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Chuma Okeke did not say much in the group, but he delivered one of the last motivations before Auburn announced his career in the NCAA tournament.
Of course, everyone laughed because that's what everyone does when Chuma says something.
Chuma was not joking, though. It was serious, he thought. It was important. That's why he kept it just before Auburn's first round match against New Mexico State.
The NCAA Tournament Selection Committee has erased Auburn with a dreaded seed, which means that many people across the country have chosen Auburn to leave the tournament on the first day. It was a bad match for the Tigers. Auburn also had to go to Salt Lake City for the first two rounds, which meant they were playing at the elevation against a regular team. In addition to this, the time of departure (11.30 local time) favored low seed Aggies.
Chuma just knew he had the perfect words to tip the scale of intangibility in favor of Auburn. Motivation is a powerful thing, and Chuma had the quick fix.
"Obama chose us to lose this match," he said with all the seriousness of a pre-war speech.
Chuma's teammates looked at each other inside the group and stopped. Anfernee McLemore could not keep an impassive face.
"We were laughing," said McLemore, "but we were also like," OK, we just have to prove him wrong. We must already break his console. "
Harper, Bryce Brown, of Auburn, describing the case as "the best back of the country"
Bryce Brown and Jared Harper have gone from underrepresented guards in the Atlanta area to the cornerstones of the Auburn race at the very first final, thus making their case to be considered the first backyard of the country.
Since then, Auburn breaks the consoles and has fun on every occasion. The Tigers enter the Final Four for the first time in the history of the program and play against Virginia at a seed here in Minneapolis on Saturday (rush hour of 17:09 Central Daylight Time). In a state where college football is expected every year at the championship level, the Auburn basketball team enjoyed remembering that success had to be appreciated at every stage.
Alabama has won the last four college football seats each season, but these incredible successes are not up to the type of energy that surrounds Auburn's unlikely glory in this NCAA tournament. More recently, the Alabama Sports Department has implemented a loyalty point system to encourage students to attend regular season football games and then stay to the end if there is one. will.
The price of success should not be apathy.
Alabama took part in the College Football Playoff championship game last year, but no one remembers the incredible Orange Bowl victory over the country's best player (Oklahoma quarterback Kyler Murray), as well as exceptional circumstances of the SEC. championship game. Throughout the off-season, the focus was on Alabama's loss in the championship game.
Should not Alabama just be happy to be there every year?
Some people will find this question shocking. Alabama is supposed to be present every year, they say. No they are not.
The pressure is worse for Auburn football. Will anything make Auburn football fans happy this season? They want to send the coach back every year if he does not win 10 games. This created a toxic atmosphere that directly affects the success of the team. Meanwhile, the basketball team thrived in the role of the underdog.
I'm not saying that the state football teams should lower their standards, but the appreciation of the incredible winning streak of this Auburn basketball team was refreshing and gave a good perspective. necessary. This gave the fans a memorable experience after the other.
First, there was the 20-point win against Tennessee in the SEC championship game. Fifth in the standings, Auburn was an afterthought in the tournament. The crown of the league has inspired a fan of Auburn in the parody song "We've Got Jared," which has now become the team's original anthem at the Auburn NCAA Tournament.
After the win against Kansas, Auburn goaltender Samir Doughty said, "Why not us?" He now wears t-shirts and defines Auburn's team spirit.
"Do it for Chuma" became the rallying cry after the victory over North Carolina. Chuma, of course, was injured in his left knee during the match. Auburn used the loss of their best player as motivation, and Chuma arrived at Kansas City's Sprint wheelchair center just after half-time against Kentucky.
His teammates invaded Chuma after the overtime victory, and Auburn coach Bruce Pearl offered his injured player one of the game's nets as a souvenir.
Why does Auburn's size and style scare the coach from Virginia?
Virginia Assistant Coach Brad Soderberg was tasked with locating Auburn in the Final Four.
Which way since the first victory in Salt Lake City against the New Mexico State. Looking back, this post-game celebration was the funniest of all. It took an opposing player missing two free throws with 1.1 seconds to Auburn to avoid losing. Afterwards, there was a lot of lightness to go around.
"We were like" Thank you, Obama, "said McLemore with a smile.
Joseph Goodman is a columnist for the Alabama Media Group. He's on Twitter @ JoeGoodmanJr.
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