In Cinderella's Locker Room

Jordan Conn reports from South Dakota State's NCAA qualifying trip through the Summit League conference tournament:

Madness doesn't officially begin until mid-March, but in the early days of the month, at gyms in Hartford and Missoula, Macon and Hot Springs, scenes like this one unfold. Freshmen twitch; seniors sit silent, aware that in 40 minutes their careers could end. This year, 308 of the 345 teams in Division I entered postseason play with a theoretical chance at the national championship. Still, the late-season reality for mid-major conference powers can be cruel. Even after a season of league dominance, their tournament hopes hinge on winning a single-elimination event. But for South Dakota State, which fell just short of a regular-season title, the conference tournament is a chance to erase past failures.
As tipoff approaches, head coach Scott Nagy sits in the team meeting room, head buried in his iPad, reading and playing Sudoku. Nagy is nervous in these moments, but he avoids thinking about the game. He trusts his players and his preparation. To ease the sickness in his stomach, he seeks distraction, not focus.
Nagy accepted the SDSU coaching job when he was 28 years old. It was an unthinkable opportunity for a coach so young, a chance to lead a perennial power. Well, a Division II power, at least. Despite playing at a low level, the Jackrabbits have always enjoyed wide fan support. "We're a little state," says longtime fan Jeff Svennes. "We don't have much, as far as this stuff goes. In South Dakota, Jacks basketball is it." After winning at least 20 games in nine of Nagy's first 10 years, the Jackrabbits transitioned to Division I in 2004-05. They flopped. While the women's team won 21 games in its first D-I season, Nagy's men won 10. The next year, they won nine. In 2006-07, the program hit rock bottom. Two players were charged with rape (both were acquitted). The team won six games, its lowest total since 1944-45. After one particularly ugly loss, Nagy lambasted his squad in the press conference, calling players out and saying he believed he'd lost his team. Afterward, fans called for his head, and Nagy thought he might be fired. But the administration stuck with him, and the next year, the Jackrabbits improved. Season after season, they kept improving, until they wound up here, with Nagy sitting in the locker room, confident that after three more games they'd be bound for the NCAAs.

This is what makes the NCAA tournament fun.  It isn't the Dukes and Syracuses, it's the South Dakota States, Ionas and Detroits.  It may only last through Friday, but the first round sure is fun.  Remember Morehead State upsetting Louisville last year?  I do too.  Go Jackrabbits.