Their voices were deeper and slower and quieter than usual, a mix of melancholy and exasperation, stripped of anticipation and hope. It’s a year we’re going to look back on for the rest of our lives and think: What if? … I don’t know what else to say.” It’s going to take us a while to get over. For that not to be an option any more is a dagger. “Our biggest goal was to go to the NCAA Tournament and make a deep run. They wanted to play for a greater cause, and that’s to win games. If KJ and Mal were happy averaging 20 points a game and getting minutes, that would be a sense of selfishness. “There’s a reason why we left, just because we loved to win so much. “The three of us, we all came from losing programs,” Wetzell said. 6 in both major polls … a probable 2 seed with a geographically favorable road to the Final Four … a university and city on their shoulders … their last chance. So did Malachi Flynn, the Washington State transfer who has a year of eligibility remaining but is expected to test the NBA Draft waters and may be gone as well.Ī 30-2 record … No. This was their last chance, transferring to SDSU with the primary goal of experiencing March Madness. He didn’t play in the 67-65 loss against Houston in Wichita, Kan., in 2018, but he got to experience Selection Sunday, felt the excitement at Intrust Bank Arena, felt the agony of Rob Gray’s last-second shot.įeagin and Wetzell never had. Narain, at least, was part of an NCAA Tournament team as a sophomore at SDSU. As soon as I saw the news, I realized it was over. “I knew it was coming, but you hold that little bit of hope that it still goes through,” Wetzell said in his first interview since the NCAA canceled March Madness with a two-sentence statement at 1:16 p.m. You hoist the desperation shot from midcourt fully thinking it is going in.
No season is over until you lose in the conference or NCAA tournament. Deep down, the senior forwards from San Diego State knew the NCAA was probably next.īut they’re athletes, they’re college basketball players, they’re wired differently. A few hours later, the NBA suspended all games after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID-19. They went across the street to a Mediterranean restaurant to grab lunch.Ī day earlier, the NCAA had announced the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments would be played without fans. Yanni Wetzell and Nolan Narian had just finished shopping Thursday afternoon at Costco.
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