What’s magical about the NCAA Tournament — the reason so many people completely ignore the sport for months and then get fully engaged come mid-March — is that it’s fun to fill out brackets and maybe win money.
The second, but-still-magical reason is that it introduces us to teams we rarely ever think about and players we’ve never heard of. Such is the case with Javion Hamlet of the North Texas Mean Green, a No. 13 seed that moved on by beating the fourth-seeded Purdue Boilermakers 78-69 Friday night.
The senior guard led his team with 24 points, including a beautiful left-handed floater after working into the lane in overtime.
His dad Louis, situated in the stands with an amazing sweatshirt, went nuts:
Oh yeah, this is the dad energy I need. Everything about this tournament is bizarre. The lack of fans. The risk of coronavirus infection for unpaid players. The thought of spending three weeks in Indianapolis.
Seeing a father live out a dream like this doesn’t erase those larger concerns, of course, but at least it’s something to hold onto. I mean, look at this guy.
That sweatshirt!
https://twitter.com/SBNation/status/1373088288429404162
Hamlet was lightly recruited out of Memphis, went the JUCO route and eventually landed at Buffalo when Nate Oats was coach there. He lasted only a few months, went back to JUCO and ended up at North Texas, where he won Conference USA player of the year last season.
https://twitter.com/SamBlum3/status/1373063329808322564
Hamlet’s one of the great stories of the first day of the NCAA Tournament, leading the Mean Green to their first win in this event, and suddenly I can’t wait to watch his next game.
I also can’t wait to see what his dad wears next time out. Hopefully there’s an artist in Indy up to the task of creating an updated masterpiece, maybe with a photo of that nifty overtime shot.
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