JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mike Young has reached the peak of his career after 17 years on Wofford’s sideline.
His team hasn’t lost since before Christmas. His star is the most prolific shooter in Division I history. And he just knocked off a Big East team to earn the school’s first-ever NCAA Tournament win.
“I can’t imagine a team more confident,” the Wofford coach said.
He’ll meet one Saturday.
Entering seventh-seeded Wofford’s second-round matchup with second-seeded Kentucky, one of the Wildcats’ five-star big men offered an honest assessment of what he thinks of the small school with the undersized frontline, featuring no player taller than 6-foot-9.
“It’s a really good advantage for us. They’re not really as athletic as all three of us,” 6-foot-11 Nick Richards said of Kentucky’s frontcourt. “We’re just better than them overall, I think, so the advantage is our way, in my opinion.”
Even if John Calipari shared the popular opinion, the Kentucky coach wished his sophomore didn’t share it with the world.
“What are you doing, Nick?” said Calipari, when relayed the big man’s comments. “But that’s OK, because like if you speak, now what? You back it up. So I love his confidence. Now I want to watch you do it. Now get out there and do it, if you think that.
“And I want Nick to be more confident. Not like that, but on the court, more confident.”
Wofford (30-4) has the weapons to kill even Kentucky’s confidence.
While the Terriers fit comfortably in a Cinderella profile, they bust out with the 12th-highest scoring offense in the nation, the second-best 3-point shooting unit in the country and back-to-back Southern Conference Player of the Year Fletcher Magee.
The Wildcats (28-6) have failed to reach the second week of the NCAA Tournament just once (2016) in eight previous appearances under Calipari, but the Final Four contender will be playing its second straight game without leading-scorer and rebounder P.J. Washington, who spent Friday with a cast on his sprained left foot, using a scooter to get around VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena.
Washington’s presence wasn’t needed to annihilate 15th-seeded Abilene Christian by 35, but Wofford isn’t just another mid-major.
“I don’t think we’re a favorite. Come on now, this team is legitimate in every form and fashion, including defense, including toughness, including veteran play,” Calipari said. “I don’t care what we do, they’re going to take [3’s], and if they’re spinning in the air and they’re going in, it’s a tough night. … I know how hard this game will be, especially with P.J. out, how hard a game it’ll be for us.”
Young knows how big of a game it will be for the program that made its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance at the start of the decade, for the school he still corrects others of its pronunciation — “If I hear one of you say ‘Woe-ford,’ I’m going to come after you. It’s Wofford. Wofford, all right?” — and points out on a map.
“To strap it on and walk out there and face UK, I mean, that’s a highlight. That will be a highlight for my team. That’ll be something they’ll never forget,” Young said. “I tire of the mid-major and the little guy and all this stuff. Come on, man. You know, we have good players that are serious and love competing.
“What’s UK have, 35,000 undergraduate students? We’ve got 1,600. So? We’ve got really good players. Kentucky has got really good players. Let’s go play.”
