NEW: At FGCU's 'Dunk City,' fun is always allowed

Florida Gulf Coast players celebrate after winning a third-round game against San Diego State in the NCAA college basketball tournament, Sunday, March 24 in Philadelphia. Florida Gulf Coast won 81-71.

Published: Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 3:21 p.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, March 28, 2013 at 3:21 p.m.

FORT MYERS - Their stomachs were supposed to churn and their hearts were supposed to pound and they really should have turned ashen from the enormity of it all.



WHAT: FGCU vs. the University of Florida

WHEN: 9:57 p.m. Friday

WHERE:Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

TV: TBS cable network

In an hour they would play a basketball game, and if they won they would be going to the NCAA tournament with an automatic bid as Atlantic Sun Conference champions.

So what does Florida Gulf Coast University do instead of stretching and warming up for the opportunity of a lifetime?

They play freeze tag, what else?

The players ran around the court like rollicking little third-graders in mismatched outfits and chased each other until someone slapped someone else and yelled, "You're it."

"Everyone looked at us like we were crazy," said FGCU's Eddie Murray, "but there is a method to our madness."

Florida Gulf Coast University, the school that counts a professional monster truck driver as a noted alumnus, has captivated the country by turning two heavily favored teams into piles of twisted steel.

First No. 15 FGCU knocks off No. 2 Georgetown. Then it's San Diego State. And suddenly a school located in a swamp somewhere near Fort Myers becomes the first 15 seed in 75 years to reach the Sweet 16 and even makes it into a David Letterman monologue.

Up next comes the unthinkable: Florida on Friday night in Texas.

But to get swept away by FGCU's underdog story is to miss out on the true meaning. It's not who they are beating, but the manner in which they're winning.

It's this simple.

They're genuinely fun.

They blow kisses after big shots, hold up three fingers after 3-pointers, stick out their tongues and innocently smile into the cameras and do chicken dances.

They make mesmerizing no-look passes and throw down dunks that reverberate throughout massive arenas and shake flat-screens TVs bolted to walls inside homes.

Do you know what FGCU coach Andy Enfield told his team at halftime of the Georgetown game? He told them they needed more alley-oops.

More alley-oops!

Coach K says that a lot, too.

In FGCU's first two games, 18.5 percent of its field goals came off whirling or overpowering dunks. They are actually making dunks entertaining again.

And since opinions differ as to where the school is even located — Fort Myers or Estero — the team has come up with its own name: "Dunk City."

"Everyone in the country is enjoying the fact we're playing differently than a lot of teams," said Enfield. "With all the dunks and the high-octane offense and the up-tempo, I think it's refreshing in a lot of people's minds.

"In college basketball this year, the scoring is way down, and there were times last week during the games where I just sat back and watched our team play and I was just enjoying watching.

"I was having just as much fun as everyone in the stands."

All this bravado and yet they don't come off as arrogant. That's what makes them so endearing, even lovable. Heck, they're as surprised as you are by what's happening, and they wisely embrace it and market it.

The national exposure FGCU has received this week is nearly immeasurable, especially for a school that only opened in 1997. Merchandise is flying off shelves, the school's website has crashed several times and who knows what this will do to enrollment.

Winning certainly helps, but so does the appearance of unabashed enjoyment while doing so.

Remember several years ago when USF's football team was ranked second in the country?

Jim Leavitt, the coach at the time, was so uptight that he wouldn't even talk about it at press conferences.

USF's first game as No. 2 was on national TV at Rutgers and there were numerous shots of Leavitt screaming at players on the sidelines. How many recruits do you think that turned off?

USF lost to Rutgers that night — think Florida or FSU would have? — and the program has never been heard from again.

What if Leavitt had taken Enfield's approach: "We don't take ourselves too seriously?"

"No one's too serious on the team to take the fun out of it," said Murray. "I think people really enjoy seeing the smiles on our faces. We're not out there too pressured or too serious, we're out there having fun and throwing alley-oops.

"I think it's the smiles and the dancing that people really enjoy."

So enjoy them while you can.

They're different.

They're refreshing.

They're fun.

And there's no one else like them left standing in college basketball's version of freeze tag.

Right now, they're it.


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