All-Access at the 1st/2nd rounds in San Diego: Montana State press conference

The NCAA tournament is about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The 1st/2nd rounds are taking place in 8 cities around the country and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD is covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel commences our coverage from San Diego with the Montana State press conference.


I asked SR G Amin Adamu whether people from his hometown of London care about March Madness. He said that it is a big deal, where everyone tunes in and gets excited about their brackets.


I asked Coach Danny Sprinkle about facing Donovan McNabb(!) as a player for Montana State in the NCAA tourney 26 years ago, and what lessons he learned as a player that he has shared with his guys this week. He said he does not recall if McNabb even got into the game (note: he played 3 minutes off the bench) but will never forget how big Syracuse was. He also remembers that their zone defense was a big problem in the 2nd half…when the Orange outscored them by almost 30 PTS! The thing he wants to get across to his guys is to play a “no-regret” game. He wants to come out, be aggressive, compete, and let the chips fall where they may. They do not need to be better than Texas Tech all season long, just for 40 minutes tomorrow. He wants his guys to knock down some shots and play with confidence.


The Bobcats band/cheerleaders are ready to support their team during the open practice:


And CBS broadcaster Steve Smith showed up to prepare for tomorrow’s quadruple-header!