We have to celebrate something other than another blueblood champion if Duke, UNC, Kansas or Villanova are going to win another national title. The ideal of March Madness is almost antithetical to watching another blueblood Final Four.
There are other winners in March, not just the ones who are left dancing at the end of the One Shining Moment, like Gordon Hayward and Brad Stevens or Ron Hunter. Hardware isn't handed out, but the impact of stars on our Hippocampi. Duke won the 2010 national title, but the casual college hoops fan doesn't remember their players.
There are rewards for leading men in March Madness. Every Cinderella has a program-changing head coach behind the wheel who uses the exposure as a launching pad for his next career move. The Final Four run into the job at Oklahoma. Brad Stevens turned two championship games at Butler into a head coaching gig with the Boston Celtics, while Brad Underwood turned a run by Stephen F. Austin into a job at Oklahoma State. San Francisco's Todd Golden locked down the most high-profile spot on the coaching carousel when the Florida Gators came calling, despite his Dons getting bounced in the first round by Murray State.
We have a new addition to the team. After his Peacocks became the first ever 15 seed to reach the Elite Eight, his alma mater, Seton Hall, came calling.
A major program in the greater New York tri-state area that just played in the NCAA Tournament for the fourth straight season, and returns to place he starred at as a player, was one of the major programs that got a pay raise. This is what March Madness is all about.
There were bigger jobs out there, like the Maryland opening, that Kevin had to take, or the Florida job. The program that was camping out in the Big 10 has fallen on hard luck. The Big East has a prime position to challenge for the title.
March success can seem sudden and the result of good kismet, but mostly it is a product of years of hard work by mid-major juniors, seniors, and coaching staffs. Cinderella is not all about pumpkins turning into carriages and mice into coachmen. Cinderella and the mice had a lot of work to do to get to their ball. A mid-major program that was 10-22 during his first season was built a conference champion that reached the Elite Eight.
What comes next is the hard part. Georgetown's Patrick Ewing and Memphis'Penny Hardaway have faced adversity to get their alma maters back on track. Holloway has experience as a program builder. He won't be relying on his name to get recruits. He has been familiar with the local recruiting scene for a long time. The Pirates are losing their top three scorers and four of their top five players, as well as a shot-blocker.
The rule that says stars at the NBA level don't make great coaches has proven to apply to college. McDonald was the All-American Game's Most Valuable Player, but not enough of a star that he was able to take the express elevator to the top of the coaching ranks. His workman-like approach to recruiting and coaching at one of the most difficult jobs in the mid-majors should translate at Seton Hall, which faces an uphill climb.
He was an assistant at his alma mater for a decade before getting the job at Saint Peter. The sky is the limit for a program which recruits from a basketball hotbed and calls a 19,500-seat former NBA arena its home. Three decades ago, P.J. Carlesimo had a national championship and Final Four. A March Madness breakthrough after two decades of first weekend exits would be welcomed for an area that is starving for a winner.
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