Why "Dunk City" Is So Much More

Before the Sweet Sixteen run, many people had never even heard of Florida Gulf Coast University. CBS broadcasted a screen graphic that said "Florida Golf Coast University". San Diego State Head Coach Steve Fisher referred to FGCU as Florida State in the post game press conference. It was apparent that FGCU, or Florida GC according to CBS, was not getting the respect it deserved.

Just over a month later, thanks to the men's basketball team, FGCU is on the NCAA athletic map and the future is looking as bright as ever. There is talk of a football team sometime in the future and other FGCU teams are feeling the love from Fort Myers as well.

"We played Florida about a week ago and there were a ton of people there" said Nick Rivera, FGCU infielder "Our fan base is improving daily because of what they did and what we are continuing to do."
 
The campus book store sold out of FGCU gear in a matter of hours and the athletics website crashed as everyone went crazy for Dunk City but the Eagles don't want to be a one and done team.

"Everybody expects us to win next year. We’re going to have the X on our back" said Ken Kavanagh, FGCU athletic director.

"The role has changed a little bit. We’ve got to prepare that way" said Joe Dooley

Check Out the Entire Nick Rivera Interview Here

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Nick Rivera Interview

Today I got the chance to interview freshman infielder Nick Rivera who is hitting .272 with four home runs so far this season. He is from Bishop Verot High School, very close to FGCU. Please enjoy.

Courtesy of Linwood Ferguson

Liam Jones: What was it like growing up near FGCU and now playing for them?

Nick Rivera: Growing up, you really didn’t hear much about them [FGCU] until recently because you had Florida, FSU, and Miami. I mean USF and all those types of schools, FGCU just exploded onto the scene. I think the first time I heard about them baseball wise was sophomore year of high school and to see how much they’ve grown in the past 3-4 years it is just crazy. The baseball team has always been successful. The softball team has always been successful and the basketball team had the awesome run in the NCAA tournament and its great to see how much it has grown the last couple years.

LJ: When you came in, what did you pride yourself on and what do you think the staff at FGCU could help you improve on?

NR: I could always hit, that was my biggest tool coming into FGCU but they helped me with fielding. I wasn’t very good defensively coming in but we’ve put a lot of work and they’ve helped me a lot.

LJ: What was it like on campus and in Fort Myers in general during March Madness?

NR: Wow, it was crazy, everywhere you’d go someone would mention something about Dunk City or FGCU Athletics. I was wearing an FGCU athletics shirt and people would come up to me and give me a high five. The basketball team was just doing great. It was just funny to see how many bandwagoners and all that stuff jumped on FGCU because of what they did. Its great to see, for our whole community, for every sport. I mean it will help with admissions, financial aid, and all that type of stuff.

LJ: Did you guys feed on the energy and school spirit that the basketball team brought for FGCU?

NR: Yea, most definitely, coming to our baseball games, we played Florida about a week ago and there were a ton of people there. I mean I don’t really think before Dunk City, maybe we don’t have as many fans as Florida did but our fan base is improving daily because of what they did and what we are continuing to do.

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FGCU Basketball Looking Forward

FGCU basketball should maintain a similar style of play as last year, as many fans are hoping for. Yes Joe Dooley is not Andy Enfield but the Eagles bring back many of the same smiling faces that were laughing during practices and games.

"I'm not trying to reinvent the wheel," Dooley said.

FGCU still has national spotlight stars, Brett Comer and Chase Fieler, and A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year Bernard Thompson whose contributions are often overlooked.

Seniors Eddie Murray and Sherwood Brown will be leaving along with junior Christoph Varidel who will be transferring. The Eagles will bring back 68% of minutes, 65% of points, 68% of rebounding, 84% of assists, and 74% of steals.

Those players will be sorely missed but there is plenty of fresh talent arriving that adds to the depth of the Eagle roster. Georgia Tech transfer, Nate Hicks, sat out the 2012-2013 season due to NCAA transfer rules but will be out on the court next year. Also sitting out this year was Marquette transfer Jamail Jones, the #52 recruit on ESPN Top 100 (2010). Along with that, Jordan Neff (#86 PF) and Logan Hovey (#100 SF) are both incoming recruits that are familiar to high flying dunks and alley oops.

There will be a lot more pressure on FGCU next year after their Sweet Sixteen run that brought national attention.

"Our team has to understand now we’re the hunted, not the hunter," Dooley said.

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Weekend Recap

Photo by Linwood Ferguson

         It was another great couple of days for FGCU sports. Baseball had an exciting weekend with back to back walk offs Friday and Saturday to win the series despite losing on Sunday. Through multiple rain delays softball took both games of the double header on Saturday and similar to baseball dropped the 3rd game of the series on Sunday. Sand Volleyball beat Mercer (3-2) before falling to UNF (4-1) at the A-Sun Championship. Men's Tennis beat USC Upstate 4-2 and then lost UNF 4-0. Women's Tennis lost to Stetson 4-3 in the A-Sun Quarterfinals. In the first round of the A-Sun Championship, Men's Golf shot a 313(+25) with sophomore Jack Hernadez at +2 tied for 7th. Paintball beat Cal State Long Beach to win the NCPA National Championship. A lot going on and another great weekend to be an Eagle.

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Eagles in the Pros Update (MLB)

Chris Sale
      Sale is currently pitching for the Chicago White Sox, with 4.50 season ERA. He started the season off right on Opening Day with 7.2 innings of shut out ball and seven strikeouts. Since then he has given up 13 earned runs with a 0-2 record and one no decision. His next projected start is on Wednesday April 24th against the Indians.

Richard Bleier
     At the Triple A Round Rock Express (Texas Rangers), Bleier has a 1.50 ERA over six innings in relief and one save.

Jacob Barnes
      Over three games, Barnes has two saves and a 1.50 ERA. He has 12 innings pitched with the Brevard County Manatees (Milwaukee Brewers).

Stephen Wickens
      If you want to see a former Eagle, go see Stephen Wickens play for the Fort Myers Miracles (Minnesota Twins) at Hammond Stadium. He is hitting .219 with a .599 OPS and one triple.

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Everything You Need To Know About Joe Dooley

FGCU recently hired Joe Dooley as the new men's basketball head coach. Here is everything you need to know about him:

1. Set school record for most career points, 1,140, at St. Benedict's High School.

2. Graduate of 1988 from George Washington University, 2 year starter and captain during senior year.

3. In his first college head coaching job, he went 57-52 (at East Carolina)

4. Has been a part of four Elite Eights, five Sweet Sixteens.

5. Assistant coach at Kansas when they won the 2007-2008 National Championship.

6. Number one ranked assistant coach in 2010, according to Fox Sports.

7. Ranked 4th best recruiter in 2007 (Mario Chalmers, Cole Aldrich).

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FGCU Basketball Off-season Timeline

After being the first 15 seed to make it to the Sweet Sixteen and then losing to the Florida Gators on March 29th,  FGCU Men's Basketball has experienced some major changes.
Here they are:

April 1st: USC signs former FGCU Head Coach Andy Enfield.
April 2nd: FGCU names Marty Richter interim Head Coach.
April 4th: Christoph Varidel is reported to transfer (Jeff Goodman of CBSSports.com).
April 9th: USA Today coaches' poll ranks FGCU 25th in the country (1st time ever).
April 17th: FGCU names former Kansas assistant Joe Dooley as new head coach.


Other Notes: Jordan Neff (#86 PF) and Logan Hovey (#100 SF) are the only 2013 FGCU commits.

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