It’s Roll Tide vs. Roll Pride.
No. 13 Hofstra is gearing up to take on a water wall in No. 4 Alabama for what will be the Pride’s first NCAA Tournament appearance in a quarter century.
“It felt fulfilling. It felt crazy,” junior guard Cruz Davis told The Post of the Pride’s long-awaited return.
The 24-10 Pride will face the 23-9 Crimson Tide on Friday in Tampa, Fla. The underdogs — or rather, the lions — are ready to roar.
“The opponent didn’t matter,” added Davis, the Coastal Athletic Association Player of the Year. “Just finally seeing our name come up on that board, and just knowing who we’re going to play and that we’re going to play, all that anxiousness finally came off.”
Freshman guard Preston Edmead agreed. He and the Pride radiated confidence this season, earning two victories over ACC competition when they downed Pittsburgh and Syracuse.
The young Deer Park native is ready to show another power conference team — one led by guard Labaron Philon Jr., who puts up 22.7 points per game — what Hofstra is made of.
“Big names don’t mean anything,” Edmead said after finding out the matchup. “We both tie our shoes the same way.”
The two schools have a recent commonality. Guard Aaron Estrada is an alumnus of both, having transferred out of Hofstra to finish his collegiate career with the Tide for the 2023-24 season.
“I know he’s going for the Pride. I’m not worried about that,” head coach Speedy Claxton said.
Claxton played on Hofstra’s 2000 NCAA Tournament team under Jay Wright, who coached the team to a return the following season. Since then, it’s been a drought on Hempstead Turnpike, as Hofstra had only won the CAA in 2020, the year COVID-19 canceled the Big Dance.
“It’s definitely a full-circle moment for me,” said Claxton, who won an NBA championship with the Spurs in 2003.
“This cements my legacy here at Hofstra,” added the coach, who was thrilled his team got a true Selection Sunday experience on campus.
Claxton told The Post he entered Selection Sunday wanting to face a historically storied program like North Carolina, but he’s plenty content with the pairing.
“They’ve had a lot of success in recent years,” he said. “So I’m definitely excited about getting to play against the Crimson Tide.”
The only thing that can make the first round better is Claxton bringing home what would be Hofstra’s first NCAA Tournament win.
Like his players, Claxton is a true believer that the magic isn’t done.
“No matter who we play, they believe that they can win the game,” he said. “That’s important, and I don’t see it any differently.
“This team is just special. … I don’t know exactly what it is. Hopefully, after the season I’ll really sit down and put my finger on it.”
The feeling is mutual as the team is celebrating Claxton’s legacy as much as the program’s giant leap forward, according to senior guard German Plotnikov.
“The day we won the [CAA] championship, I was telling the people, ‘What hasn’t this guy won yet?’ ” he said. “I’m super excited for him.”
Plotnikov, a native of Belarus, couldn’t be more grateful to have a game in the sunshine state rather than a cold location like Buffalo after New York’s miserable winter.
“I was waiting for something warm,” he said with a smile. “I hope a lot of fans get to come.”
Consistency and grit will be key to an upset, according to Davis, who focused his year on both.
“Last season, some games I’d have 20, and then one game I have eight,” said Davis, who averaged 20.2 points.
The native Texan dedicated his entire summer not just to filling gaps within his game, but also bolstering his emotional role with Hofstra.
Evidently, it paid off and will be something major for the mid-major in Florida.
“Being a more vocal leader, being able to talk to my teammates and lift them up when they’re down, and just give them confidence,” he said.
“We see each other more than we see our family. These are my brothers right here.”
[Notigroup Newsroom in collaboration with other media outlets, with information from the following sources]
