SMU basketball is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017, and the Mustangs head to Dayton believing their long wait is only the start.
SMU basketball is headed back to the NCAA Tournament, and the path there wasn’t exactly calm. It was shots in the gym, extra conditioning, nervous scoreboard watching, garage cleaning, and, yes, a whole lot of prayer.
Now the Mustangs are a No. 11 seed in the Midwest Region and will face Miami (OH) in the First Four in Dayton on Wednesday night with a chance to keep dancing.
For players like Jaron Pierre Jr., Boopie Miller, and B.J. Edwards, this moment has been a long time coming.
“We practiced a lot. We shot, ran just to stay in shape,” Pierre said. “But we were just waiting for that day to come.” When the bracket finally dropped, he said, “it was nothing but excitement.”
Miller kept it just as real. “I said a lot of prayers. We also got in the gym, got up shots, did a lot of running,” he said. Then came the hard truth after selection Sunday: “That happiness, it has to go away now. Now we’ve got to get ready for the game plan and try to win the game.”
Head coach Andy Enfield dealt with the wait in his own way. “I tried to keep busy,” he said. “I walked on the Katy Trail. I went to Home Depot and bought a push broom. I actually broomed my whole garage.” Still, he admitted the bracket stress was real, even while “some really exciting games… happened to go our way.”
Enfield also made it clear that SMU believes it earned this spot. “We had great wins,” he said, adding that the Mustangs’ late slide was tied to injuries. “If you look at our full body of work, we certainly deserve to be in the NCAA Tournament.”
That’s where B.J. Edwards’ return matters. Pierre didn’t hide it: “Happy to have him back… We have a really good team.”
Now comes the next challenge. SMU hasn’t just waited since 2017 to hear its name called. It hasn’t won an NCAA Tournament game since 1988. As Enfield put it, “We’re looking forward to representing our school and the ACC in Dayton.”