Teams from state have pulled off a number of tourney shockers
By Ed Miller
The Virginian-Pilot
David Johnson called from Hamilton, Ontario, where he was conducting a basketball clinic. The former Maury High School and Hampton University forward coaches a girls high school team in Charlotte during the season and trains young players in skills development the rest of the year.
Business is good teaching the basics – shooting, passing, dribbling. But if Johnson was inclined, there’s an advanced maneuver that he, among all the players in the 75-year history of the NCAA tournament, is uniquely qualified to teach.
Call it the Hampton Hoist.
Johnson’s perfectly executed – knees bent, chest out, back arched and head tilted back in upset-induced bliss – lift of his coach, Steve Merfeld, after the No. 15 seed Pirates beat No. 2 Iowa State in 2001 is one of the tournament’s enduring celebratory images.
Merfeld raised his arms and kicked his feet like a delirious toddler. Viewed 12 years later, Hampton’s rejoicing makes the “Harlem Shake” look like a minuet.
It’s tourney time, which means Johnson will be seeing it again, no matter where work takes him. It was Hampton’s shining moment, one of many produced by Virginia schools over the decades. Neighboring states North Carolina and Kentucky have 21 national championships between them. Our fair commonwealth?
We specialize in upsets. That’s not a bad thing. For many, they are the tournament’s defining element.
Half of the six 15-vs.-2 upsets in tourney history were pulled by Virginia teams, including the first: Richmond’s win over Syracuse in 1991. Hampton followed a decade later. Then came Norfolk State’s win over Missouri in 2012.
A pair of 14 seeds – Old Dominion in 1995 and Richmond in ’98 – knocked off Villanova and South Carolina, respectively.
All were streaks across the tournament sky by teams that were back home by the end of the first weekend, but only after leaving indelible marks.
Other Virginia upstarts enjoyed longer journeys, pioneering feats of deep-bracket navigation by smaller programs. George Mason planted the mid-major flag in the Final Four in 2006. Virginia Commonwealth followed five years later with its own improbable run.
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