The final season in the WAC did not lack drama, especially during Championship Week. The top-seeded and favorite to win the tournament, the Utah Valley Wolverines, had to get a court injunction to even play in the tournament after the WAC commissioner got mad that the Wolverines did not accept the invite to join the rest of the WAC compatriots in the new UAC conference. After all of that, the Wolverines didn’t even win the tournament and were beaten by the Cal Baptist Lancers, who were the number 2 overall seed in the league.
Cal Baptist has been a Division 1 program for 8 seasons, and head coach Rick Croy has been at the helm throughout. The Lancers are making their first-ever appearance in the Big Dance, and many people likely have never heard of this university or know nothing about their basketball team. Let me bring you up to speed.
Dominique Daniels Jr.
There is no shame in knowing nothing about Cal Baptist. I get it, they play in a small conference, and they are on TV late and very rarely on the non-pay channels like ESPN+. If you only ever learn one thing, please remember the name Dominique Daniels Jr. There is no more unique scorer in the college hoops game right now, and people should be very excited that he is in the tournament, especially if you like scoring.
Daniels is 5’10” tall and is the entire offense for the Lancers. If not for his heater in the last 7 minutes of the WAC championship game, Cal Baptist would be at home. The guard is the epitome of what it means to be a volume scorer. He takes 18 shot attempts per night, and most of them are driving downhill to the basket. He usually finishes or gets fouled.
Let’s focus on that one for a second. The guard has no problem driving into the lane amongst the trees and getting fouled. When it gets to winning time, or as the Lancers like to call it, Daniels time, he will take every shot, make every layup, and find himself on the free-throw line. The guard changes games from the line because he gets there a lot. Daniels has taken 216 free throws and made 176 of them. That is good for 81 percent. The senior is an elite closer, and he will score points against the teams they play, even the big power schools. I can promise you he will be your favorite player in the tournament.
Rick Croy
Cal Baptist has been a Division 1 program for 8 years, and the only coach they have had in the senior circuit is Croy. The head coach has repaid the Athletic Department’s loyalty by guiding his team to its first NCAA Tournament in the last year of the current WAC. Croy has had a team trending up over the last few seasons, and he finally got over the hump.
The Lancers hired Croy in 2013 when they were still in the Division 2, and he did nothing but win in the lower division. Cal Baptist made five straight Division 2 tournament appearances and won two conference titles. That success ultimately helped the athletic department finalize its decision to move to Division 1.
At the Division 1 level, Cal Baptist had a 21-10 record in year two of their transition. Combine those 21 wins with the 16 wins he had in the first season and you have the team with the most wins ever in the first two years of a transition. Croy is a great coach, and if he keeps Cal Baptist on the current upward trend they are on, they will add more NCAA Tournament appearances, and with that likely comes an NCAA Tournament win.
America’s Team
No they are not the Dallas Cowboys,, but the Lancers are going to be the team the fans love. Cal Baptist has all the makings of a team that is going to be beloved by everyone, especially if they can somehow win a game. They have a short guard who scores a ton of points. It is their first appearance, and they are from a conference that not many people know about.
The Lancers, like so many other teams from small conferences, need to embrace it with open arms. The ultimate goal is to win, but even if you don’t, this is the most media coverage the school has probably ever received. They are going to be on National TV and, as a 14 seed, get to play a power-five school. All of those things make this tournament excellent. Have fun, Cal Baptist, enjoy the biggest games of your life.