With the March Madness Tournament almost entering the Elite-8, there has been no better story than the Saint Peter’s Peacocks.
Saint Peter’s University is a small Catholic school in Jersey City, New Jersey. Located on Kennedy Boulevard, Saint Peter’s only has 2,600 undergraduate students and 800 graduate students.
When thinking about a school with that type of enrollment size, and funding, it’s crazy to imagine that they would be able to find any type of success in the March Madness Tournament.
The March Madness Tournament is usually known for the crazy upsets and the blue blood of college basketball. Whether it be Duke, Kentucky, UNC, UCLA, Villanova, or a slew of other high-level college basketball programs, they’re usually the ones who are playing in the Elite-8.
However, the small Catholic School in Jersey City had different plans this year. Saint Peter’s was able to knock out the Kentucky Wildcats in the first round of the NCAA tournament. They then went on to beat the Murray State Racers and the Purdue Boilermakers.
When thinking about the season that Saint Peter’s had throughout the year, it makes it even more remarkable that they’re in the position that they’re currently in. Whether it be from the offseason where their star forward KC Ndefo, was rumored to be in the transfer portal, their slow start in the regular season, their inability to beat the other top team in the MAC Conference, the Iona Gaels. The Peacocks had to go through plenty of adversity throughout the entire year, but eventually, they were able to bear down and get the job done.
Saint Peter’s wasn’t a team that was going to get an automatic bid to the March Madness Tournament. Just like any other team in the MAAC conference, the only way into the tournament is if they win the conference championship. They ran through the MAAC tournament for the most part, but they got a huge break as Rider took down the Iona Gaels. If Iona didn’t lose, we might not be seeing the craziness that Saint Peter’s is giving us right now.
The March Madness Tournament will usually offer an upset or two, however, it’s extremely rare that a number 15 seed, which Saint Peters was, takes down a number two seed, which Kentucky was. They were able to get huge games out of Darryl Banks and Doug Edert to help secure the win.
Kentucky basketball is a different breed. When talking about college basketball, the first names that come to mind for the normal person are Duke, Kentucky, Gonzaga, UNC, and Villanova. The last team that anyone would think could take down one of the big boys is Saint Peter’s but they did it.
Everybody in the entire country is asking how this team was able to pull off such an upset against Kentucky and Purdue. Some people are calling this the craziest upset in March Madness history, while others are saying that the University of Maryland Baltimore County win over the Virginia Cavaliers a few years ago was bigger.
With all the questions on how Saint Peter’s was able to get the job done, let’s take a look at the main reasons why.
The biggest reason why the Peacocks have been able to find so much success this season is because of star head coach Shaheen Holloway. Shaheen Holloway was a standout basketball player back in his playing days as he was a McDonald’s All-American during his college days at Seton Hall University. During the McDonald’s All-American game, Hollaway was named the events MVP over guys like Kobe Bryant.
When watching elite college basketball teams, outside of most of them having multiple NBA prospects, they all usually run small and tight rotations. Seven-eighth guys are all teams like Kentucky, Duke, Gonzaga, and others will use. Saint Peter’s, on the other hand, will use every single guy on their bench at any moment in the game. Clearly, there is a difference of skill from the first guy to the last guy, but every single one of the Peacocks bench players can come in and make plays. Even if that player is in just to hit a free throw, or get a stop defensively, all of them are going to go out there and give serviceable minutes.
Defense, defense, defense. The one thing that will stick out to anyone watching the Peacocks is their elite defense. Whether it’s the 3x MAAC Defensive Player Of The Year KC Ndefo, elite guard defense from Matthew Lee and Darryl Banks, or the full-court pressure Saint Peter’s possess at times, the Peacocks can play some defense.
Even if Saint Peter’s loses in the Elite-8, what they were able to bring to the university is something that won’t ever be replaced. It’s expected that they’ve had over $70 million in advertisements, increased application numbers, and were verified on social media platforms.
Most people don’t realize what things like this can do for the university, kids, and the conference. From the obvious standpoint, the university is going to get great publicity, which leads to money. Kids can now sign NIL deals, which were put into place by the NCAA a little over a year ago. NIL deals now allow students to get paid for their name, image, and likeliness. One Saint Peter’s student-athlete already benefited from the new rule, as Doug Edert, aka the ‘Mustache Man’, signed NIL deals with both Buffalo Wild Wings and Barstool Sports.
Saint Peters is going to look to continue to shock the world in their next game as they will be taking on either UNC or UCLA, two of the most storied college basketball franchises of all time.
No matter what happens, these kids changed their life and put themselves on the map.
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