Raise your hand if you had Saint Peter’s University winning a game in the NCAA Tournament.
Now, raise it if you had them making it to the final eight.
If you raised your hand the second time, you correctly guessed that the St. Peter’s Peacocks would somehow make NCAA history. Located in Jersey City, St. Peter’s holds about 2,600 students. They are a private Jesuit university, not predominantly known for their athletic prowess like the Duke’s or Alabama’s of the world.
On Sunday, however, they could be uttered in the same breath as the big dogs. St. Peter’s and Duke being two of the eight remaining teams in the NCAA Tournament speaks to the occasional unpredictability and “madness” of the aptly-dubbed annual festivities.
Making it this far in the tournament is a historic achievement for any school, let alone an institution this outside of the projection pool. In fact, they are the first 15-seed to make it to the final eight.
On their road to history, St. Peter’s overcame some formidable foes as well. In round one, they defeated the University of Kentucky, a two-seed and a popular pick to win the National Championship.
Next, they beat seven-seed Murray State University, an overall solid basketball club – adding yet another shocking win for the Peacocks. Their third game came against threeseed Purdue University, a rematch of their last appearance in the tournament when the Boilermakers knocked the Peacocks out. The loss was promptly avenged, as Purdue became the third victim of the Cinderella run, setting the underdogs up for a date with the University of North Carolina.
It seemed only fitting the Peacocks should knock off yet another tournament giant, but alas, this one was just not meant to be. St. Peter’s would fall to the Tar Heels, ending their miraculous run; but not before capturing the hearts of the entire nation.
St. Peter’s houses four Long Island natives on their roster: Brent Bland from Half Hollow Hills High School; Fousseyni and Hassan Drame from Our Savior New American School in Centereach; and KC Ndefo from Elmont, also an alumni of Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn.
Hassan Drame and Ndefo are both starters for St. Peter’s, while Fousseyni comes off the bench. Against Murray State, Ndefo led the Peacocks in scoring with 17 points.
Another key player that became the face of the team during the run was Doug Edert. The Peacock sharpshooter became an overnight sensation, much like the rest of his team.
That’s the fun part of these tournaments; you never know what’s going to become the story. Anything can happen. A small school with kids who often operated out of the spotlight could all of a sudden gain their 15 minutes of fame, and make everyone of them could.
The St. Peter’s Peacocks sure did. They truly made “March Madness.”
