FDU goes from underdog to overnight sensation with NCAA wins

COLUMBUS,Ohio (AP) — The best story in this NCAA Tournament is a fairlyridiculous one.

For years,outsiders and even some of Fairleigh Dickinson’s proud alumni havecalled the private, commuter school in Teaneck, New Jersey, byanother name — an inside joke and pet moniker suggesting areputation for partying.

FairlyRidiculous. You bet.

That wouldcertainly describe what the Knights, college basketball’s smallestsquad which includes some Division II players brought to FDU byTobin Anderson, the team’s fast-talking, first-year vagabond coach,have accomplished in a few days.

Fromunderdogs to overnight sensations. March madmen.

Only in theNCAA field due to a technicality, Fairleigh Dickinson, which went4-22 last season, won a First Four game in Dayton before the Fridaynight stunning 63-58 win over top-seeded Purdue. It was just thesecond No. 16 seed win over a No. 1 seed in men’s tourneyhistory.

The Knightsawakened Saturday to a new world.

“Lifechanging,” said FDU forward Sean Moore, who scored 19 points andblocked a layup in the final seconds to help seal the win overPurdue. “That whole game has changed everybody on our team, staff,students, everybody who goes to Fairleigh Dickinson University.

“Everythingis different now. Phone has been going crazy, still is.”

Same forAnderson, who spent much of his morning doing national TVinterviews following an upset that reverberated across the sportsworld.

“I’ve got,like, 1,200 unanswered texts right now,” he said. “The problem eachtime I look at my phone it’s more and more. My message, ifanybody’s listening, stop texting right now. Give me a chance tocatch up.”

Using theirsuperior speed and quickness at both ends of the floor to flusterthe Big Ten champion Boilermakers, FDU’s players brought Purdue7-foot-4 star center Zach Edey down to their level and advanced inthe East Region.

On Sunday,the Knights (21-15) will face No. 9 seed Florida Atlantic (32-3),which nipped Memphis 66-65 in the final seconds late Friday night,for a spot in next week’s Sweet 16 at Madison Square Garden in NewYork.

Thatpossibility is almost too much for the 51-year-old Anderson tofathom.

“I wouldn’thave to fly back to Jersey,” he said. “I could jog back, take offrunning, be like Forrest Gump or something. That would beincredible.”

Incrediblemay have already happened. FDU’s feel-good story seems to have beenpulled from a Hollywood movie script.

Over the pastfew days, Anderson, who was born in Iowa, played college ball inConnecticut and started his coaching career bouncing from one smallcollege to another in upstate New York, has referenced “Hoosiers”several times. There are indeed parallels to the famous Indianahigh school hoops miracle and what FDU is doing.

In May,Anderson took over a program in need of a massive renovation. Justhours after he was hired at Fairleigh Dickinson, he held his firstpractice and quickly realized the job would require patience alongwith an influx of talent.

He knew justwhere to find some, convincing four players on his team at St.Thomas Aquinas College, a Division-II power about 15 miles from NewYork, to join him at FDU.

One of themto make the leap was 5-foot-8 guard Demetre Roberts.

“Coming outof high school, not having no D-I looks, I didn’t pout,” saidRoberts, who had 12 points, four rebounds and four assists againstPurdue. “I didn’t sit around and mope all day. I trusted coach. Itrusted him all the way and I’m still with him. And five yearslater, I’m still here.”

Not only didAnderson’s sales pitch to enroll at FDU work, so did his proposalto the Knights on how to beat Purdue. They took the floor fullyconfident they could contain Edey despite being outsized, a 23 1/2point underdog and a statistically deficient team.

“We felt wecould beat them ever since we were watching film, trying to preparefor them,” said 6-foot-6 center Ansley Almonor, FDU’s tallestplayer. “We’re all close. We’re like brothers. That was just aregular game for us.

“We felt wecould go out there and beat them, and that’s what we did.”

The fact thatthe Knights are even in the tournament is another twist in theircaptivating tale. By all rights, they’re a No 17 seed.

FDU lost theNortheast Conference tournament title game 67-66, but stillreceived the league’s automatic bid because champion Merrimackremains ineligible for postseason play after moving up fromDivision II to Division I.

Now, theKnights, who opened the tourney with an easy win over TexasSouthern in Dayton, are 40 minutes and one win from being one ofthe last 16 teams standing.

Beating FAU,a team with a similar playing style and swagger to FDU’s, will betall task. But after taking out one of the nation’s top players — aliteral giant — nothing seems too big for this group.

“They’re nothuge,” Anderson said of the Owls. “They’re still bigger than us.Who is not bigger? There’s five guys in the hallway bigger than us.But we’ve got to box out, rebound, be tough, be scrappy.

“We’ll haveto play really, really well, compete our tails off and hope they’remaybe not quite as sharp. That’s just the way it is. And it workedlast night. We’re hoping that it will help us tomorrow.”