NCAA Tournament Thread

[cactus]

Please note that requests are not guaranteed to be filled.

So, you're supposed to book flights, a hotel, take off work or whatever else if you have to, and request a ticket, but may not actually receive one?

They let you know if you were getting tickets or not in the hofstra section right away on Monday. This email was for people who still haven't requested.

[cactus]

ESPN ranked their top 50 players in the tournament, Cruz made the list at #49 (the top 45 were all high-major players for context). Alabama's Labaron Philon came in at #6, will be by far the best player we've faced this season.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-baske ... antsa-2026

He's like Cruz in that he not only scores but gets his assists too (he leads them with 4.7 apg). And you can't foul him because he generally hits his FTs. Great player all around. I wonder if they'll try to key on him or let him get his but don't let others beat them, especially with Holloway already out.

Yeah I'm very curious to see how they decide to guard Philon, who is listed at 6'4 185 lbs.

- If you go put our best defender on him with DeCady and try to bother him with length, then who is guarding Amari Allen? (their 6'8 forward who averages 11.7ppg and is their leading rebounder)

- German can match Philon size wise, but would be concerned if he has the lateral quickness to chase around an NBA prospect who shoots 40% from 3. Also Bama's likely replacement for Holloway, G Houston Mallette, is basically identical size to German.

-So that probably leaves Cruz and letting the two stars go mano a mano. But Wags as you said have to be careful about putting Philon on the foul line (and he averages almost 6 FT attempts a game). So have to worry about Cruz getting in foul trouble again if he guards Philon.

No easy answers. But that's the fun challenge of making the tourney and getting to face a team like Bama.

And I think they have to play man and guard past the 3 point line like they did with W&M in the first round of the tournament.

[Wags]

The Pride has landed.

https://x.com/JonathanJWagner/status/20 ... 5916669387

[Wags]

The ice will remain under the floor in Tampa. Hopefully no condensation on the floor:
https://x.com/TomRock_Newsday/status/20 ... 6140433879

Also, this is great for the Parotta family!
https://x.com/TomRock_Newsday/status/20 ... 7031052362

[Hofstra97]

Thanks for the video of the team landing, Wags! Exciting!!!!

[Wags]

https://x.com/CoachJayWright/status/2034312792761848294

[dutchPride86]

Aaron Estrada has Hofstra winning 90-85!

https://nypost.com/2026/03/18/sports/aa ... s-matchup/

[EvanJ]

https://www.espn.com/video/clip/_/id/48243432 has ESPN's Jay Bilas talking about Alabama, Texas Tech, and us.

[Jojogunne]

https://x.com/CoachJayWright/status/2034312792761848294

Rich Laurel was an unbelievable player, a 6-7 forward with the skills of a PG. I think he averaged 30 ppg as a senior. Graduated from Overbrook HS, Wilt Chamberlain's alma mater. A first-round pick of the Portland Trailblazers. Good to see him with Coach Wright in this photo in his hometown.

C/F John Irving was a beast on the boards. Averaged a double-double for three years and led the country in rebounding as a senior, if I remember correctly. Passed away in 2015.

I saw Kenny Rood at several home games this past season. A deadly outsider shooter, he probably would have finishined with 50% more points had there been a three-point arc in the 1970s. Bernard Tomlin, head coach at SUNY Old Westbury, was another prolific scorer.

I also remember C Pat Kaemmerer, a rugged defender whose work in the paint allowed Laurel & Co. to excel offensively. Passed away in 2021.

Great memories from Hofstra's first D1 NCAA Tournament team (1976 & 1977).

[triplec2195]

https://x.com/CoachJayWright/status/2034312792761848294

Rich Laurel was an unbelievable player, a 6-7 forward with the skills of a PG. I think he averaged 30 ppg as a senior. Graduated from Overbrook HS, Wilt Chamberlain's alma mater. A first-round pick of the Portland Trailblazers. Good to see him with Coach Wright in this photo in his hometown.

C/F John Irving was a beast on the boards. Averaged a double-double for three years and led the country in rebounding as a senior, if I remember correctly. Passed away in 2015.

I saw Kenny Rood at several home games this past season. A deadly outsider shooter, he probably would have finishined with 50% more points had there been a three-point arc in the 1970s. Bernard Tomlin, head coach at SUNY Old Westbury, was another prolific scorer.

I also remember C Pat Kaemmerer, a rugged defender whose work in the paint allowed Laurel & Co. to excel offensively. Passed away in 2021.

Great memories from Hofstra's first D1 NCAA Tournament team (1976 & 1977).

Thanks for the memories Jojo almost remember them like yesterday and to think these great players played all their home games at the PFC which I also remember being very hard on the butt. Nice nostalgia for sure!

[HUSID74]

Couple of additions. Laurel broke Wilt Chamberlain's scoring recordat Overbrook. John won the rebounding championship as a junior and lost out to Seton Hall's Moslley by something like 1 onehundreth of a rebound!
Don't forget Bernard Tomlin who went from scorer to the point that changed this entire team!

[Wags]

Friday was about as chalky a day as possible.
Thursday: higher seeds went 10-6 (only 7-6 excluding 1/16 and 2/15 games).
Friday: higher seeds went 14-2; the only two lower seeds that won were 9 seeds.

9 seeds swept 8 seeds for the first time since 2019.
Only 4 of 28 double-digit seeds advanced in the first round, overall.

All higher seeds advanced in the East and Midwest except for the 9 seeds.
West: 9, 11, 12 advanced among lower seeds.
South: 9, 10, 11 advanced among lower seeds.
Seeds 12-16 in the 1st Round went 1-19 (only High Point, by one point, advanced).

Six teams scored over 100 points in the first round.

Second straight year no 13-16 seeds won in the first round. First time that has happened.

[HofstraPride1]

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a ... 0756126764

Copied above is link to a good pocast interview with Rick Cole on business side of making NCAA Tournament for Hofstra and overall college sports landscape. He punted on football question which I cant blame him for

[Wags]

Sweet 16 by conference:

Big Ten: 6
SEC: 4
Big 12: 3
Big East: 2
ACC: 1

Only twice has the Sweet 16 included teams from major conferences - last year and this year (NIL effect?).

[triplec2195]

https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/a ... 0756126764

Copied above is link to a good pocast interview with Rick Cole on business side of making NCAA Tournament for Hofstra and overall college sports landscape. He punted on football question which I cant blame him for

A lot of info in this podcast thanks for posting. It definitely gives insight on the kind of money we have here and how much more we will have and need moving forward!

[HofstraPride1]

agreed they covered some good topics and glad were able to get some specifics out of him as well. Am curious who that big athletics donation that has been pledged but not accounted for yet he mentioned is from.

[Polito]

I listened to it as well - overall it was a really good interview, and those guys asked some GREAT questions finally that needed to be asked - Cole did a pretty good job overall, he's well spoken, clearly a fan, and seems to have a decent grasp on the current situation.

However, he clearly loves football and should've showed more onions with the football question - just say you love it and it would be amazing to have it again one day - not up to me, lots of factors, who knows what the future holds, but I can see how great it would be for the community - something like that - too pansy an answer for me - talks a good game, but needed to cowboy up on that one

And I'm not in agreement that we should be over focusing on philanthropic efforts to fund things - yes do that, but we should absolutely be going after more CORPORATE and private equity $ to truly fund this well - that take is very limited to me - no clue what he means by 'we're not there yet' with outside money - lol get there dude, the rest of college sports has been there for years, what the heck are you waiting for - get it together

He also did not give much in terms of viable detailed solutions - I don't need a description of the landscape, anyone paying attention knows what's going on, this isn't new - HU is late - obviously HU doesn't have the same dollars as Bama, this isn't breaking news folks - what are we doing about it??? What is our game plan to elevate ourselves to stay as competitive as we can in our space??

I didn't get the sense we have a solid game plan yet other than begging some key people to donate - that's not gonna cut it - we need a fleshed out plan to bring in CORPORATE dollars - HU MUST have a zillion business connections, and we are not leveraging them effectively yet - and it doesn't sound like Cole gets that or has any sense of how to do it - still thinking too small IMO - this isn't Iona, step it up

But glad he took the interview, and glad those guys asked some real questions to him for once - he answered a lot, and I enjoyed the engagement, he represented HU well, just didn't check every box personally for me - better than nothing, and I am still overall encouraged that HU is at least doing something to make this thing work

[HofstraPride1]

I listened to it as well - overall it was a really good interview, and those guys asked some GREAT questions finally that needed to be asked - Cole did a pretty good job overall, he's well spoken, clearly a fan, and seems to have a decent grasp on the current situation.

However, he clearly loves football and should've showed more onions with the football question - just say you love it and it would be amazing to have it again one day - not up to me, lots of factors, who knows what the future holds, but I can see how great it would be for the community - something like that - too pansy an answer for me - talks a good game, but needed to cowboy up on that one

And I'm not in agreement that we should be over focusing on philanthropic efforts to fund things - yes do that, but we should absolutely be going after more CORPORATE and private equity $ to truly fund this well - that take is very limited to me - no clue what he means by 'we're not there yet' with outside money - lol get there dude, the rest of college sports has been there for years, what the heck are you waiting for - get it together

He also did not give much in terms of viable detailed solutions - I don't need a description of the landscape, anyone paying attention knows what's going on, this isn't new - HU is late - obviously HU doesn't have the same dollars as Bama, this isn't breaking news folks - what are we doing about it??? What is our game plan to elevate ourselves to stay as competitive as we can in our space??

I didn't get the sense we have a solid game plan yet other than begging some key people to donate - that's not gonna cut it - we need a fleshed out plan to bring in CORPORATE dollars - HU MUST have a zillion business connections, and we are not leveraging them effectively yet - and it doesn't sound like Cole gets that or has any sense of how to do it - still thinking too small IMO - this isn't Iona, step it up

But glad he took the interview, and glad those guys asked some real questions to him for once - he answered a lot, and I enjoyed the engagement, he represented HU well, just didn't check every box personally for me - better than nothing, and I am still overall encouraged that HU is at least doing something to make this thing work

Valid points Polito. On the football question I think he was uncomfortable given nature of the question which was does not having football help us with a spirt like basketball in this environment. I think the answer is absolutely yes as I would imagine is far tricker for schools like Towson, Stony Brook and Monmouth in our league who need to dedicate dollars for paying players to both programs where only have to worry about hoops. Assuming bthat is answer he would give I get why he wouldn't want to say it publicly and upset Hofstra football alums who have become more engaged in recent years. I still wish we had football of course despite the budgeting challenges, but the reality is in terms of new college basketball landscape not having it could help us hopefully get more CAA titles.

[Polito]

That is helpful clarification HP1, you're right, that question was a little more dicey than I originally gave it credit for - I can see now how the wrong answer might alienate some.

And that's is fun and interesting debate - there are 2 sides, and both fair: On one hand, not having football allows for full focus on hoops. You can truly go all in and laser focus your efforts and resources. However, you're not seeing hoops only schools separating themselves from the rest and winning NCAA titles. Some are solid, others are not. The P2's-P4's that have both still dominate. Football is the #1 revenue driver for ALL collegiate athletics in this country, hands down. Football provides a lot of opportunities hoops only schools will never get, and provide dollars they will never see. All that gets leveraged to help both sports succeed.

[HofstraPride1]

I think for the Power 4 programs having football probably doesn't matter much in terms of them having successful basketball since they get so much money from conference media right deals alone. For midmajors with FCS football I think is different story though. Time will tell how the teams in out league with football perform in terms of conference titles (Towson, Elon, Monmouth, Stony Brook, etc.) compared to Hofstra, Charleston, UNCW, Drexel, UNCW, etc.). Obviously Monmouth and Towson were very close to winning CAA this year so perhaps it isn't a big competitive disadvantage now, but over time it could be.