In the midst of Princeton’s wild comeback against Arizona in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, a familiar-looking face was shown celebrating wildly in the stands.
If you squinted really hard, it sure looked like Jesse Marsch was in attendance at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, going nuts along with the rest of the Princeton fans as their No. 15-seeded team stunned the No. 2 Wildcats 59-55 in the tournament’s first round.
Marsch being there would makes some sense. The ex-Leeds coach is a Princeton alum, and he does, um, have some free time on his hands right now.
And then, there was the confirmation from the Princeton coach himself, Mitch Henderson.
My mentor and friend @jessemarsch was with us today. He and his wife Kim are godparents to our son…Princeton coaching tree is special stuff. Love you my brother pic.twitter.com/CZnwDh22vZ
— Mitch Henderson (@M_Henderson98) March 17, 2023
Henderson, who was a point guard on the 1996 Princeton team that scored a famous upset over UCLA as a No. 13 seed, led his team to a shocking win on Thursday. The Tigers were down 10 points with eight minutes left before holding the heavily favored Wildcats scoreless for the last 4:43, going on a 9-0 run to close the game out.
Marsch was loving it.
@usmntonly Jesse Marsch is going crazy in March. pic.twitter.com/qOMIBiNffq
— Brady Yanko (@BradyYanko) March 16, 2023
It’s unclear if Marsch will be in attendance on Saturday when Princeton faces Missouri for a spot in the Sweet 16. After all, there is now another vacancy in the Premier League and he’s the bookies’ third favorite for the job.
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