MOON TWP., PA (93.7 The Fan) – The last time Robert Morris qualified for the NCAA Tournament. They celebrated on the court and cut down the nets, but there was no Selection Sunday due to COVID-19.
It’s a whole different team, except for the head coach. Reaction as the Colonials (26-8) return to March Madness as the 15-seed playing against second-seed Alabama (25-8) in Cleveland at 12:40p on Friday.
“The sense of pride is immeasurable,” said head coach Andy Toole, his fifth time qualifying while at Robert Morris. “My college coach, Fran Dunphy, always used to say there is no better feeling than hearing your name on Selection Sunday. It’s the absolute truth. You see that pop up there. They announce your name. They announce your opponent. Every sprint you ran. Every late night you stayed up watching film. Every battle that you had to fight during the course of the year, all of those things seem so inconsequential because you are a part of the best tournament in sports.”
“It was an unbelievable feeling for sure,” said Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year and Colonials forward Amarion Dickerson. “Just knowing all the hard work and dedication we put in this year. Now we get a chance to showcase our talent across the world on a nationally televised game. It’s a blessing.”
To add to it, last year Dickerson was playing Division II and he is from Cleveland. He said it’s what you dream of growing up. Last year guard Kam Woods lived a dream of an NC State team winning the ACC Tournament to get in March Madness and then playing in the Final Four.
“It felt different,” Woods said Sunday about this year compared to last. “This year I’m playing more. I’m really like a big factor that goes into us playing well. It definitely feels way different, even though we went to the Final Four, I think this feeling is unreal.”
For Malaga, Spain native, and Horizon League Player of the Year, Alvaro Folgueiras he had no idea what was all happening as a crowd gathered at the UPMC Events Center on the Robert Morris campus. Here were all these people around the team watching a big screen where they erupted when their name was announced, even though they already knew they had qualified for the tournament.
“Personally, I didn’t know what Selection Sunday was,” Folgueiras said. “I didn’t know it was that important to people around here.”
Growing up in Spain he was familiar with March Madess and college basketball, but didn’t know the details of how teams were selected. So, all of the hype caught him off guard. Not that he wasn’t into it. He’s now excited for the tournament to be even more incredible.
“I know these guys will come out with great energy ready to swing,” Toole said.
“When I saw it, I thought let’s get ready to lace our shoes back up and hit the court and do what we do,” Dickerson said. “That’s go out there and compete at a high level no matter who we match up against.”
The Crimson Tide we early 22.5-point favorites for Friday afternoon’s game. Sunday, they celebrate, Monday morning the Colonials plan to get to work looking for an all-time memory.