“Winning changes people,” said UC Irvine men’s basketball coach Russell Turner.
“It can change schools, and that’s what we hope to do, have a positive impact.”
Russell Turner, tournament MVP Will Davis II, sophomore guard Luke Nelson and senior guard Travis Souza brimmed from ear-to-ear at the conference tournament press conference – the three players all donning their championship tees, hats and pieces of net after a 67-58 Anteater victory over Hawai‘i.
Thirty-eight years after gaining Division I status, on March 14, 2015, the Anteaters claimed their first-ever Big West Tournament title and for the first time in school history, the Anteaters were going to the Big Dance.
“We did it!” cried coach Turner during the postgame celebrations. “We did it.”
Thirty-eight years without an NCAA appearance is a long time, and for some it might be reason to pursue other opportunities — however, not for coach Turner and his Anteaters.
“Our players have been recruited here to leave a mark on the community and tonight we did that,” said Turner after cutting down the nets Saturday night.
It’s a theme for the ’Eaters – the desire to be the team to finally hang an NCAA Tournament banner in the Bren Events Center.
“My goal is to make it to the NCAA Tournament,” said seven-foot-six center Mamadou Ndiaye before the start of the current season. “I want to make history at this school.
“That’s why I signed with UCI. I knew it’s a team that [had] never made it to the NCAA Tournament.”
It’s the same for Souza, who’s known for his ability to knock down shots from beyond the arc. The senior shot .464 from three-point range this season and hit a season-high five treys on Jan. 14 versus UC Santa Barbara.
Souza said prior to the Big West Tournament, “This year we want to show that we’re a preseason favorite team.
“I want to be known as the first team who did it and no one’s ever done it here.”
It’s been a tall task for the ’Eaters.
Not only has the current team who suits up in the blue and gold been recruited to leave a mark, but the ones before them as well. The ones who helped turn Irvine into a 20-plus winning team when just a few years ago the Anteaters went 12-20 (2011-12) and 13-19 the year before that.
Players like Chris McNealy (2010-2014) who averaged 11.0 points and 4.4 rebounds per game his senior season.
When his collegiate campaign came to a close versus the eventual 2014 Big West Tournament champion, Cal Poly, in a 61-58 decision, coach Turner said of his senior, “He agreed to come on board with us when we thought what we could do was all talk. I owe an awful lot to him for the belief he showed in us as coaches and in UC Irvine. I told him, I told all of our guys, I want to recruit guys who want to leave a mark.”
Add players like Adam Folker, Daman Starring, Derick Flowers and now Director of Basketball Operations, Mike Wilder, to that list.
That foursome of players watched their collegiate campaigns come to a close two years ago in Irvine’s most recent appearance in the title game prior to 2015, when the Anteaters fell to Pacific in a 64-55 final in 2013. The seniors that year had their NCAA hope vanish at the same time the Tigers stormed the court.
After a lot of patience and belief in a system, a program and a coaching staff, the Anteaters have a chance to dance for all of those before them, and all of those that believed in leaving at mark at UC Irvine.
“I’m happy for the players who have come before because they get to know how much they’ve been a part of our accomplishment this year, even if they weren’t on the team this year,” said Turner.
With the hopes of continuing to make their mark this weekend, Irvine is out to show who the Anteaters really are.
Now when it comes to the NCAA Tournament and knowing the field, if you’re wondering exactly what “Zot” actually means, and where the Anteater came from, you aren’t alone.
Up to this point there’s a good chance you’ve seen the infamous Anteater and the seven-foot-six Senegal-native, Ndiaye, in media surrounding March Madness.
This Friday, with No. 13 seed Irvine squaring off against No. 4 seed Louisville, you’re going to see a few more things from the Anteaters.
Yes, UC Irvine comes fashioned with the best nickname and mascot according to Bracket Boy (nj.com) with an equally out-of-the-ordinary war cry in “Zot” which is the sound the Anteater makes in Johnny Hart’s “B.C.” comic strip, which inspired the mascot in 1965.
According to the “Anteater Chronicles” published by the UC Irvine Libraries, “Some speculated that the Anteater would not last.”
Fifty years later, the Anteater prevails and is gaining national attention.
UCI also boasts the tallest player in NCAA DI basketball. (If you want to check out how you measure up, check out a UCI game next season at the Bren, the home of Anteater hoops. There’s a life-size rendering of the center.)
What we’ll also see in that second round matchup is a team who Souza claims has the best chemistry boasted by a squad of which he’s ever been a member.
Said sophomore Jaron Martin who has been dazzling fans this season with his ability to perform in clutch situations, “I don’t think a lot of people know how great our chemistry really is, even outside of practice.”
“Everybody is good friends with everybody else – it makes playing on the court so much easier. Not much ego out there,” said Souza.
And what coach Turner wants everyone to see, is the diversity of his squad. The Anteaters are made up of 10 California natives, two out-of-state additions and four international players including student-athletes from England (Nelson), Lithuania (Haroldas Saprykinas), Greece (Ioannis Dimakopoulos) and Senegal (Ndiaye).
Said coach Turner, “We have an incredibly diverse team, both with the American kids that we have are diverse, the international kids that we have give us another element of diversity. Just like in the school. We fit this place really well; I think that’s the neatest story about what we’re doing.
“It’s not easy to do at a place like UC Irvine.”
It hasn’t been easy for Turner and his players, and it isn’t going to be easy taking on Louisville.
In late October, prior to the start of the 2014-15 season, the UC Irvine men’s basketball team held an open scrimmage, in lieu of a formal media day.
That wasn’t the case Tuesday afternoon as media flocked to the Bren to get insight from coach and the ’Eaters before they headed to Seattle.
“It would mean a lot to beat any team in the NCAA Tournament,” said coach. “But, to beat a team that has the tradition that Louisville has and the experience they’ve earned, would mean a lot to all of us.”
Said Souza, “We know we have the ability, the talent, the team, the toughness to hang in those games, but the Tournament isn’t about hanging in games. It’s about winning.”
Coming off of three conference tournament victories, including a title-clinching W that was thirty-eight years in the making, the Anteaters look to keep changing things with another win – a win for the past, present and future ’Eaters.
There were a lot of “C.I.A.” (Crazy Insane Anteaters), shirts in the crowd during the championship game, which sported the name of the student fan-group even before “Antourage” – a testament to the kids who have watched in the stands from the beginning.
Since the 2009-10 season, a year before Turner’s arrival, home attendance at the Bren Events Center has increased by 46 percent, because as Turner has said, winning changes things.
“When you accomplish something that’s really good, you can either be satisfied or be hungry for something even better. What I hope is we can be a part of our university continuing to strive for greater excellence.
“That’s why I wanted to come here, to be a part of that feeling and the overall experience in this community. I’m hopeful, I think we’ve already done some of that. And I hope we can continue to have that momentum build.”
The Anteaters are leaving their mark, and they’re leaving their mark on March.
Story by Olivia Phelps (@OliviaGPhelps).