2012–13 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles men's basketball team

2012–13 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles men's basketball
Atlantic Sun Tournament champions
NCAA Tournament, Sweet Sixteen
Conference	Atlantic Sun Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 25
2012–13 record	26–11 (13–5 A-Sun)
Head coach	Andy Enfield (2nd year)
Assistant coach	Kevin Norris
Assistant coach	Marty Richter
Assistant coach	Michael Fly
Home arena	Alico Arena

The 2012–13 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles men's basketball team represented Florida Gulf Coast University during the 2012–13 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Eagles, led by second year head coach Andy Enfield, played their home games at Alico Arena and were members of the Atlantic Sun Conference. They finished A-Sun play with a record of 13–5 to finish in second place. In only their second year of full NCAA eligibility, the Eagles won the Atlantic Sun Tournament, beating top-seeded Mercer in the championship game, to earn their first ever bid to the NCAA Tournament as a No. 15 seed in the south region. Guard Sherwood Brown was named the A-Sun player of the year.

In their NCAA Tournament debut, the 15 seeded Eagles upset 2 seeded Georgetown 78–68. It was the third time in two years and eighth time overall that a 15 seed had upset a 2 seed. With a third round 81-71 win over San Diego State, they became the first 15 seed to win two games in a tournament to advance to the Sweet Sixteen. They lost in the Sweet Sixteen to Florida 62–50 to finish the season 26–11. After the season, Andy Enfield was hired by the USC Trojans to be the head coach.^[1] They won the 2013 ESPY for Best Upset.^[2]

Roster

2012–13 Florida Gulf Coast Eagles men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Home town 1.5 !G 0 Comer, BrettBrett Comer 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 192 lb (87 kg) 2.0 !So Winter Park, Florida 3.5 !F 1 Hicks, NateNate Hicks  82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 3.0 !Jr Panama City Beach, Florida 1.5 !G 2 Thompson, BernardBernard Thompson 75 !6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 166 lb (75 kg) 2.0 !So Conyers, Georgia 1.5 !G 5 Varidel, ChristopheChristophe Varidel 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 3.0 !Jr Versoix, Switzerland 1.5 !G 11 Jones, JamailJamail Jones  78 !6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) 3.0 !Jr Atlanta, Georgia 3.5 !F 12 McKnight, EricEric McKnight 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) 2.5 !RS So Raleigh, North Carolina 1.5 !G 14 Blessig, AlexanderAlexander Blessig 74 !6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 181 lb (82 kg) 1.0 !Fr Berlin, Germany 3.5 !F 15 Cvjeticanin, FilipFilip Cvjeticanin 81 !6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 212 lb (96 kg) 2.0 !So Zagreb, Croatia 3.5 !F 20 Fieler, ChaseChase Fieler 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 3.0 !Jr Parkersburg, West Virginia 3.5 !F 21 Livingston Jr., LeonardLeonard Livingston Jr. 82 !6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 180 lb (82 kg) 1.0 !Fr Upper Marlboro, Maryland 3.5 !F 23 Murray, EddieEddie Murray 80 !6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 205 lb (93 kg) 4.5 !RS Sr North Fort Myers, Florida 3.5 !F 24 Blake, MarcusMarcus Blake (W) 79 !6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 195 lb (88 kg) 2.5 !RS So Miami, Florida 1.5 !G 25 Brown, SherwoodSherwood Brown 76 !6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) 4.0 !Sr Orlando, Florida 1.5 !G 35 Graf, DajuanDajuan Graf 72 !6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) 170 lb (77 kg) 1.0 !Fr Charlotte, North Carolina	Head coach Andy Enfield (Johns Hopkins) Assistant coach(es) Kevin Norris (Miami (FL)) Marty Richter (Simpson College) Michael Fly (Kentucky) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster Last update: 2013-03-11

According to Yahoo! Sports columnist Eric Adelson, "The out-of-nowhere stories [on the squad] are kind of staggering."^[3] Brown began his college career as a walk-on,^[3] and was so little-regarded in high school that he does not appear in the database of Yahoo!'s Rivals.com recruiting site.^[4] Starting point guard Brett Comer, who had 24 assists in the Eagles' first two NCAA games, said he had no idea how to play the position when he arrived at FGCU; at Winter Park High School, he took a back seat to future NBA player Austin Rivers.^[3] Chase Fieler, whose one-handed alley-oop dunk off a Comer pass was the signature play of the Georgetown game, also does not appear in the Rivals.com database,^[4] and did not know how to jump off two feet when he arrived at FGCU.^[3] Bernard Thompson, named A-Sun Defensive Player of the Year, was by comparison highly touted; he had offers from budding power VCU and five other mid-majors. Nonetheless, he was not nationally ranked out of high school.^[4]

Schedule

References