NCAA bid caps UM's comeback
Four years ago, Frank Haith was named coach at the University of Miami and within weeks, two key players transferred and the team's top recruit - C.J. Giles - bailed out of his oral commitment to the Hurricanes.
Haith remembers a reporter asking one of this players if Miami basketball really belonged in the ACC.
"We've come a long way," Haith said Sunday.
That was obvious by the revelry early Sunday evening after UM's players and coaches, gathered together at the Hecht Athletic Center, learned they were back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2002.
The Hurricanes, a No.7 seed, will face 10th-seeded St. Mary's (25-6) of the West Coast Conference at 12:30 p.m. Friday in the first round of the South Regional in Little Rock, Ark.
While an NCAA at-large berth was considered a certainty for UM, the team's players squirmed in their seats until "Miami" flashed on a television screen during the unveiling of the 65-team field on CBS' broadcast.
"I was getting nervous," guard Jack McClinton said. "There were a lot of teams being called and I started sweating."
A possible second-round matchup with No. 2 seed Texas is likely if the Hurricanes (22-10) beat St. Mary's. Haith was an assistant with the Longhorns for three seasons (2001-04) under coach Rick Barnes before taking the UM job in 2004.
"The pressure's on him," Haith joked regarding a potential showdown with his former boss. "It isn't on me."
First, Miami will have to get by the Gaels, who were enjoying a breakthrough season before losing to San Diego in the semifinals of their conference tournament.
A private college in Moraga, Calif., St. Mary's broke into the national rankings this season for the first time since 1989, reaching as high as No. 20.
The Gaels are led by freshman point guard Patrick Mills, an Australian national team star who finished fifth in the West Coast Conference in scoring (14.5 points) and assists (3.42).
"All their games come on at like midnight, so I'm usually asleep by the time they play," McClinton said. "But I know they have some pretty good players over there."
The Hurricanes are making their sixth NCAA Tournament appearance and fifth since the basketball program was restarted in 1985.
Few expected this to be the season Haith and UM would qualify for the tournament. The Hurricanes finished at the bottom of the ACC last season and were an overwhelming favorite to finish there again this season.
Despite a 12-0 start, UM's NCAA hopes appeared doomed after opening its ACC schedule with a 2-6 record. But the Hurricanes won six of their last eight conference games and finished fifth in the regular-season standings.
After defeating North Carolina State in the opening round of the ACC tournament on Thursday, Miami was eliminated by Virginia Tech on Friday. The Hokies did not get an NCAA bid and will play in the NIT.
"We never put our head down," said McClinton, a first-team All-ACC selection. "We always knew something special was going to happen."
UM is 3-5 all-time in the NCAA Tournament. It reached the Sweet Sixteen in the 2000 tournament, but hasn't survived the first round four times, including its last appearance in 2002 when 12th-seed Missouri beat fifth-seeded UM in Albuquerque, N.M.
St. Mary's is playing in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time. The Gaels' last appearance was in 2005, also as a 10th seed, and resulted in a 65-56 first-round loss to Southern Illinois. The school's only victory in an NCAA Tournament game was against Idaho State on March 12, 1959.
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