it.
Butler, of course. The opponent they beat.
Bubble teams from West Virginia to Illinois to Drexel, since Butler will be invited anyway, so one of their at-large spots just went poof.
Oh, and some folks back in Michael Jordan's hometown. They had to positively gag. Not so much because Wright State won, but how the Raiders ended up with their coach.
That would be Brad Brownell, this time last year taking North Carolina-Wilmington to the NCAA Tournament for the second time in four years, with a 25-8 record. Happy days.
But Brownell and his athletic director did not exactly go together like peas and carrots, discussion about a new contract broke down, and pretty soon Brownell was packing.
North Carolina-Wilmington, after heavy personnel losses, went 7-22 this season.
Wright State is 23-9 and going to the NCAA Tournament.
You do the math.
"In a lot of ways, Wilmington, North Carolina is my home. That's where my children were born. I spent 12 years there," Brownell said Tuesday night. "It was probably one of the hardest decisions I've ever made in my life. I still miss my players there. I'd do anything for those kids for the rest of their lives.
"It's unfortunate that some circumstances forced me to leave. But this has been a great year for me, too. It's been a great challenge, and maybe that's helped me grow a little bit as a coach."
Wright State? A 13-15 afterthought last season. The home crowds earlier this season ran 3,032 one night, 3,215 another, 3,364 a third.
Tuesday's championship game drew 10,686. Everyone, undoubtedly, vowing they were diehards from way back.
"We're trying to change the culture," said Brownell, who arrived last spring with one immediate message.
"It wasn't going to be easy. I was going to demand excellence in all areas of their lives. There'll be days they probably wouldn't like me as much.
"There were times I think we were a little bit suffocating at the beginning. You're on your kids so much, and they haven't been that way. But in the end, they understand."
The ones who stay, anyway.
"We had some defections," Brownell said. "That wasn't what those guys wanted."
So Wright State's roster lists a bare 10 names. Even Wood, the Horizon League player of the year who scored 27 points Tuesday, had his own early concerns.
"You don't know what coach is going to come in. You don't know what guy," Wood said. "But as soon as Coach Brownell came in, I sat in his office and we talked a long time. He gave me the most confidence I think anyone has ever given me. From that moment on, there was no doubt."
They started 3-5. But by Christmas, Brownell sensed belief. Then the winning came.
"We've been here all year long," forward Drew Burleson said. "But nobody knew about us."
Now they do. Come next week, an opponent will turn on the scouting films and wonder what to do about stopping a team that has won 19 of its last 21.
Butler coach Todd Lickliter — whose team won the preseason NIT but lost to Wright State twice — understands: "I wouldn't want to play them in the first round."
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Contact Mike Lopresti at mlopresti@gns.gannett.com.
www.usatoday.com/sports/columnist/lopresti/2007-03-07-lopresti-wrightstate_N.htm
