Memphis, Tenn. ? Jackson State started the season by losing 12 of its first 14 games but has gone 12-3 since then for a 14-15 record.
Jackson State guard Decarto Draper knows it will take more than a rock and a slingshot against Kansas today.
“It’s going to be like a chess match,” said Draper, a 6-foot-1 junior. “They’re physically bigger, but you can overcome physical with mental, and that’s what we’re going to try to do.”
Draper thinks Jackson State, seeded No. 64 and dead last in the NCAA basketball tournament, can “outsmart” No. 1 seed Kansas and shock the basketball world as we know it.
“The law of physics says they’re bigger than we are,” Draper added, “so we’re going to have to outquick them.”
Outsmart? Outquick? Outlandish seems more like it.
Still, the bottom line is that Kansas has to do it and, until the Jayhawks do, it’s just like baseball spring training. The cup is half full.
“We have a lot of confidence,” said Doug Williams, another one of the nine juniors on the Tigers’ roster. “It’s us against the world. No one expects us to beat the No. 1 school in the country … a small school in Mississippi.
Jackson State, enrollment 6,200, is an HBCU school. That’s an acronym form Historically Black College or University.
No one would expect Jackson State to defeat Kansas even if the Tigers were unbeaten, much less 14-15 and in the 64-team field only because they earned the automatic berth that goes to the Southwestern Athletic Conference champion.
“I don’t think there’s any question Kansas is the best team in the field,” JSU coach Andy Stoglin said. “We’re Cinderella and it’s our first trip to the dance.”
Certainly nobody expected the Tigers to reach the NCAA tournament after they lost 12 of their first 14 games. Among those losses were road games at Arkansas, Memphis (yes, right here in the Pyramid), Arizona, UCLA, Arizona State and New Mexico.
Why did Stoglin agree to play all those teams on their home floors? For money and for exposure.
“A lot of people think teams like Jackson State shouldn’t be in the (NCAA) field,” Stoglin said. “But until they level the playing field and we and all the other mid-majors don’t have to play on the road … Nobody will play us home and home.”
Why should they? Jackson State’s average home attendance this season was 2,776. It’s difficult to convince a school that draws around 15,000 to go to Jackson, Miss., when it can schedule another nonconference home game.
Still, one has.
“Norm Stewart at Missouri is the only one who has played us home and home,” Stoglin said. “It meant a great deal to me when he agreed to do that … I’m sure one of the reasons is Norm recruits in Mississippi.”
Stewart took his team to Jackson last season and won, 86-63.
Two Cs Too Many
Back in January, Jackson State made national headlines when senior shooting guard Chuck Nwagwu was pulled off the team by his father after making two Cs during the first semester. JSU has also lost two other guards, Antwan McAfee and Chico Walker, to knee injuries.
Shoeless Joe or Michael?
Which is the real Jackson State, the team that started 2-12 or the one that finished 12-3? “In those early games we played individual basketball,” forward Trent Pulliam said, “but we’ve been playing as a team lately, and that’s a big part of our success.”
Stats, facts
Trent Pulliam, a 6-foot-8 junior, is the Tigers’ leading scorer (13.8) and rebounder (8.0). He’s also the team leader in three-point attempts, but has hit only 26 percent of them. … JSU has committed 70 more fouls, had 41 more turnovers and 95 fewer points that its foes. … JSU lowlight — Dropping an 80-65 decision to perennial doormat Prairie View in front of an announced crowd of 237 on Jan. 4 in Prairie View, Texas. …
