Will we ever see another Saint Peter’s in the NCAA Tournament?
The current era of college basketball begs the question: Will we ever see another NCAA Tournament run like that of Saint Peter’s?
The Kansas Jayhawks won the title, but the Saint Peter’s Peacocks were the story of the 2022 NCAA Tournament. The basketball team from the Jersey City commuter school made history by becoming the first 15-seed to advance to the Elite Eight.
The glory of the month will last forever at Saint Peter’s. But the cohesiveness of the program didn’t even last a week after the North Carolina Tar Heels blew them out on the second weekend..
Shortly after the Peacocks were eliminated, coach Shaheen Holloway left for his alma mater, Seton Hall. That was predicted to happen throughout March, so while a blow, it wasn’t a surprise.
Perhaps it shouldn’t have been surprising when a key trio of players (h/t ESPN) also decided to transfer this week. Doug Edert, Daryl Banks III, and Matthew Lee are all looking to translate the team’s run into other outlets.
It’s hard to blame them. This is the price of success for many mid-majors in the era of the transfer portal, watching players emerge only to see them convert their success into an opportunity at a bigger program, usually.
The current era of college basketball begs the question: Will we ever see another NCAA Tournament run like that of Saint Peter’s?
The reality is that mid-majors will continue to be feeding grounds for top transfers. Coaches at big schools are recognizing they can reload faster in the transfer portal than the recruiting trail. Both teams in this year’s title game had prominent transfers in the rotation.
And yet, it doesn’t feel like the era of Peacock-like runs is ending soon. In fact, the level of talent in college basketball has never felt more parity-driven, despite the four blue bloods that found their way to the Final Four.
Remember the First Round of this year’s NCAA Tournament? Saint Peter’s pulled the biggest upset, but they weren’t alone in scaring the top seeds. Georgia State had Gonzaga on the ropes. Wright State battled Arizona tight for some time too. Colgate nearly knocked off Wisconsin.
The truth is, there are still plenty of gems that make their way to mid-majors before moving on up, if they so choose. Sometimes, they need the playing time and experience at a mid-major to develop into the kind of players who can knock off Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament.
If the transfer portal is creating an extinct species, it isn’t the low-level mid-majors that can pull shock upsets in the Big Dance. We’ve seen several examples of those in recent years, including Florida Gulf Coast and UMBC.
More endangered are high-level mid-majors. Gonzaga is in another tier and Houston is pushing to be there under Kelvin Sampson, but others are in trouble. Murray State has lost everything and San Francisco has lost its coach. St. Bonaventure was supposed to be a Top 25 team this season and didn’t even make the NCAA Tournament.
It’s a bummer to see players like Edert steal the spotlight for a month and then leave the school they’re most associated with. Seeing these players stick around creates memories for a lifetime for fans of the school.
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But another team will likely take up the mantle for Saint Peter’s next year, wrecking brackets everywhere and endearing themselves to fans across the country. The fact we can’t predict where they will come from only makes it sweeter.