The NCAA Tournament has been a hotbed of humiliation in recent days.
One day after boasting Joe Namath-style that his West Virginia side would make as-yet-unbeaten Kentucky 36-1 in their Sweet 16 matchup last night, freshman guard Daxter Miles Jr. had some ‘splainin’ to do.
See, the mighty Mountaineers, who had mini-Cinderella-ed their way into the regional semifinals with a win over No. 4 Maryland, got ABSOLUTELY ANNIHILATED by the No. 1 Wildcats 78-39 on Thursday. And it wasn’t even that close.
As you can imagine, the media was hot to trot for comments from Miles, who had compiled a grand total of 0 points and 0 assists in 19 minutes.
But Miles was nowhere to be found. According to CBS:
Tucked around a corner, in the team's bathroom, Miles Jr. was waiting out the mob. When a media member approached one of his teammates for an interview in the small hallway leading to the bathroom, Miles Jr. then dipped into the handicap lavatory and closed the door behind him, his frizzy hair peeking above the tall stall.
WVU assistant coach Erik Martin talked to Miles Jr., who emerged from the bathroom a few minutes later.
Miles Jr. spoke with reporters shortly thereafter, repeating “Kentucky played great,” as if channeling the college basketball version of Marshawn Lynch, and the press eventually let up.
It’s unclear as to whether or not Miles was hiding, per se, but Martin chalked it up to a 20-year-old kid taking time to sort out his comments.
"I don't think he was hiding,” Martin said. “I think he was getting his emotions together, figuring out what he was going to say.
“I didn't tell him to go in there but I said, 'You don't need to come out until you're ready. But the reality is, Dax, if they don't get you today, they're gonna get you. So you might as well.'"
And the media wasn’t the only group that “got” Miles. Kentucky guard Devin Booker tweeted the following after the Wildcats win:
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