City of Basketball Love

Josh Verlin (@jmverlin)
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BUFFALO, N.Y. -- As the Bucknell players sat in their locker room at KeyBank Center, absorbing the fact that their season had just come to an end at the hands of West Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, they got a surprise visit.

In walked arguably the school’s most famous alumnus, Villanova head coach Jay Wright, to give the Bison a pep talk.

“He just told us to keep our heads up,” sophomore guard Kimbal Mackenzie said. “Part of being a warrior is losing sometimes and we've got to learn how to lose just as we learn how to win.

Getting a chance to hear from someone who wore the Bison uniform for four years (1979-83) and went on to accomplish big things in the basketball world wasn’t lost on the current Bucknell squad.

The fact that the talk came from the head coach of the defending national champion Wildcats, someone who’s won over 500 games at the Division I level -- 385 at Villanova since taking over the program prior to the 2001-02 season -- didn’t hurt, either.

“We're very fortunate to have him in the locker room, giving us a couple words,” Mackenzie said. “He told us to keep our heads up and keep fighting.”

“It's an honor,” junior forward Nana Foulland agreed. “He definitely sees we're a talented ball club. It's his alma mater. He's proud of us. It means a lot.”

As far as post-game locker room speeches go, Bucknell coach Nathan Davis got a lesson of his own.

“(Wright is) much better at it than I am,” Davis said with a laugh, then got serious. “He talked about when you’re fighting and winning it’s hard and sometimes it hurts, but he as a former player, he’s constantly texting all the guys he played with from the past, about how proud they are of (this team).”

Indeed, though the Bucknell’s season ended after an 86-80 loss to the No. 4 seed in the West Regional, the region’s No. 13 seed has a lot to celebrate.

The Bison went 26-9, surpassing the 20-win mark and capturing the Patriot League tournament championship for the first time since a 28-win season ended in March Madness in 2012-13. They climbed all the way from 189th to 78th in the KenPom rankings, going 15-3 in Patriot League play and scoring quality non-conference wins over Vanderbilt and Richmond, among others.

And with all five starters returning next year, the future looks very bright in Lewisburg, Pa.

Mackenzie, who went for 23 points in the loss -- tying a Bucknell postseason record -- averaged 11.5 ppg during a breakout season. The team’s top two scorers and rebounders, Foulland (16.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg) and classmate Zach Thomas (14.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg), will be seniors, as will another starting guard, Stephen Brown (10.9 ppg, team-high 4.8 apg). The final starter this year, Avi Toomer (3.2 ppg, 2.3 apg), will only be a sophomore.

“I feel like we know -- if we do get back here next year, we know what to expect,” Foulland said. We know what to expect and we know the caliber of the teams we're going to play...I think we are more well-prepared, and we just have to do some of the same things to get us ready.”

But even with all that talent and experience back, there’s plenty of work to be done in the offseason.

Moving on will be seniors John Azzarino (3.1 ppg), D.J. MacLeay (3.0 ppg) and the injured Ben Oberfield, leaving leadership and reserve spots left open to be filled.

If Bucknell wants to make it back-to-back NCAA trips for the first time since 2005 and 2006, it can't focus on what this year was -- only use it as motivation for what could have been.

“I think that first thing is you can never take for granted what you've accomplished,” Davis said. “I don't think having everyone back next year means a whole lot if we don't continue to improve.

“Now, saying that, I would like to think what we'll understand, even more so than having not been before, is how hard it is to get here and the amount of time you've got to put in and the dedication you got to have to your teammates, yourself, and the rest of the guys,” the second-year head coach continued. “To be the best you can be and to give everything you have for the team.”