NCAA Basketball: Seniors who never got their moment in NCAA Tournament
By Bryan Mauro
Tanner Krebs and Jordan Ford – Saint Mary’s Gaels
These two players had a tremendous career for the Gaels. Ford and Krebs were responsible for what would have been three NCAA tournaments in four seasons for head coach Randy Bennett. The crowd in Moraga has always been treated to fantastic scoring guards like Patty Mills, Matthew Dellavedova and now Jordan Ford. Ford is arguably the best pure scorer in College Basketball and has been at the forefront of the best four year stretch in Gael history.
Krebs has played a ton of basketball for Coach Bennett, and the three-year starter was looking for his defining moment as a Gael. In last year’s West Coast Conference title game, the Australian forward had a great game with 13 points and helped lead the Gaels to an upset win over Gonzaga to find their way into the tournament. This season Saint Mary’s had a great chance to still be playing basketball at this point in the season and Krebs felt like a guy who was going to do what he had done his whole career and make a big play on defense or hit a huge shot in the tournament to win them a game. His chance is now never going to come.
Ford had his defining moment this year in the conference tournament when he hit a huge shot to win a hard-fought game over BYU. That win sent Saint Mary’s back to the conference championship game against Gonzaga. In that game, Ford showed why he was the best scorer in the country. He scored 27 points and was the only bright spot for the Gaels that night.
Ford and Krebs were heading into the NCAA tournament looking to extend their magical season. Krebs and Ford are always going to have a special place in Moraga, but without an NCAA tournament run to truly cement their legacy many Gaels are being left to wonder what if.