INDIANAPOLIS – Before BYU traveled here to settle down in the NCAA Tournament bubble, coach Mark Pope was concerned about how he and his team would keep their players busy and engaged, as they were individually isolated in hotel rooms between practices.
The cougars arrived here on Monday and it has been quite an adventure.
“We brainstormed a thousand different ideas that we thought would be effective,” said Pope on Friday. “As usual, what is effective is what happens organically.”
No team on the 68-team field generated more social media moments – without playing – like BYU.
There was a video of the cougars being introduced and promoted before they received their COVID-19 tests at 9:30 am on Thursday night during the first four.
“We are the last team in the tournament to take the test. It has been a long day. We had a hard training and two cinema sessions. We go there and every other time we tested, they just put us in line and you told them your name, ”explained Pope. “For some reason, last night, they said, ‘Let’s call him out.’ The lady who was in charge, who was so amazing, she shouted ‘Brandon Averette’ and the guys burst into spontaneous applause. It just grew from there. It was an organic moment. “
“Given our situation, we have to have a little fun,” said point guard Alex Barcello. “You saw that … It is a tribute to our success because we really love each other. It was funny to see that explosion on social media last night. “
The other viral video featured guard Jesse Wade, who was trapped in an elevator for 30-40 minutes on Wednesday.
“After dinner, I was like, ‘Where’s Jesse Wade at?’ At a table, Brandon Warr and a few other players are at FaceTime with Jesse. It just so happens that he’s stuck in the elevator, ”said Pope. “I jumped on FaceTime. I thought it was hilarious. Understandably, Jesse was semi-worried about his situation. It was: ‘We need to get him out of there’. We started hitting the elevator bays. We ran to the 7th floor and started knocking on the doors. We peer through the gap in the middle elevator and see Jesse there. “
BYU players worked to open the door and Wade appeared, looking like a man who has just given parole.
“It’s a very funny story,” said Pope.
Barcello said that these organic moments happen because of the climate and the camaraderie generated by the coaches. Pope always preaches about having the best locker room in America.
“This is what our technical committee tries to do with everything. That’s why they are excellent coaches, because they want us to have fun while improving, ”said Barcello. “We had some established social networks, but we never thought that we would have introductions to COVID or Jesse tests locking and breaking down the door. That is just who we are. We are trying to have fun with everything and make the most of this situation. We are trying to make this as memorable as possible because, growing up, that was all we did in March. If you were a basketball player, that’s all you would do 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, watching the games all day long during the month of March. … It is such a fun experience and now we are going to live it. We definitely want to make the most of it and go as far as we can ”.
It was once a memorable tournament experience for BYU. But of course, as Pope emphasized, winning will make it that much more memorable. The Cougars face UCLA Saturday (19:40 MDT, CBS) in the first round at Hinkle Fieldhouse.
“We try to hear the sound of victory. We talked about it a lot. Those times when it’s just stupid and kind of ridiculous, but your guys are celebrating and loving each other, ”said Pope. “These are sounds of victory. This is the result of these guys worrying about each other and sacrificing for each other. This is the bond that is formed. These are moments of great pride as a coach. It sounds silly, but these guys care about each other. Our job now is to win. That’s what we’re going to remember and that’s what will make a difference. But the ingredients for having a team capable of winning are some of the experiences we’ve had so far. “