Shining Moments – UMBC Men’s Basketball Makes History

Published: Jun 8, 2018

A quick timeline of the UMBC men’s basketball team’s 2018 history-making trip to the NCAA tournament.

THURSDAY, MARCH 1

  • Guard K.J. Maura named America East Conference Defensive Player of the Year and Guard Jairus Lyles named First-team All-America

SATURDAY, MARCH 10

  • 1 p.m.: UMBC beats Vermont to win America East Championship

MONDAY. MARCH 12

  • Noon: Forward Joe Sherburne named first team Academic All-American

TUESDAY, MARCH 13

  • 3:30 p.m.: Campus community gives the team a rousing send-off as they hit the road for Charlotte

FRIDAY, MARCH 16

  • 9:36 p.m.: Zach Seidel ’12, M.S. ’15, UMBC director of multimedia communications, sends his now-infamous reply to Sports Illustrated writer Seth Davis’s tweet about writing UVA’s impending victory in Sharpie
  • 10 p.m. UMBC website slows under the weight of hundreds of thousands of new visitors
  • 10:25 p.m.: UMBC mascot True Grit wins first halftime dance contest
  • 11:32 p.m.: UMBC beats UVA (74-54) to become the first No. 16 seed team to best a No. 1 seed in an NCAA men’s tournament
  • 11:39 p.m.: Dan Rather tweets: “Do they make glass slippers this big? UMBC carved their program on the Mt. Rushmore of Cinderella stories. I’ve never seen this much shock and awe on the hardwood. I watched every minute. Whenever you hear, “we can’t”, tell them UMBC. #MarchMadness”

SATURDAY, MARCH 17

    • 12:30 a.m.: DoIT gets the website back up to speed, thanks to more than a dozen staffers working overtime during their Spring Break
    • 11 a.m.: Pep Band, True Grit, and UMBC dancers bring a major splash of black and gold to the Charlotte parade
    • Sports Illustrated posts a special digital cover reading “Sweetest 16. UMBC. Just UMBC.”
    • 8:02 p.m.: A Mighty Girl posts on Facebook about the 1998 Harvard women’s basketball team winning the first ever 16 over 1 upset, and congratulating UMBC for “giving recognition where it’s due!”

SUNDAY, MARCH 18

  • The Atlantic publishes “The Secret Behind the Greatest Upset in College Basketball History” by Dr. Hrabowski
  • 4:36 p.m.: Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry gives the team unreleased new Under Armour shoes, prompting UMBC Athletics to tweet: “It‘s like Christmas in March (Madness)”
  • True Grit wins second halftime dance party
  • 10:05 p.m.: NCAA run ends with defeat by Kansas State, 50-43

MONDAY, MARCH 19

  • 2 a.m.: Team returns to campus to a small crowd of super supporters and Baltimore/D.C. media

MONDAY, MARCH 26

  • 4 p.m.: UMBC announces Coach Ryan Odom’s amended contract
  • 6:30 p.m. Governor Larry Hogan hosts Annapolis celebration for the team, followed by honors by the Maryland House of Delegates and Senate.

 

TUESDAY, MARCH 27

  • 5 p.m.: UMBC community celebrates the team at the new Event Center

MONDAY, APRIL 2

  • Coach Odom named 2018 Hugh Durham Award winner for top mid-major coach in college basketball
  • 11 a.m.: Free! Free! Pizza! Pizza! — Little Caesars Pizza makes good on its “If Crazy Happens” promise to hand out free lunch pizzas to celebrate the first-ever #16 beating a #1 in men’s basketball.
Courtesy of Little Caesars

FRIDAY, APRIL 20

  • 7:05 p.m.: Coach Ryan Odom throws the ceremonial first pitch at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. A week later, he announced the Ravens’ fourth round draft pick from the deck of the USS Constellation.

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