From Rabinowitz at the Dispatch. I could be snarky and say it's nice of the paper to begin covering Bobcat sports...so I will.
As only Ohio team left in NCAA Tournament, Bobcats want to continue March magic
After March Madness’s first weekend, Ohio University is the only team within shouting distance still standing.
And the Bobcats, or at least their fans, are certainly doing plenty of shouting.
Ohio (17-7) pulled off one of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament’s early upsets when it defeated No. 4 seed Virginia 62-58 Saturday night at Indiana University’s Assembly Hall. The 13th-seeded Bobcats will play No. 5 seed Creighton on Monday night.
That Ohio, which was only a fifth seed in the Mid-American Conference tournament, would be the final survivor among teams in the area defies the odds. But Ohio State was shocked in the first round and Cleveland State bowed out quietly. No other Ohio team made the tournament. Nor did some traditional powers from bordering states — such as Kentucky, Louisville and Indiana.
In other words, the Ohio bandwagon has room aplenty.
“The fact that we're the only one left, I think that's great for social media and fans,” Bobcats coach Jeff Boals said. “(As for) our bandwagon, keep coming. Hopefully, we'll keep this thing going and we'll take every Bobcat fan that we can get.”
Players were well aware of the postgame celebration in Athensand of the opportunity they have for attention.
“It's kind of cool to see that the whole state is kind of behind us,” said sophomore forward Ben Roderick, an Olentangy Liberty graduate who scored 15 points against Virginia. “Seeing our university last night coming together was just an unbelievable feeling. We were all just like, ‘We did this. We're bringing all these people together.’ It's just an unbelievable feeling that we have.”
This is what Boals envisioned when he took over two years ago at his alma mater. Ohio hadn’t made the tournament since 2012, when it reached the Sweet 16. Boals played on the 1993-94 OU NCAA Tournament team that lost in the first round.
He knows how special an NCAA win is, especially against a Virginia team that was technically the defending champion because the pandemic forced cancellation of last year’s tournament.
“We wanted to celebrate that one,” Boals said. “I think it's just huge for university. The messages and the attention that our university has gotten through this run have been phenomenal. I told our guys after the game, ‘Enjoy it, soak it in, and enjoy the moment’ because too many times in life you don't stop and look around and enjoy that experience. You're always on to the next thing.”
Boals was an Ohio State assistant for seven years under Thad Matta, who attended Saturday night’s game.
“I would not be here without him,” Boals said of Matta. “He means the world to me — he and his family. Just awesome people.”
Boals said Matta empowered him as an assistant, which prepared him to be ready to become a head coach. Boals coached Stony Brook for three years before he was hired at OU.
“Jeff was one of the greatest assistant coaches I’ve ever had,” Matta told The Dispatch. “I knew that he was destined to be a head coach, and I knew he was going to be successful.”
Matta said Boals is able to combine high intelligence and basketball knowledge with an engaging personality.
“He's like a magnet," Matta said. "People come to him and just love that about him."
Boals certainly isn’t afraid to have fun. His postgame dances in the locker room have started to go viral. On Saturday, an assistant coach asked him to do the Junebug. Boals had no idea how to do it and was shown a video before taking the plunge.
“There's a lot of pressure,” he joked, “from my kids — my own personal kids —particularly.”
Boals isn’t the only Bobcat with personality or a compelling story. There’s star point guard Jason Preston, the high-school benchwarmer in Orlando, Florida, whose big break came at an AAU tournament while he was attending classes as an ordinary student at the University of Central Florida. Preston had 11 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists against Virginia.
There’s Ben Vander Plas, who had a game-high 17 points, many coming at crucial times. Vander Plas’s formal first name is Bennett, and yes, he is named for the family of the coach he beat Saturday. Vander Plas’ father was a college teammate of current Virginia coach Tony Bennett at Green Bay, which was coached by Tony’s father, Dick.
“That family has meant a lot to my family over the years,” Vander Plas said Saturday night. “When we got matched up, I was really excited to play against him. He's a great coach.
“I got to talk to him for a little bit after the game. He asked where my dad was sitting. That was a pretty cool moment with coach Bennett.”
Now the Bobcats want to keep the cool moments going. As much as Boals wants his team to enjoy the ride, he knows they had to turn the page quickly.
“The big thing now is how do we regroup?” he said. “How do we come back today and refocus to concentrate on Creighton, which is a really good team?”
So is Ohio, though no one thought a month ago that they would be the last team in Ohio still alive. Because of COVID-19 issues, the Bobcats played only three games after Feb. 2 until the MAC tournament.
Ohio State was the team expected to play deep into March, not Ohio.
“Obviously, I want to see them be successful,” Boals said of the Buckeyes, who lost as a No. 2 seed to No. 15 Oral Roberts. “It was a big seven years of my life, and I’ve got some friends still on the staff.
“But we’ll take every Buckeye fan that wants to keep cheering. We will gladly accept you. March Madness is March Madness for a reason, and we're just very fortunate to be able to keep playing.”
brabinowitz@dispatch.com @brdispatch