Tywain McKee had just turned 11 when Coppin State made national news in 1997. He doesn?t remember the Eagles? improbable upset of South Carolina in the NCAA Tournament?s first round.
Eleven years and two days later, McKee, now the Eagles? leading scorer, is looking to make some history of his own.
Coppin State (16-20) became the first 20-loss team to reach the NCAA Tournament with a highly unlikely run as a seven seed through the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Tournament ? culminating in a 62-60 upset over regular-season champion Morgan State on Saturday.
“I still don?t believe it,” McKee said. “For real, we just did that? I?m still happy, I don?t believe it yet.”
The Eagles will make their fourth NCAA Tournament trip, beginning Tuesday at 7:30 p.m., when they play Northeast Conference champion Mount St. Mary?s (18-14) of Emmitsburg in the tournament?s opening-round game in Dayton, Ohio.
“We?re striving to be, now, the first 20-loss team to win a tournament game,” Coppin State coach Ron “Fang” Mitchell, in his 21st season, said. “Whenever you can do things that haven?t been done before, it?s always good for these young people.”
Should Coppin State advance, it would play the nation?s No. 1 team, North Carolina (32-2) in Raleigh, N.C., on Friday.
It was March 14, 1997 when the Eagles ? 30-point underdogs ? became just the third 15th seed to upset a No. 2 seed in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Richmond shocked Syracuse in 1991, and Santa Clara pulled the same trick on Arizona in 1993.
This team, Mitchell said, is less talented than some of its predecessors.
Despite the excitement surrounding the team, the school?s 4,300-student campus off North Avenue in West Baltimore was quiet Sunday, as students were on spring break as the Eagles found out their tournament destination at about 5 p.m.
That didn?t mean there wasn?t interest. Mitchell had an estimated 60 messages on his cell phone. Senior forward Julian Conyers has a lengthy list of messages after his phone kept ringing on the Eagles? five-hour bus ride home from Raleigh, N.C. on Saturday night.
The Eagles survived an 11-game losing streak early in the season ? a stretch which dropped them to 4-19.
The turnaround began with a 59-54 win against Maryland-Eastern Shore, which spurred a 12-1 run to get where they are today.
“[There was] a little doubt, but Coach kept motivating us, telling us ?We?re better than that.? It was basically, how hard we were going to work,” Conyers said. “He put it on our shoulders to play hard, and we got it done.”
The team, however, feels since it made it this far, it will be tough to see its season end.
“It?s go hard or go home,” McKee said. “It?s that simple. And I?m not trying to go home yet.”
