Former San Benito basketball star Kyle Sharp and 12th-seeded
Montana Grizzlies look to stall No. 5 Nevada Wolfpack in first
round of the NCAA Tournament.
By Scott Campbell, Staff Writer
Kyle Sharp is soaring to even greater heights.
At this time last year, Sharp and San Benito High had recently completed a foray deep into the Central Coast Section basketball playoffs. Today, Sharp will take the court with his University of Montana teammates in the opening round of the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.
“It’s just been a crazy year,” said Sharp by telephone from Salt Lake City, Utah. “The whole experience has just been a blur. It goes by so fast. It’s been great.”
Montana was awarded the No. 12 seed in the tournament’s Minneapolis Regional and will open play against No. 5 University of Nevada this afternoon at the Jon M. Huntsman Center. After winning the Big Sky Conference Tournament last week, the Grizzlies were guaranteed an automatic bid into the Division I field, but Sharp and his teammates never dreamed they would be seeded so highly.
Last Sunday afternoon, the Grizzlies gathered at Paradise Falls, a restaurant in Missoula, Mont., to watch ESPN’s selection show and learn their draw.
“I was just expecting a little thing with people close to our team,” recounted Sharp. “I walk in there and there are a ton of people … just waiting to congratulate us.”
As the brackets were announced, the Grizzlies assessed each team saying, “‘We don’t want them,'” or “‘Oh, we match up well against them.'” But Montana didn’t hear it’s name called through the first three regionals.
Once Nevada was announced as the Minneapolis Regional’s fifth seed, the Grizzlies glanced away from the television momentarily–expecting to be named a lower seed in the bracket.
But once Montana was announced as the Wolfpack’s opponent, the entire restaurant erupted.
“Everyone went crazy,” related Sharp. “We never thought that we’d be a No. 12 seed.”
And as the match-up set in while Montana (23-6) reviewed tape of the Wolfpack and began to formulate its strategy, the Grizzlies developed a confidence that this might be their golden opportunity.
“We match up really well with them,” said Sharp, whose team’s 73-60 victory over Northern Arizona on Mar. 8 propelled Montana into March Madness. “If there’s any game we have a chance to win, it should be this game. We have to play a really good game to be able to win, but I think we can do it.”
Despite already tying for second in Montana men’s basketball history with 23 wins, the Grizzlies know that they face a tall order.
Nevada (27-5) enters this afternoon’s contest riding a 14-game winning streak. The game’s outcome may hinge on the Grizzlies’ ability to neutralize Wolfpack star Nick Frazekas, a junior forward who averages 21.8 points and 10.3 rebounds.
“People aren’t giving us much of a chance of winning,” said Sharp.
Asked whether he and his teammates view themselves as underdogs, the former ‘Baler star said, “I think we do. We have to. [The Wolpack] got a better seed; they have better wins.”
Nonetheless, Montana finds itself in a much better position that it did last season. Named a No. 16 seed, the Grizzlies drew top-seed Washington in the first round in 2004-05. Montana played one of the most hotly contested No. 16/1 match-ups in tournament history, even pulling to within single digits late in the game, but ultimately fell to the Huskies, 88-77.
With six upsets in the No. 12/5 pairing since 2002, the Grizzlies are much happier with their seed this season and intent on proving they are deserving of it.
“As a mindset, we have to go in thinking we can really play with them,” said Sharp. “We have to come out and play our best game. I think [an upset] really can be done.”
As for whether or not he will receive playing time against Nevada, Sharp said that was secondary to the Grizzlies’ success.
“I would love to get out there, [but] if I don’t get out there, it’ll be OK,” said Sharp, who has played in 26 of Montana’s 29 games, but didn’t get any minutes against Northern Arizona last week. “If I don’t play, I won’t be devastated.”
After seeing limited playing time this season behind Jordan Hasquet, one of Montana’s stars, Sharp is accustomed to his status as a role player. But the 6-7, 220-pound forward already views this season as an outright success.
“A lot of people don’t play their freshmen year. I actually get to play,” said Sharp, who averages 2.9 points and 2.4 rebounds while shooting 44.1 percent from the field. “I’ve been able to get actually get out there and do some things.”
Most of all, the Hollister native spoke of attaining the single goal he was most focused on entering his collegiate basketball career.
“I really wanted to get to the NCAA Tournament,” said Sharp. “It’s great I get to actually fulfill my dream of going.”
The Montana-Nevada contest is set to begin at roughly 12:10pm PST, 30 minutes after the completion of the Boston College-University of Pacific game.
