Sights and Sounds from Day 1 of the First Four
Photos via TJ Thompson @FlyerNews
TJ Thompson | Editor-in-Chief
The First Four games of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament kicked off today at UD Arena. The four teams playing on Tuesday arrived after finding out they would be playing in Dayton during the selection show on March 15. The UMBC Retrievers will take on the Howard Bison, and the NC State Wolfpack will face the Texas Longhorns on Tuesday night, with a trip to the field of 64 on the line.
A few players from each team and their coaches spoke with the media before taking the court for a quick 40-minute practice. The first team to sit down was Howard University. The Bison finished the season 23-10 and won their way into the tournament by winning the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship, 70-63 over North Carolina Central.
With its return, Howard has been in the First Four two of the last three seasons. Along with that, many of the players have had prior experiences in March Madness.
“I remember the first time I was here, my freshman year in 2022, it was kind of a surreal experience, and I kind of didn’t want it to get to my head.” Said senior guard Ose Okojie (10.2 ppg). He added, “I remember staying up, staring at the ceiling, going, I’m going to be in March Madness.”
Head Coach Kenny Blakeney talked about why playing at UD Arena is special to him, “Dayton is a special place for the First Four. The community here, the area, this university, which is a basketball university, it’s a basketball town, embraces this event like none other.”
The Bison lost two years ago, but look to have a different result this season. “Our connectivity and spirit is on a different level with this team, as well. So, I’m looking forward to seeing how we perform on one of the biggest stages.” Said graduate student Bryce Harris (17.4 ppg) when comparing this team to the 2024 squad.
Howard is a university with a lot of history, and Coach Blakeney feels it’s time to add a great basketball program.
“There’s been so many things that have been done on that campus that if you – the thing that I thought was the only thing that we need to do on this campus now is have a sustainable basketball program.” He added, “That is the standard of not only our program, but that’s the standard of our university… It’s expected in the sense of [Kery Davis] brought me in to win and to lead.”
The Bison’s opponent has put together a great season of its own. The UMBC Retrievers finished 24-8 and capped the season off with a dominant showing in the American East tournament, winning its three games by an average of 17 points.
The Retrievers are the only team of the eight playing that has experience in the UD arena this year. UMBC played the Flyers on Nov. 8 and lost by six points.
“I think it could definitely play to our advantage just because we have played here before, and I think we did handle it pretty well the first time we came in here.” Said graduate student Josh Odunowo (8.8 ppg).
The NCAA tournament also has family ties for the Retrievers. Junior guard Ace Valentine’s (12.0 ppg) father played in two NCAA tournaments for Towson University in 1990 and 1991.
“Yeah, he definitely had some stories because they were a 16 seed two years in a row, I think. So yeah, he played against people who went to the NBA, and he has stories about that, yeah.”
UMBC had an almost full program turnover this season, with Head Coach Jim Ferry bringing in 10 new players. Instead of looking at other Division I programs to find new players, Ferry looked somewhere that he is familiar with, Division II.
“So that whole Division II thing goes back a little bit. I played Division II, and I coached some extremely successful Division II teams. So, myself and my staff… we kind of know what translates from Division II to Division I.”
Coach Ferry has coached at every level, and to him, competing in March Madness from the mid-major level is the most fulfilling and best feeling there is. He spoke about how when he was at Penn State, it was a relief when his teams made the tournament, but winning a mid-major tournament and going to the dance makes you the “best of the best in that league.”
The late window on Tuesday features two programs that have had major success in the NCAA tournament. Between the Longhorns and the Wolfpack, there are 15 Elite Eight appearances and seven Final Four appearances.
Both these teams had high hopes coming into the season. They are both led by veteran coaches in their first seasons with these teams. They were also both ranked in the top 30 week one, but have both hit bumps on their road to Dayton.
These teams met in a shootout at the Maui Invitational in November. The Longhorns came out on top 102-97, shooing 50% from the three-point line while knocking down 16 of them. Head Coach Will Wade said,
“Well, hopefully we guard them better… We need to be better defensively.”
NC State (20-13, 10-8) ended the regular season losing five of its last six games, leaving it up to the committee to determine if it would have a chance to compete for the national championship.
“The reaction, it was just a blessing being able to be picked in the tournament. Knowing the situation that we put ourselves in at the end of the season, still being able to get a chance and stuff, we was blessed.” Said senior guard Quadir Copeland (13.9 ppg).
Losing that many games during the most important stretch of a season can harm a team going into the tournament. You can either dwell on the past or put it behind you and have a fresh start going into March Madness. The Wolfpack has decided to move on.
Senior forward Ven-Allen Lubin (13.9 ppg) said, “I think it’s best for us to not carry on the baggage from the things that we made mistakes on and that games that we let slip away and allow it to carry on to the next games.”
Head Coach Will Wade echoed a similar sentiment when he said, “It doesn’t matter how we finish the season, everybody is 0-0. See if we can get a little momentum and play better here in the tournament.”
The Texas Longhorns ended their season losing four of the final five games and finished with a record of 18-14. After being selected to play in the First Four, senior guard Chendall Weaver (5.7 ppg) addressed the team.
“Just to soak in the moment, take advantage. The last couple days have been not ideal given the circumstances, and we put ourselves in that position, so hearing our name called was a big sigh of relief… It’s a fresh start, quote-unquote, and something to keep the season going.” Said senior guard Jordan Pope (13.3 ppg) when talking about the Chendall speech.
The Longhorns competed in the First Four last season, suffering a loss against now Head Coach Sean Miller’s Xavier team. Many of the players were on that team and talked about how this year is a great opportunity to avenge that loss from last year. They also believe that having that experience just a year ago will be helpful in truly understanding the stakes of the moment.
Coach Miller, who is the brother of former Dayton head coach Archie Miller, talked about his connection with UD Arena.
“Look, I said this every time that I’ve ever been here: I don’t know if there’s a building, an arena in America that’s any better than UD Arena on game day. It’s amazing.”
The Longhorns’ leading scorer, junior Dailyn Swain (17.8 ppg), came over from Xavier with coach Miller and has had a great season, one that coach Miller believes is one of the best in the country.
“If you followed us this year, there aren’t too many players that play college basketball that had a better overall season than Dailyn had… Newcomer of the year in the SEC, second team all-SEC, one of the top ten players in our conference. All of that was hard-earned because I don’t know how many people really knew who Dailyn would have been in November.”
If it is anything like the first meeting, the Texas vs. NC State part two will be an exciting way to end night one of the 2026 NCAA Tournament.
The First Four tips off tomorrow, beginning the road to the Final Four and the month of magical moments everyone has come to expect. A story from Coach Ferry highlights why this tournament means so much to so many people.
“When we were younger, we could do it, always go to somebody’s house and watch the NCAA Tournament. Even when I got older into the business, on that first Thursday, we’d always find a good Irish pub in town, and at noon we’d be there with our newspapers and bagels watching the games and having a couple of drinks all day.” He added, “The first time one of my teams won a championship was at LIU… All my buddies were like, hey, man, we’re going to be together, we’re all going. And son of a B, man, they all came.”