March Madness is upon us, which means the upset ghosts are already peaking in their ugly heads. A big exit came earlier today, when High Point shocked Wisconsin 83-82 in today’s opening round matchup in Portland. That game easily destroyed a lot of brackets around the country, especially considering Wisconsin was a 10.5 favorite in Vegas.
Advertisement
Well High Point has plenty of things to look forward to, including head coach Flynn Clayman’s postgame speech that has since gone viral. Clayman can be seen hyping up his team after battling from an early deficit. “We didn’t come here to just win one, we came here to win 6,” he screamed.
That fire shows you exactly why the 12th seed bested the 5th seed a few hours ago. Clayman’s words didn’t just light a fire under his players, they also lit a fire under NBA legend Charles Barkley. Chuck spoke about the viral clip during his March Madness coverage on ESPN, where he joked that it’s making him consider going back to college just so he can play ball at High Point.
“I got one year of college eligibility left, I’m going to get there by next game. That guy makes me want to play,” said Barkley, which got a huge laugh from the panel. And while the b-ball Hall of Famer was just jesting, you can tell that Clayman’s passion is the aura that he looks for in a head coach.
“I said earlier, this is going to be a dangerous game for Wisconsin. It was a comfortable matchup, but that team has won 30 games. You win 30 games, you know how to win. You’re probably not intimidated,” he said moments later.
And he’s right. A team that put together wins isn’t going to just go down because they’re playing a bigger market team. They’re going to battle until the end just like High Point did.
It’s not over for High Point either. They have a one day break before they gear up and prepare to play the No. 4 seed, Arkansas. Will lightning strike twice? Chuck certainly hopes so. “I want to see that coach…you want to play for a coach like that,” added the Suns legend. That’s probably the biggest endorsement Clayman could have gotten in his career.
And that’s what makes March Madness so exciting. Even if High Point gets demolished on Saturday, they still had this moment. A moment where the basketball universe revolved around them, with a legend like Barkley singing their praises.
