It’s March and you know what that means...March Madness! Thanks to March Madness, Florida Gulf Coast University is now the talk of the town and more so the country. After busting everyone’s brackets with their upset win over Georgetown in the first round of the NCAA tournament, FGCU followed that up by getting the best of San Diego State in the round of 32. Now the No. 15-seeded Eagles find themselves matched up against No. 3-seeded Florida in the Sweet Sixteen.
Florida Gulf Coast University is the lowest-seeded team to make it into the Sweet Sixteen in the history of the tournament and are arguably the most unknown in this year's pool of 64. FGCU is this year’s Cinderella and everyone is jumping on the bandwagon. You may have never heard of them but through six degrees of separation you’re bound to be connected to the Eagles in one way or another.
Thanks to Sporting Kansas City’s own Stephen Howell, Coordinator of Fan Experiences and Guest Services, Sporting KC definitely has a seat on the bandwagon. Howell graduated from FGCU in 2011. He spent four and a half years there both studying and working for the athletic department.
How are you connected to the FGCU Men’s Basketball team?
“I pretty much set up all their practices. From tables and chairs to setting up the entire gameday, the arena, pulling out bleachers, selling tickets, working with the parking lot guys…I mean, you name it and I probably did it for the university and the athletic department. It was a lot of fun and I got a lot of experience from it.”
Thoughts on FGCU’s Cinderella run so far…
“It’s amazing right now. I’m on cloud nine for our school because I did so much work for the athletic department across all the sports. Growing up I played basketball, so basketball has always had a special place in my life. So for our men’s team to be doing as well as they are right now is awesome.”
What do you tell people that have never heard of FGCU?
“We get that a lot actually because no one’s ever heard of FGCU. If you watch the broadcast, everyone puts FLAGC or there’s always some random use of words when they could just put FGCU. But, I tell them we're a small school from Fort Myers and to watch out because we’re making a name for ourselves in a lot of sports other than just men’s basketball.”
How far did you have them going in your bracket?
“I have them winning the national championship. Everyone said I was crazy and I said, ‘Watch, Georgetown plays half-court basketball while we’re an up-tempo team and we’ll run and gun them.’ We pulled that one off. Then I had them beating San Diego State and I had them beating Florida and I have them beating KU and then I have them beating Miami again for the second time and then beating Duke in the finals.”
Get a seat on the Cinderella wagon while you still can. Florida Gulf Coast University takes on Florida with a spot in the Elite Eight on the line on Friday night at 9 p.m. CT.
