After stunning the No. 2 seed in the Illinois Regional, the No. 15 seed Jackson Underdawgs move into Round 2 of The Basketball Tournament in Peoria, Illinois, at 8 p.m., ESPN 2, Monday.
Grace Media Group visited with Jackson’s Jewuan Long – Liberty High School, Murray State University – a member of the Underdawgs, to discuss Saturday’s win and what makes the team special.
Question: What are your thoughts on what is being called the biggest upset in the history of The Basketball Tournament?
Answer: I’m excited about the win. It really wasn’t an upset for us. We went in expecting to win 100 percent. It was a very fun game to be a part of to say the least especially, with a packed gym of mainly their fans.
But we came into this tourney with the goal of winning $1 million, and now we are one step closer.
Time to prepare for Bradley!
Question: Anything you could tell us about your next opponent, ‘Always A Brave,’ in Peoria, Monday – a team made up of former players from Bradley University, which is in Peoria?
Answer: We played this team in our first year of the The Basketball Tournament. They eliminated us on a last second shot that year in the second round and eventually made it to the Final Four.
They are a well respected team and we will be ready for them. We look forward to playing in front of a hopefully a packed out arena once again.
Question: A few years of participating in this tournament, it’s obvious the Underdawgs are not lacking in confidence. What makes the Jackson Underdawgs so special?
Answer: I think our chemistry makes us so special. Our core group of guys have been playing together since middle school and we have built a culture with this team of hard nose basketball.
We know what winning basketball looks like on a high level and we have 13 guys that are willing to do the dirty work to get the job done. It is hard to find four guys on one team that wants to do all of the little things that go unnoticed.
But when you have 13 guys doing it, you will always put yourself in a great situation to win, and that is what we have. And we all trust each other.
Question: Will you tell us about how the Underdawgs prepare for the tournament?
Answer: We were able to have three practices together the weekend prior to the tournament in Nashville. We put in a few offensive sets and play five-on-five and were able to build some chemistry with the new guys.
Some of the guys that live in Jackson play together, and there are a few guys from Nashville that get to play together. Other than that, we get a lot of work in on our own throughout the year.
(PHOTO: Jewuan Long)
