In the 2012 NCAA Tournament, we saw Norfolk State and Lehigh up end #2 seeds. Both en route to losing the next round and not making the Big Dance the following season. FGCU has already set themselves apart, and in the record books, by making it to the Sweet Sixteen. It is yet to be seen if the Eagles can buck a second trend and make it to March Madness in the 2013-2014 season.
"College basketball and the NCAA Tournament was sports at that time and everyone was talking about Florida Gulf Coast for at least a week when they got to the Sweet Sixteen. They were THE major headline in the sports world for the better part of the week." said Jeff Goodman, ESPN CBB writer.
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| photo courtesy of Linwood Ferguson |
It is clear from players and coaches that FGCU does not plan on being a team only known for a week, so let's see why, if with the right attitude, the Eagles can steal the hearts of America's college basketball fans once again.
The mentality is already there and the Eagles will only be losing two seniors and two transfers. FGCU will also have Nate Hicks and Jamail Jones in uniform after sitting out the 2012-2013 season.
"That is a big reason why he [Joe Dooley] took this job because he knew they were set up to be able to sustain this. They weren't just set up to be a one year wonder," Goodman said.
The Eagles had a plethora of talent at hand for March Madness and it looks like that will be the case for next season as well.
"Lehigh was based off C.J McCollum, Norfolk State was based on their big guy. Florida Gulf Coast had multiple weapons and played fast so it was really hard to prepare for them," Goodman said.
Joe Dooley will have the core of Brett Comer, Chase Fieler, Bernard Thompson, and Eric McKnight to work with this off-season. Comer has been reported to be working harder to become faster and less injury prone. Fieler has been said to be bulking up and adding muscle as well.
While new coach Joe Dooley is most known for his great work as an assistant at Kansas, he held a head coaching job earlier in his career.
"He got a chance at East Carolina when he was really young... made a few mistakes and learned from them," Goodman said.
The coaching is there, the players are there, but sometimes there are events outside of the program's control.
"Luck. At that level you got to have some luck too. Whether it is match-ups..." Goodman said.
On the other hand, FGCU has done a great job scheduling non conference opponents so far. The Eagles will be playing Nebraska on November 8th and NC State on a later date. Even with these games planned, as an A-Sun member, FGCU has their path set out for them.
"No matter what you do in the regular season, you're going to have to win the conference tournament to get to the NCAA Tournament right now when you're a program like this," said Goodman "It's a pipe dream, to me, to start thinking about an at large bid."
It looks like everyone in the FGCU program is doing their best to carry over the success into next season.
There is still a lot of time left until college basketball season and no one can predict the future, but one thing is for certain. Florida Gulf Coast will not be taking anyone be surprise next season.
