According to StatSheet.com, the University of Miami is the nation’s seventh-most experienced team.
But when it comes to the NCAA tournament, the Hurricanes are neophytes.
Not a single player on UM’s roster has been a part of March Madness. Well, that’s not really true. Kenny Kadji was a sophomore at Florida when the Gators reached the tournament in 2010-11 and Julian Gamble was a freshman the last time the Hurricanes were part of the field in 2007-08.
But Kadji and Gamble were both redshirting those seasons and didn’t play.
That changes Friday (2:10 p.m., TNT) when No. 2 seed Miami (27-6) meets 15th-seeded Pacific (22-12) in an East Region second-round game at the Frank Erwin Center on the University of Texas campus.
These are heady days for UM, ranked No. 5 nationally and fresh off an ACC championship game victory. The Hurricanes have become media darlings thanks to coach Jim Larranaga and point guard Shane Larkin and were featured recently in Sports Illustrated and The New York Times.
Even President Obama has noticed Miami. The prez picked UM to reach the Elite Eight in his bracket, including a third-round victory against Illinois.
“It’s tough to pick against my home state, but Miami looks pretty good this year,” Obama told ESPN.
So will the Hurricanes’ players be distracted by all the extra attention that comes with the NCAA tournament? On Thursday, a swarm of reporters invaded the team’s locker room and that figures to multiply the longer UM stays alive.
And what about on the court? Sure, UM piled up some landmark achievements this season, but the spotlight that shines in March is a whole lot brighter than what you get in January.
“Nothing changes,” said senior guard Trey McKinney-Jones. “This is the same team that beat Duke and North Carolina. Nothing changes in terms of what we have to do. We’re a veteran-enough team that we’re not going to let something like a lack of experience in the NCAA tournament get in our heads.”
Certainly, Miami has had a chance to wilt before. The Hurricanes went from unranked to the Top 10 in the span of two weeks and few thought it would last. But it did.
Then, UM climbed to the top of the ACC standings and it seemed like only a matter of time before Duke or North Carolina or some other more likely conference team would overtake the Hurricanes. But it didn’t happen.
At last week’s ACC tournament in Greensboro, N.C., surging North Carolina State and the Blue Devils and Tar Heels were considered as likely to win as Miami, the No. 1 seed. But it was the Hurricanes who swept three games on the way to their first ACC title.
All season long UM has encountered situations it’s never experienced before and met the challenge.
“We know this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” senior center Julian Gamble said. “We’ve had an historic season thus far, but by no means are we letting up on the accelerator at all.”
While Miami’s players might be NCAA tournament newbies, Larranaga is part of March Madness lore. He famously led George Mason to the 2006 Final Four but also coached the Patriots to the Big Dance for other seasons.
“I’ll share with them a lot of my experiences,” Larranaga said. “I normally tell them some stories about things that have happened in the past and how they relate to our team.”
The Hurricanes don’t have much of a past in the NCAA tournament. They reached the Sweet Sixteen in 2000, but have advanced past their first game only three times in six appearances and have an overall 4-6 record.
In a season where past experience has been no barometer on future results, UM may yet prove that a lack of history in the NCAA tournament is not an obstacle to success.
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