The publicity gift that keeps on giving: FGCU’s high-flying NCAA tournament run in March has borne fruit again.
On Thursday, ESPN unveiled FGCU’s upset of Georgetown as one of four choices for “Best Upset” of 2013 in its annual ESPY Awards.
That’s best upset in all sports, not just college basketball.
The 15th-seeded Eagles defeated No. 2-seed Georgetown 78-68 in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center on March 22 in the school’s first ever March Madness appearance and in just the school’s second year of postseason eligibility.
The Eagles followed their defeat of Georgetown with a 81-71 defeat of No. 7 seed San Diego State two days later in Philadelphia, making FGCU the first No. 15 seed in tournament history to reach the Sweet 16.
FGCU’s defeat of Georgetown also gave rise to the nickname “Dunk City,” which came to define the team’s slam-filled victories.
The three other nominees for “Best Upset” of 2013:
• Fifth-seeded Louisville’s 82-81 upset of No. 1 overall seed Baylor in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA women’s tournament;
• Boxer Juan Manuel Marquez’s sixth-round knockout of heavily favored Manny Pacquiao in December;
• Texas A&M’s 29-24 football upset of top-ranked defending national champion Alabama in November in Tuscaloosa, Ala.
ESPN invited starters Sherwood Brown, Chase Fieler, Brett Comer and Bernard Thompson to the awards before agreeing to also cover all expenses for fellow starter Eric McKnight and sixth man Eddie Murray of North Fort Myers, Florida.
New FGCU coach Joe Dooley turned down an offer to attend the awards because of team duties and to help his family complete its move to Southwest Florida, but former FGCU coach Andy Enfield, now at USC, confirmed to ESPN that he will attend.
“It’s great,” FGCU Athletic Director Ken Kavanagh said. “(Andy) certainly deserves to be there. He was the architect of that whole group.” Kavanagh added, “Hopefully we can get some large segments out there that will want to vote us.”
Voting for the ESPYS runs until the day of the awards, July 17. The ceremony airs at 9 PM Eastern on ESPN.
(h/t to The News Press)
