One great aspect of college basketball has always been the perennial “Cinderella” stories in the NCAA tournament. Upsets by mid-major programs, such as Winthrop beating Notre Dame or Virginia Commonwealth defeating Duke in last year’s NCAA tournament, are one big reason why so many crazed sports fans stay glued to the TV during the month of March.
With the final field of 64 yet to be determined, there are already a couple mid-majors that are making their case to be at-large bids and could possibly make long runs in the tournament.
Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa, is currently ranked No. 21 in the latest ESPN/USA Today poll and 14th in the RPI and appears to be a lock for the NCAA tournament. With a young, smart coach in Keno Davis, the Bulldogs have a highly-efficient offense and rarely turn the ball over (17th best in the country at 12 turnovers per contest).
Butler (19th in the RPI) also has a young coach in control of its reigns. Brad Stevens, 30, has his team taking care of the ball as well, averaging 10.4 turnovers, and playing patient defense (allowing only 59.0 per game).
Both these teams have shown a formula of success that is common in mid-major programs that find national success: Young, enthusiastic coach and a dedication to defense.
Does this formula sound familiar?
If it does, that may be because our men’s Pioneer basketball team seems to be the next in line for mid-major success.
Coming off their worst record in school history (4-25) a season ago, the Pioneers have made incredible strides this season under first-year Head Coach Joe Scott. Despite the Pioneers losing one of their senior leaders to a season-ending injury (David Kummer) and a starter leave the team mid-season (sophomore Tyler Bullock), DU has managed to win 10 games, which might have seemed like an impossibility when the season began.
The future looks incredibly bright for the Pioneers, who had three freshmen and a sophomore logging a majority of the team’s minutes.
Scott has instilled a strong defensive mentality, as DU has held their opponents to a stingy 60.2 points per game and a .455 field goal percentage.
Although the Pioneers have struggled on the road this season, they are an impressive 9-3 at home.
The Pioneers are utilizing Scott’s high-energy “Princeton Offense” which calls for a lot of player shifting and motion. This may seem like a positive, but for a team that has four players averaging over 30 minutes per game, this makes it difficult to be able to play at a high level for a full 40-minute game without players becoming too tired to give their best effort.
Adding depth to the team in the next couple seasons could transform the Pioneers from the SBC’s punching bag into the conference’s heavy weight.
So, when watching Drake and Butler or another “Cinderella” mid-major team, make a run deep into this year’s NCAA tournament, a DU fan should be excited. Not just because another school that is used to perennial hoops mediocrity is making a name for itself, but because next year it could be the Pioneers.
