DAYTON, Ohio – The UMBC Retrievers are in the house. Remember them?
It is Monday night, and after a delayed flight, they’re finally on the court at the University of Dayton Arena, prepping for their First Four engagement with Howard. UMBC has not been seen in the NCAA Tournament since 2018.
Stop right there. Before we get back to practice, what about 2018?
⏮️ REWIND: No. 16 UMBC knocks out No. 1 UVA in the first round of the 2018 NCAA tournament
Eight years later, the history book almost still shakes its head in disbelief.
It wasn’t just that 31-2 Virginia would become the first No. 1 seed ever to lose to a 16-seed, but that the Cavaliers would be blown away by 20 points. It wasn’t just that they would score only 54, being renowned for their brilliant defense, much more than offense. It’s that their conquerors from UMBC would score 53 -- in the second half. Fifteen Virginia opponents that season had not been able to reach 53 points the entire game. Turning a 21-21 halftime tie into a stunning rout, the Retrievers took 28 shots in the second half and missed only nine.
The college basketball world’s jaws dropped en masse.
On this day in 2018, made history as the first-EVER 16-seed to take down a 1-seed with a win over Virginia 😳
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB)
UMBC? Most of the nation’s fans didn’t even know what the letters stood for. All they knew was what had just happened to their brackets. The University of Maryland, Baltimore County was a school better known for its chess program.
From the losing side that night, coach Tony Bennett.
“If you play this game and you step into the arena, this stuff can happen. And those who haven't been in the arena or in the competition, maybe they don't understand that.”
From the winning side, Jairus Lyles, who had torched Virginia for 28 points.
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“We just wanted to make history today.”
And Joe Sherburne.
“I think we kind of all wanted to be in the One Shining Moment video. We were all in the locker room singing the first line because that's all we know, but I think we're going to have to learn the rest of the song, too.”
Also, Jourdan Grant.
“It felt like my soul left my body.”
The ground shook beneath the entire NCAA Tournament. Then the teams went their separate ways. Virginia used the humiliation as fuel for a redemption tour the next year that would lead to a remarkable national championship. UMBC lost two days later to Kansas State 50-43 and returned from the national spotlight to the relative quiet of the America East Conference, where the Retrievers usually have to worry about Vermont, not Virginia. They’ve never been back to the NCAA Tournament.
Until now.
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Which brings us to Monday night. Just before practice Monday, some of the UMBC players are answering questions. They’re 24-8 and have won 12 games in a row, including rolling through the America East tournament by 15, 22 and 15 points. The title-clinching victory was at home against Vermont and started at 11 a.m., early enough that the school provided free breakfast to student fans.
The current players were in middle school in 2018, so what could it mean to them? This is their team now; it does not belong to the past. But that night is with them, too.
DJ Armstrong Jr.: “I didn't know anything about it. I'm just a kid from Florida. I really didn't know what UMBC was at the time. When I got recruited, of course, it got (mentioned). I think just knowing about that it's what we chase for every day. It gets brought up a lot. But all in all, we're our own team, and we just want to go ahead and get to that point again.”
Ace Valentine: “For me, it was a little different because I live 15 minutes from UMBC, grew up right around the corner, had family that went to UMBC as well. Definitely, I noticed it even though I was only like 13. When it came back around full circle for me when I went to UMBC, it was always a goal to get to the tournament. This year, I finally accomplished it in my third year. I want to be able to make a name for ourselves, as well.”
Jah’Likai King: “My first time hearing about it was when I got recruited by Coach (Jim) Ferry. It's very special just to be in this situation, just because we can do the same thing if we just do everything right on the court.”
Josh Odunowo: “As I got older, I started to realize the significance of what happened.
“Just the fact that one game like that can change the whole team, everybody's life, the trajectory of their basketball career, everything like that. I definitely dream about moments like that.”
Jim Ferry is the coach now. He was a Penn State assistant in 2018. He understands the impact to this day.
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“It's always going to be a part of it. First of all, in our practice facility, we have this huge Sports Illustrated cover. It's a huge part of our wall. So they put UMBC on the map.
“Jairus has been back on campus. The guys know of it, and every year, this time of year, it always comes up because of the special run. So it's stuff that we talk about and having pride. And then we have an opportunity right now -- we have to play well -- to go win another NCAA Tournament game.”
It has been a frantic 24 hours of film watching since the selection show. Then sitting on a weather-delayed plane waiting to take off.
“We found out (their selection site) at 6:30, went right back to the office. I think we were all up until about 3:00, 4:00 in the morning,” Ferry says. “Got on a flight and sat next to each other and used the time for that. When I was at head coach at Duquesne, we got stuck on a bus for 32 hours one time. For me, this is old hat, man, it's nothing. We're fine.”
Well, . Despite playing Saturday, finding out last night around 6:30 that we are in the First Four playing Tuesday, and getting our travel arrangements around 10 pm, we loaded up the plane this morning for a Noon flight to Dayton to play Howard. We’re still…
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics)
On the court for practice is a roster heavy on Division II transfers, including top scorers King and Armstrong. Ferry, the son of a New York policeman, once played in the lower divisions himself.
“We're not a big NIL money team. A lot of these Division II kids aren't asking for money,” he says. “Some kid calls up, or an agent calls up and says, `Well, it's going to cost this much.’ I hang up and say good luck.
“The Division II guys, like DJ, was just looking for an opportunity to play Division I basketball. I took five Division II guys. DJ Armstrong, he doesn’t get NIL money; he just wants to play basketball.”
Ferry gathers his team for a few words, then the practice picks up. It’s hard not to hear the echo of 2018, though almost nobody in the traveling party to Dayton was around that night in Charlotte.
But Jonathan Cousins, standing nearby, was. Now UMBC coordinator of marketing and promotions, he was a new kid in the department back then, sitting in the stands for the game.
“You figured they were going to make a run, Virginia was going to push back, and you worried then we were going to fall apart. But they pushed a little bit and we would hit a shot, and they would push a little bit and we would hit a shot. You had this moment where you could feel, this might actually happen.
“We were so excited, we stayed in the section until basically the ushers kicked us out. We get back out on the street, and we’re all just kind of looking at each other and we go, what do we do now?’"
One thing they did was use the notoriety to start building ticket sales for the next season. From the admissions office, Cousins got word that applications had “skyrocketed.” A few jump shots had done that. “There was a huge uptick in attention in general," he says. "People asking, wait, what school is this? What mascot are you? Is it the Golden Retrievers? No, it’s the Chesapeake Bay Retrievers. All that.”
Brian Amenta is standing by the sideline. He was there, too. Then, like now, he was the strength and conditioning coach.
“I remember we arrived on Tuesday, and we had prepared all week to win. That team had a lot of belief in themselves,” he says. “The amount of fame that team got in 24 hours was insane. It was insane.
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“I think it changed a trajectory of a lot of student athletes, and I think the school, the program. Coming here a second time, people know who UMBC is.”
“On the landscape of March Madness, it was monumental.”
Amenta hasn’t watched the tape of that game lately. “I really don’t need to. I still remember.”
The UMBC players getting ready for Tuesday night against Howard might not remember. They have their own game to play. But those four letters on their jersey, they’ll mean something to much of the audience. They’ll ring a bell. And not just in the state of Virginia.
