by Brian Abate, Chris DiGeronimo, and Gianluca Milea
“Great moments are born from great opportunity, and that’s what you have here tonight, boys.” - Herb Brooks
The Miracle on Ice, Leicester City winning the Premier League, David Tyree and the Giants ruining perfection, Andy Ruiz knocking out Anthony Joshua. The list goes on…
All improbable accomplishments, all were deemed impossible… until they happened.
While the unpredictability of March Madness is what glues so many to their television screens, there are always a few upsets that even the most outlandish bracket makers aren’t bold enough to predict. Before 2018, a 16 seed had never eliminated a 1 seed in the first round of an NCAA Men’s Tournament.
17.3 million people filled out brackets on ESPN for the 2018 March Madness tournament. On March 16, 2018 more than 17.2 million people went to bed with imperfect brackets.
Virginia entered the game as 20.5 point favorites. Virginia left the contest on the wrong side of history, becoming the first 1 seed to fall at the hands of a 16 seed.
On this edition of Scrambling, we caught up with UMBC and NCAA March Madness star Joe Sherburne. Along with a little bit of help from his friends, Sherburne made sure everyone knew UMBC and also helped put the school in the history books. During his senior season, Sherburne averaged 13.9 points, 5.6 rebounds, and 3.0 assists. Although his basketball playing days are now complete, his passion and love for the game remain. We tackle everything from Sherburne’s basketball beginnings, UMBC’s improbable run, to meeting the “best -- not greatest -- quarterback of all time”...
Q: You went to high school in Wisconsin. What led to your decision to go to college at UMBC?
A: I didn't only go to high school in Wisconsin. I didn't have any Division I offers through high school and I knew I could play at that level, so I went to Brewster Academy for a post-graduate year. Located in New Hampshire, Brewster is consistently the best high school basketball team in the country, so lots of college coaches watch their games. The year I went there, our starting lineup went to UConn, Washington, Louisville, Arizona, and Georgetown, and off the bench we had Virginia and Wisconsin. I managed to carve a role for myself on that team and played well enough at an event in Massachusetts that UMBC offered me. So being from Wisconsin did not factor into me choosing UMBC. UMBC saw me because I was on the East Coast and even though I had never heard of UMBC before, I wanted to play Division I, so I committed there.
Q: You were the first player in America East and UMBC history to be named to the 2017-18 Academic All-America first team and the first ever in any sport in America East history to be named to the 2018-19 Academic All-America Team Member of the Year. What did those honors mean to you as a high level student-athlete?
A: For me, the main takeaway from winning Academic All-American awards has to do with the team's success. Getting A's and scoring points has never been a problem for me. What was more challenging was winning basketball games. We won 7 of them my freshman year, and no one knew who UMBC was. If we would have continued winning single digit games for my 4 years, I would have never received those awards, even if I had a 4.0 and averaged 15 points per game. What allowed me to receive them was our transition to a 20-plus-win team and newfound respect for UMBC as a program.
Q: You shot 40 percent from three at UMBC and made 266 total 3-pointers. How were you able to find so much success from deep?
A: Unlike jumping and dribbling, shooting was always natural for me, and it's always been my job to make threes. Luckily at UMBC we had coaches who really loved three-point shooting and point guards who loved to pass. At times, we led the country in various three-point shooting categories and had numerous players over 40%. Another reason my percentages were good was non-conference play. Boy, did I like non-conference play. You play teams you don't normally play, so the scouting is not as in-depth and the other teams don't really know your tendencies. So non-conference was when I would pad my stats, like when you're a Big Ten running back and you run for 300 yards against Bowling Green and boost your Heisman résumé. Then during conference play, when everyone is familiar with you, it becomes harder to find space and get shots off.
Q: A large majority of people immediately write off 16 seeds when filling out their brackets, since no 16 seed had ever eliminated a 1 seed in the NCAA tournament prior to 2018. What was your mindset during preparation and how were you able to maintain confidence to pull off the biggest upset in tournament history?
A: The only time I thought about being a 16-seed was during the selection show. It's like, Damn, they really don't think we're good enough to be a 14 or 15? But then when we started preparing for the game, the numbers 1 and 16 didn't enter my mind. We were just preparing for "Virginia" -- not a 1-seed -- doing what we needed to do to try to compete against them. Even leading up to the game, I didn't think about the fact that we were playing the overall top seed; we were just playing a really, really good team and I was hoping that we would score 40 points and I wouldn't somehow embarrass myself in front of a couple million people. Because even if we were a 15-seed, we'd still have been playing one of the top 8 teams in the country, so it really didn't matter what seed we were. And Virginia's slow style probably gave us the best chance, since the fewer possessions meant they wouldn't get ahead by as much.
Q: Although you didn’t spend much time on the bench during the game against UVA, how much extra motivation did the lively bench celebrations give the guys on the floor?
A: It was such a surreal situation to be up by that much so quickly. For the last 16 minutes all I could think about was not blowing it so I didn't really notice the bench, other than when we'd come off the floor at timeouts and they were really supportive. The 3-minute mark was when I finally allowed myself to start looking at the crowd going nuts and smiling at the bench, knowing the game was in hand.
Q: What was the message at halftime when you guys entered the locker room tied? What was the second half game plan and how was it executed so successfully, as you outscored UVA by 20?
A: I don't remember much about halftime. All I can think of is that when all the players were sitting in the locker room before the coaches came in, everyone was really confident, saying that they were not better than us, that if we just started hitting some shots we were going to win. I don't think there was any real adjustment made by the coaches. Luckily I came out and played the most significant 4 minutes of my life, making my first couple shots and we just kept rolling. That was a trademark of ours those first 2 seasons with Coach Odom: we would go on serious runs, like 15-0 or 20-2. That would happen quite a lot, and we happened to do it against Virginia.
Q: At what point during the game did you realize that you were going to pull off the enormous upset?
A: UVA's second offensive possession of the game was when I knew they were not going to blow us out. I was playing defense in the post, and it was pretty easy: Wilkins was much bigger than me, but really didn't use his size to back me down and just put up an unsuccessful hook shot. So I knew their size wouldn't present a problem. Then early in the second half, KJ Maura drove down the lane for an uncontested lay-up. That's when I knew Virginia was not right and we had a real chance to win. But even as we were up double digits the entire second half, I was worried they'd come back. During timeouts, it was hard to focus on what Coach Odom was saying because we were in such a crazy situation and I so badly wanted to win. I finally knew we would win when Arkel Lamar hit a corner three with over 3 minutes left.
Q: Especially since you grew up in Wisconsin, how exciting was it getting recognition on Twitter from Aaron Rodgers? Did you ever send him that UMBC gear?
A: Aaron Rodgers is my favorite athlete of all time (and the best -- not greatest -- quarterback of all time). Anyone who knows me knows this. I had been Discount Doublechecking for my entire career. When I made deep overhand passes, our home TV announcers referenced Rodgers. I knew if I could make a three during the NCAA game and do the belt, there was a chance a video of it could get some engagement on Twitter. I also talked with Jim Nantz about the Packers before the game, and he knew to watch for the belt. Luckily I was able to get off a couple belts (and we won), and I told reporters about it after the game. One reporter was a friend of Danica Patrick, and she put the word in for me. It was about 1 a.m. the day after the game and I was trying to get to sleep, but I checked my phone to make sure my alarm was set. That's when I saw it, and my jaw dropped. I immediately texted all my friends. All those years doing the belt had manifested the best possible outcome. He sent me a DM after we lost and I got to meet him at the ESPYS. It's all as cool as one would expect. No, I never sent him the gear.
Q: Have you kept in touch with your teammates from 2018?
A: I have a couple group chats with a few teammates that are active every day. Those are with my closest friends from the team. Most of the rest of the team I stay in touch with on Instagram/Twitter/Snapchat, replying and commenting on stuff, you know. And I talk to the coaches every now and then. But we don't still have a whole-team group chat.
Q: You recently signed your first professional basketball contract. How have you enjoyed playing at the next level and what are your future goals and career aspirations?
A: Right after I signed my contract, my back started hurting. The team told me to still come over to Germany and we'd try to mend it there. Nobody could figure out what it was, and I returned home after just a few weeks. My back is still injured and I am working through it, but thanks to that, my days of organized basketball are over. It was really disappointing, because, watching practice every day, I knew I would have been one of the team's best players and had a great chance to move up the ranks in Europe. But in retrospect, given the current state of the sports and the whole world, it was probably the most convenient time to have a career-ending injury.
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