BEST SEASON
EVER published by The
Auburn Plainsman
MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR
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The Auburn Plainsman
April 11, 2019
HANDLING HEARTBREAK
MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR
Bryce Brown (2) after Auburn Men’s Basketball vs. Virginia on Saturday, April 6, 2019, in Minneapolis, Minn.
Behind the scenes as Auburn coped with loss, celebrated the historic season By NATHAN KING Sports Editor
MINNEAPOLIS — Donning their navy pullovers, instruments glistening under the lights in the bowels of U.S. Bank Stadium, Auburn basketball’s pep band uncomfortably hugged a curtain to squeeze past a massive gathering of media members. As they snaked through the hallway in a tight, single-file line — exactly to director Corey Spurlin’s stipulations — each member stared dead ahead. Their eyes were lifeless. Half of those eyes had tears leaking out. Former Auburn head coach Sonny Smith, just under an hour removed from his radio broadcast of Auburn’s historically heartbreaking loss to Virginia in Saturday’s Final Four matchup, paced the concrete hall. He held his phone up with his right hand while his left hand carried an orange and white bag filled with goodies — the dreaded Orange Vanilla Coke branding. He brought the mouthpiece closer as if to emphasize to whomever was on the other end: “I just can’t believe this.” His black leather jacket responded with a squeak as he tightened his shoulders and sighed. A security guard stopped this reporter just past the court: “A game should not be decided like that. A Final Four game should never end like that.” He continued shaking his head and scratching his grey beard as he respectfully identified the next reporter’s credential to make sure the face matched the photo on the blue and green Final Four lanyard. Just outside the team gift room, where security had been
bringing players over the past few days to hand out their presents from the NCAA, a trio of Auburn athletics staffers gathered, talking over travel and logistics for the coming hours. When greeted by this reporter, one staffer’s lip began to quiver. She buried her face in the nearest shoulder. As Auburn walked into the tunnel after Virginia’s Kyle Guy drained a trio of free throws to snatch away the national title berth Auburn thought it had earned when the buzzer sounded, senior guard Bryce Brown wore his emotions on his sleeve like he always does: “The NCAA needs to get some new refs, man.” Samir Doughty, who fouled Guy on a 3-point attempt in the corner with 0.6 seconds remaining, was the one to console Brown. He put his hand carefully on Brown’s shoulder as Auburn — usually goofy, light-hearted, loose and bouncy — sulked silently to its locker room. Inside, with the Marvel vs. Capcom arcade game tucked away in the corner, the room was silent for the first few moments. The air was tense. Players were still mumbling and grumbling to themselves about the ending, even as media began firing up their cameras and flicking on their microphones. Assistant coaches Steven Pearl, Wes Flanigan and Chad Prewett stared straight at the carpet until they were approached. “I’ve never lost a game like that,” Steven Pearl said. “That was brutal.” Prewett picked up a box score — Virginia 63, Auburn 62 — but he wasn’t poring over its results. He sat with great posture at the front of his chair, his slacks flooding enough to re-
veal his orange Auburn socks under his brown dress shoes. He was staring into space, looking through — not at — the sheet of paper. Austin Wiley and Horace Spencer both sat silently on their phones. Suddenly, Wiley’s eyes light up as he cranes toward the bright iPhone screen. He leans over and shows Spencer, who leans in as well. Spencer’s eyebrows raise. He shakes his head. The words “double” and “dribble” can be heard faintly in their conversation about whatever was on that screen. Doughty could have been snarky. He could have been frustrated. In fact, Doughty could have been irate about the foul call that finally made the clock strike midnight on Auburn’s Cinderella run through the 2019 NCAA Tournament, and not many college basketball fans in the country would have blamed him. He wasn’t. The junior guard was unassuming and inviting with each question. He placed no blame on the officials, something that likely can’t be said for Auburn fans across the nation Saturday night. “I can’t really tell you what’s going on in these refs’ minds,” Doughty said. “They’re going to make the best decision to the best of their ability… He made the right call, if that’s the call he called.” Doughty said he hadn’t yet looked at the video of the nocall that fans wanted to be a double dribble on Virginia’s Ty Jerome. If the Cavaliers had turned it over had the call been made, Auburn would have had the ball, up two points with
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The Auburn Plainsman
April 11, 2019
‘Do it for Chuma’ MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR
Chuma Okeke (5) during Auburn Men’s Basketball vs. Alabama on Feb. 2, 2019, in Auburn, Ala.
How four words define Auburn’s Final Four run By IAN BIVONA Sports Writer
“For Chuma, for Chuma, for Chuma...” The two words that were repeatedly said by Auburn forward Anfernee McLemore as he stepped toward the free- throw line with 17.6 seconds remaining in Auburn’s first Final Four appearance, his Tigers leading 1-seed Virginia by two. He made both of them, giving Auburn a four-point lead with seconds left in the game. Forget about what happened at the end of the game, foul or no foul, and focus on those two words being constantly mouthed by McLemore, a 60 percent free-throw shooter, and how he used those words to give his team the lead. The words that represent the Tigers’ mentality during the latter half of their NCAA Tournament run – how Auburn gathered themselves together after their “most versatile player,” according to head coach Bruce Pearl, of Chuma Okeke went down with an ACL injury. With 8:08 left in the second half of the Tigers’ Sweet Sixteen matchup against North Carolina, Okeke collapsed to the floor after stepping awkwardly while driving to the basket. Every fan, both Auburn and UNC, were speechless inside the Sprint Center in Kansas City. “Nobody works harder, nobody gives us more courage” Pearl said. “When it gets tough, and you got to go to a matchup, we’ve got [Okeke], and you don’t.” Okeke’s reaction was immediate, and both he and his teammates knew what had happened. In the post-game, on-court interview, Pearl was visibly up-
set, choking up and had tears in his eyes when speaking about Okeke. “Chuma was the best player on the floor,” Pearl said. “He’s hurt, but we’re going to rally.” Confirmation of Okeke’s ACL tear came out the next day, but the “Do it for Chuma” movement had already begun in the somber Auburn locker room after the win. Okeke was then brought into the locker room, assisted by fellow teammates Mclemore and J’Von McCormick, to place their “Auburn” sticker on the victorious side of the bracket. “Pray for Chuma,” Malik Dunbar said following the win against UNC. “We doing it for Chuma. Hashtag it.” The people followed Dunbar’s words, and spread movement like wildfire across social media, with the #DoitforChuma being used by both Auburn players and fans. The hashtag even began to trend at a national level, creating a feel-good story for the Tigers; they weren’t doing it for themselves — they were doing it for their fallen teammate. The odds were already stacked against the Auburn as they entered its Elite Eight matchup against Kentucky. Things looked bleak without Okeke. This was seen in the first half, when Kentucky came out and outshot the Tigers, leading by as many as 11 at one point in the first half. That changed when Okeke was brought to the court in the beginning of the second half. “Moving him to the gym, sitting him on the bench, he doesn’t want the camera on him,” Pearl said. “He must have been watching the first half at the hotel and said, ‘I can’t stay here. I got to go.’” The energy in both the stadium and the Auburn bench was different after Okeke was brought out, leading Auburn past
Kentucky in overtime – the third blue-blood the Tigers had beaten in as many games. They were the same Wildcats that had handed the Tigers their last loss by 27 points before going undefeated all of March. After the game, Okeke was once again given the honors of putting the coveted “Auburn” sticker on the bracket, this time for the Midwest Regional Championship. “[Having Okeke at the game] gave our team a lift,’’ Jared Harper said after they defeated Kentucky. “He told us before the game that he was hurting a little bit, and that he probably wasn’t going to make it in. But coach told us at halftime that Chuma was on the way to come support us. We needed that support.” The game would have been played out differently if Okeke was in the game, but the Tigers won the game because he wasn’t playing. “This one right there was for Chuma Okeke,” Pearl triumphantly yelled out after Auburn’s 77-71 win over the Wildcats. “The next two are for Auburn.” In the six days between the Elite Eight win over Kentucky and their next matchup against Virginia in the Final Four, emotions were high amongst fans and players with the “Do it for Chuma” movement leading the charge. As McLemore headed to the line mouthing those two words, remembering what it took to get Auburn to that point and who they’re playing for, he proceeded to drain his two free throws. It goes to show just how much of an affect Okeke has had on this team. While Auburn’s title aspirations were later cut short in that game by UVA, there is no doubt that the team would not have been here if it weren’t for Chuma Okeke, even after his injury. They did it for Chuma.
April 11, 2019
The Auburn Plainsman
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‘I just didn’t want it to be over’ Bryce Brown’s heroics bring Auburn within moments of national championship berth By TYLER ROUSH Assistant Sports Editor
MINNEAPOLIS — Bryce Brown sat in the corner of the locker room with his eyes red from the moments that will sit with him forever. The tears weren’t a result of Kyle Guy’s free throws, losing in the Final Four or missing a shot in the game’s final second. After four years at Auburn, Brown was not prepared to take his jersey off. With his team down by as much as 10, Brown didn’t want it to be over. He remembered the run to the Final Four, how Auburn tore through a conference tournament to Salt Lake City, to Kansas City and finally to Minneapolis. He remembered the countless 3-pointers he made as he and the basketball program rebuilt itself.
And no 3-pointer brought Brown to life more than one to bring Auburn within six against Virginia, or the one to put it up by two. “I just didn’t want it to be over,” Brown said. “Guys kept encouraging me. I tried to keep confidence in them as well as they had confidence in me. As soon as I [saw] that one go through in the final few minutes, I knew that I had woken up, that I could get my team back in this.” Brown hit one 3-pointer, and then another to cut the deficit to three, and then another to put Auburn up by two after a make by Danjel Purifoy. Bruce Pearl recruited Brown despite the three-star guard’s early commitment to Charlotte, and as the program worked toward both regular season and tournament conference titles, Pearl watched as
the Tucker, Georgia native fought for more. As Brown sat with cameras, microphones and recorders lowered down to him, Pearl watched one of his first recruitments at Auburn complete his collegiate career covered in emotion and pride. He remembered a moment from earlier in the season when Brown first thought about taking off his jersey for the final time. “I can remember senior day, Bryce, Horace and Malik, but especially Bryce just kind of looking around and just going ‘wow,’” Pearl said. “All that he has worked for, all that time in the gym, it’s all for this.” Brown will finish second alltime for career made 3-pointers in the SEC and at the top spot for Auburn’s career mark. All for this, even for just a shot at playing for the national champi-
MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR
Bryce Brown (2) during Virginia vs. Auburn on Saturday, April 6, 2019, in Minneapolis, Minn.
onship Down by 10 with just over five minutes left to go, and then with the lead at the initial buzzer. The clock read just under a second after Guy’s free-throw makes, and Brown knew he was going to get the ball. “I felt like we had a pretty good play to get the ball to me for me to make a shot,” Brown said. “I just didn’t have enough time. If I had an extra five-tenths of a second, I would have been able to square my body up and knock that shot down.” His shot went off to the side. Brown sat and stared at the floor before rising, pulling his jersey over his face in frustration while walking back to his teammates. All for this, even just for a mo-
ment, Brown realized he had to take his jersey off. “That’s what hurts the most,” Brown said. “I won’t be able to wear this jersey again. Hopefully, I had a huge impact on this program because this program has definitely changed my life to the fullest. “I’ve grown, I’ve matured. I’m just happy that Auburn gave me the opportunity to wear this jersey and be a great player.” Even in a loss, however, Brown looked ahead to Auburn’s future and the foundation for success that he said he helped build. “This won’t be the last time Auburn will be in the Final Four,” Brown said. “I feel like we’ll definitely continue to see runs from Auburn just because we’ll continue to get good players.”
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The Auburn Plainsman
April 11, 2019
n
colum
the tigers win well, lose well
Our players controlled their justiďŹ ed frustration. It speaks volumes about their character By LEE AUMAN Guest Columnist
One time I asked a friend what he wanted most out of life. “To be remembered,� he said. But, of course, being remembered is not in and of itself a good thing.
How is this relevant to the Auburn game? The game was certainly memorable, but I’d almost rather forget the biggest game in Auburn basketball history than to have it overshadowed in our collective memory by a controversial call that tells so little of the story of the game.
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What happened? A call that wasn’t made, but definitely should’ve been, allowed the circumstances for a different call that was made but probably shouldn’t have been, dictating a historically disappointing ending to a game Auburn should’ve won but didn’t. We the spectators can certainly sympathize with the team we love and believe in, but sympathy alone can never get us deep enough into the heart of their experience to truly understand what it must be like to work so hard just to have the fruits of their labor taken from them by a variable completely out of their control: good ole fashioned human error. The capacity to lose well is essential for a wholesome life, but losing gracefully is easier said than done when — more than having lost, you feel you’ve been robbed. The fact that our players controlled their unimaginable and justified frustration speaks volumes about their character. It also means that if they aren’t angry with the refs, we can’t be either. But it doesn’t stop there. The dignity in defeat our players displayed is the very thing that gives us license to replace anger with something that feels much better. We get to feel proud — proud that our scrappy and beloved underdogs overcame the odds game after game and even prouder that all along they represented Auburn so well. I’m glad that, for fair-weather fans like me who follow our teams much more readily when they’re actually doing well, this season provided a chance to get to know Bruce Pearl a little better. Before this season I knew I liked him. What I didn’t know is that I
wouldn’t trade him for anyone. He is the kind of coach every player wants to play for. He’s the sixth man on the court. He knows no apathy. In half of the photos taken of him during the game, he is airborne and looks like he’s about to explode. When he is asked about his player’s season-ending injury, he chokes up as love and optimism burst through his tears, “We’re gonna rally.� By the time for postgame press conferences, he barely has any voice left. His attitude is contagious; it begets in his players a resilience that has helped them overcome adversity and odds repeatedly stacked against them. It’s clear that his charisma springs from something deeper than a quest for championships and more specific than a passion for the game — he loves his players. Because of all this, his teams don’t just play well. They win well, and they lose well. Reflect on the message implied by Bruce’s postgame question to his players: “Would we trust God any more in victory than we do in defeat?� In the interview immediately following the game, the calm resolve on Bruce’s face revealed his genuine embrace of the belief that this is what God intended. Whether or not that message gives any of the Auburn faithful any solace, it’s pretty powerful to see someone believe it so fully. Despite being fresh off a crushing last-second loss, being an Auburn fan feels easier right now than ever. War Eagle Lee Auman is a former congressional candidate and a 2015 graduate of Auburn University.
April 11, 2019
HEARTBREAK » From 2
only seconds left. Doughty said he’ll watch it privately “when there’s not 55 cameras around.” Regardless of the controversial finish, Auburn clawed its way back with an incomparable run. After Virginia went up 10 points with five minutes left — a mountainous deficit against a team that eats up as much clock as the Cavaliers do — the Tigers orchestrated a 15-3 run on the back of Brown, who hit two key 3-pointers late. “It shows the heart and the grit and the character of this team,” Steven Pearl said of the run. “Let’s not forget Chuma Okeke is not even on the floor.” At that point, with Auburn leading in the waning seconds, Brown thought the game was “in the bag.” He said he thinks the call made against Doughty on the 3-point shot was wrong, but he immediately placed blame on himself, as well. He knew Auburn shouldn’t have been in that position in the first place. “I had some plays where I probably could have gotten someone pinned down… some mental lapses on defense,” Brown said. “Could have shot the ball better as a team. Gotta tip our hat to Virginia. “That’s not where we lost the game. We had a few mental lapses throughout the game.” In front of Brown in the locker room was Anfernee McLemore, who had his own opinions of the final play. He didn’t say them explicitly, but when asked if the foul should have been called, he diverted eye contact away from the questioner, looking straight down to the floor and delivering a scripted answer: “Just give credit to Virginia. They played a great game.” That response occurred three or four times in the span of a minute. Brown said the ending was inspiring to him, though. It was surreal to Brown, a former three-star prospect whose chances of playing D-I ball were slim until Bruce Pearl plucked him from the crowd, to have a team completely relying on him to carry it to a national championship appearance. “They continued to trust me,” Brown said, trailing off, getting quieter. His voice cracked and the tears began to well in his eyes. “It just hurts that we went out like that because we felt like we were so close to a national championship.” That was everyone in an orange and blue jersey in the locker room — puffy-eyed and emotionally torn apart. Bruce Pearl included. Brown said the head coach was emotional in his postgame message, but he was able to get them slightly lifted by reminding them that the only reason the heartbreak came in that fashion is because they set themselves up on that stage. It’s the best season in Auburn basketball history. “Coach did a good job of letting us know what we
The Auburn Plainsman 7
had accomplished,” Brown said. Brown said he was in a better mood than when he was calling for the NCAA to crack down on his officiating on the way to the locker room. He admitted that was a bone-headed move, and he regrets it. Still, he had yet to smile in the locker room — until the words “Auburn Arena” were mentioned. Flashing the signature Bryce Brown smile, accompanied by a high-pitched chuckle, Brown said he can’t wait to go back to Auburn’s home floor. He wants to thank the fans. He said he’ll make it a priority to get back next year so he can get his SEC Tournament championship ring — and see them hang the first Final Four banner in program history in the rafters. Then it hit Brown, who began to choke up again — he’s never going back to Auburn Arena as a player. “I’ll remember this,” Brown said. “I’ll remember Auburn Arena. I’ll remember the SEC Tournament championship. I’ll remember the SEC regular championship. All the memories Auburn has gave me. It’s been an unbelievable ride, an unbelievable four years. Wouldn’t trade it, wouldn’t replace it for anything.” Although the No. 2 “Brown” jersey won’t be rocketing up and down the floor on The Plains anymore, Brown hopes it will soon hang in the rafters beside the Final Four flag. “Hopefully I’ve done enough,” Brown laughed. Brown had a message to the players staying behind, the younger ones carrying on his legacy who will be attempting to reach the pinnacle again under Bruce Pearl and turn Auburn into a perennial powerhouse. “Finish it off,” Brown said. “I feel like we paved the way. I want them to continue to remember what we did and take on what we did this year, and hopefully they can win a national championship next year. I have great confidence. “Hopefully they’ll give some more shows at Auburn Arena.” As players packed up, the jokes returned. It’s impossible to keep this team down. An hour after a devastating loss, they were back to their mischievous and silly ways. Malik Dunbar approached Doughty with his phone, showing a replay of the final sequence. J’Von McCormick stood up and butted in. He and Dunbar poked fun at Doughty as he pleaded his case: “Listen, man. Even the commentators were on my side!” Brown and Flanigan exited the locker room as a Virginia reporter recounted the painful finish boisterously into his TV camera: “Kyle Guy shot three free throws and nailed all three, sending the Cavaliers to the national championship.” Brown looked directly into the camera and gave a small, sarcastic nod. Typical Bryce. And Minneapolis may have stolen a championship berth from the Tigers, but Dunbar was going to get revenge. He walked out of the locker room — swaggering, more like it — as he bobbed to his music with a comically large Final Four placard in hand. He wasn’t leaving empty handed. Classic Malik.
MADISON OGLETREE / PHOTO EDITOR
Austin Wiley (50) on Saturday, April 6, 2019 in Minneapolis, Minn.
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