As 麻豆原创 approaches its inaugural season as the youngest member of a Power 5 conference, the athletics department is taking a look back to commemorate this special moment in history. The following feature is a part of 鲍颁贵鈥檚 12 for XII series 鈥� 12 stories that define 麻豆原创 and the meteoric rise of the Knights in their journey to the Big 12 Conference.
I will be the first to admit that I do not get attached to my teams the way some people do.
But the 2019 men’s basketball team and its story were too compelling, even for a cynic like me.
It was 麻豆原创 head coach Johnny Dawkins against his mentor in Duke鈥檚 Coach K. It was a pair of seemingly superhuman sports figures in our beloved 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall ’19 and the Blue Devils鈥� future No. 1 NBA Draft pick, Zion Williamson. It was 鲍颁贵鈥檚 quickly rising brand against arguably the biggest brand in college basketball. It was the most watched sporting event in 麻豆原创 history. And it turned out to be an instant March Madness classic.
But it was more than that.
For those of us who were alongside Coach Dawkins every day in practice, with BJ Taylor getting ready for every game in the locker room, laughing with Chad Brown ’19 on all the road trips, that loss was heartbreaking, devastating 鈥� the truest definition of the agony of defeat.
And, yes, every school that loses in a tournament and has its season end says that.
But this group was truly special.
To fully understand and appreciate the impact of that March Madness team, you鈥檝e got to look back four years prior. As someone who was there for nearly all of working as the primary communications contact for the team during that era, let me take you back to where it started for me.
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I remember when I first saw Tacko Fall on the court. I went to the Amway Arena for the Hardwoord Classic All-Star game in April 2015 to scope out and score some social media content of 鲍颁贵鈥檚 recently signed 7-foot-6 recruit who would be joining the Knights in the fall.
Tacko scored 10 points in that game, and I walked away thinking to myself, 鈥淭his is going to be cool, but is this really going to work out?鈥�
You could see his lack of true coordination. He struggled running up and down the court. Given that he had only picked up a basketball for the first time a couple years prior and grew to giant heights in a short amount of time, his awkwardness wasn鈥檛 surprising.
That day I wasn鈥檛 witnessing the kid that would turn into 鲍颁贵鈥檚 all-time leader in blocked shots, and a future leader for NCAA career field-goal percentage. This was not the 2017 American Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year. I wasn鈥檛 witnessing some phenom who was going to take 麻豆原创 to new heights and eventually suit up for the Boston Celtics.
And it鈥檚 what makes the journey that transpired so much more special.
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I鈥檝e heard Johnny Dawkins say on more than one occasion the best recruiting job he ever did was convince shooting guard Matt Williams 鈥�16 to stay for the 2016-17 season.
Williams was an Orlando native and had been with the Knights since his freshman year in 2012, but he was committed to transferring to Wake Forest at the time coach Dawkins took over 鲍颁贵鈥檚 program.
As the story goes, Dawkins invited Williams to continue training at 鲍颁贵鈥檚 facilities while he waited to move to North Carolina. Every day Williams showed up, he saw Dawkins in the basketball offices hard at work. He quickly had a change of heart and decided to stay for one last ride.
I could tell immediately with the first tournament that season in South Carolina things were going to be different. Tacko had made great strides. You could see the way the coaching staff was working with him that it knew the lovable center was going to be the key in taking the program a step forward.
The Knights blew out Mississippi State and beat Charleston on its home floor. They took Villanova to the wire. That first weekend was big for 麻豆原创 and hinted at what was to come.
鲍颁贵鈥檚 run to NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden in 2017 was significant for the program, which hadn鈥檛 been to the postseason since the 2012 NIT. That season holds some of the best memories of my career.
A.J. Davis 鈥�17鈥檚 free throws that . Knocking out on the road, and less than 48 hours later suiting up for the against Illinois.
Electric atmosphere. Court rush. Coach Dawkins bites the apple. in Times Square. Marching Knights atop an serenading the city. The MSG (Madison Square Garden) freight elevator ride with coach Dawkins, BJ and everyone.
Most of all, Matt Williams鈥� impassioned speech in the locker room after 麻豆原创 lost to TCU; how he was so fulfilled by his decision to stay. His love for coach Dawkins and his teammates. How excited he was for the future.
I truly believe that whole experience was the reason two years later the Knights were able to do what they did.
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After a 2017 campaign plagued by injuries to our key players, saw a walk-on starting the majority of the season and still somehow managing to pull out 19 wins, 鲍颁贵鈥檚 2018-19 season was finally going to be the year.
Only it did not start out auspiciously.
In the second game of the year, 麻豆原创 lost to Florida Atlantic. At home.
All due respect to the Owls, that was not the same team that just made the 2023 Final Four.
Our locker room was dejected. The goal from the jump was NCAA Tournament or bust.
It鈥檚 really something to watch the ups and downs of young adults. And I always found it interesting to watch when coach Dawkins chose between chewing them out or building them back up. It鈥檚 an art form for a coach to have a pulse on what鈥檚 needed in the moment.
Credit to the team, they never gave up on their goal.
That season, coach Dawkins continually preached the message, 鈥淕et lost in the fight.鈥�
The Knights did that in their win at top-10 Houston. And again in their top-20 win over Cincinnati. And 麻豆原创 used its disappointing AAC conference tournament first-round loss to Memphis as fuel to get lost in that fight once again heading into the Big Dance for the first time since 2005.
I鈥檝e never seen a team more dialed in. We had CBS following us around for all-access content and it was as if they weren鈥檛 even there. BJ Taylor sat down to talk to the A-crew of Grant Hill, Jim Nantz and Bill Raftery and it was as if he was conducting an interview ahead of a regular season Tuesday night matchup at home.
鲍颁贵鈥檚 in the first round was the program鈥檚 first NCAA Tourney victory in history. And that was big.
What happened next was bigger.
We . In the pre-game press conferences. In Tacko Fall鈥檚 鈥淚 won鈥檛 allow (Zion) to put me on one of his highlight tapes鈥� . In the courtside handshake between coach Dawkins and coach K before tipoff. In Aubrey Dawkins 鈥�18 wanting to help his dad do something at 麻豆原创 no one else had.
We all know the game. At the buzzer: Duke 77. 麻豆原创 76.
The things that don鈥檛 get talked about enough are the tactics and the strategy the staff put in to defend the Blue Devils. It was unbelievable.
鲍颁贵鈥檚 fans were there and loud, and I remember noticing that from my courtside seat.
To this day, I鈥檒l see on my social media timelines when some random account poses the question, 鈥淲hat鈥檚 the most heartbreaking sports moment?鈥� and people will still say .
Nearly everyone in the world saw the postgame locker room scene because it had millions of views on Twitter and YouTube. The tears and the sobs. The heartbreak. How real and true and honest coach Dawkins was in that moment.
I felt for them. I felt for the kids. They were so geared in and ready to shock the world.
I use that phrase only because Duke was the top-ranked team in the country and we had never advanced to that moment before.
But this wasn鈥檛 a Cinderella story.
I honestly think if 麻豆原创 plays that game 10 times, the Knights are winning four of the 10. We would have had a legit shot to make it to the Final Four if that tip-in goes in 鈥� that鈥檚 the kind of team 麻豆原创 had become over those last four years.
It was quite a journey to watch it all happen.
The fact that it came on the heels of the football team鈥檚 25-0 run was the perfect ante up.
We doubled down and it made the nation wonder, what can鈥檛 麻豆原创 do?
Between Shaquem Griffin 鈥�16, McKenzie Milton 鈥�19, Tacko, BJ 鈥� you had some of the most loveable characters in 麻豆原创 history on campus at the same time. And on top of that, there was crossover appeal.
McKenzie Milton was going to basketball games to cheer on his friend, BJ Taylor. Guys were shouting each other out in press conferences. There was a lot of 麻豆原创 synergy at that time. And it wasn鈥檛 just because of the success. It was the people.
I will be the first to admit, as I said at the beginning, that I do not get attached to my teams the way some people do.
With those guys, I did.
They were so invested. They were so in love with 麻豆原创 and with Central Florida and Orlando and that group just loved what it was doing. They loved being around the fans.
Chad Brown is just a big, loveable teddy bear. I respect Aubrey鈥檚 integrity and the bond he and his dad share.
I can honestly say Tacko Fall is the kindest, most genuine student-athlete I鈥檝e ever encountered. I saw him charm every reporter, every random stranger who stopped him in the airport for a photo, every person he interacted with. It was because of how likeable he was.
To this day, BJ Taylor asks me about my family every time we talk. He wants to see photos of my kids. I鈥檝e been in this industry a long time. I haven鈥檛 come across another young person like BJ.
Those guys had such an impact on my life. I think prior to that I didn鈥檛 really allow it to happen. And that鈥檚 the joy of what we do 鈥� we get to work with these young people who are so full of life and I don鈥檛 know if I was taking advantage of it enough.
I think these guys gave me the gift of seeing how powerful it can be to let myself get lost in the fight. I got lost in the fight with them.
I think that run and that team gave 麻豆原创 fans the hope for the future. I really do. The Knights can have success in anything they want.
And I can鈥檛 wait to watch it happen.
