How Wofford is handling added attention of NCAA Tournament success

If you watched television over the past 48 hours, there is a strong chance you saw the Wofford College basketball team featured.

The Terriers, the No. 7 seed in the Midwest Regional, have been media darlings this week. Wofford appeared on The Today Show on NBC Thursday morning, and that was before topping Seton Hall for its first NCAA Tournament win in school history later in the day.

Wofford leading scorer Fletcher Magee and the Terriers have gotten plenty of national love since beating Seton Hall, and Magee, who set the NCAA Division I record for career 3-pointers against the Pirates, was on SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt after the Terriers’ victory.

Wofford coach Mike Young, who has had plenty of media attention over the past couple of weeks himself, insists the Terriers are handling all of the added attention the right way.

“They’re unbelievable at that. They relish the opportunity, but they are doing so with a great deal of humility and a clear understanding that what’s most important is practice,” Young said. “What’s most important is coming over here Saturday and playing a good ballgame. And they’ve done that from the start. That’s been a lot of fun to see.”

Wofford has won 21 consecutive games entering its showdown with No. 2 seed Kentucky, and the media attention has picked up more and more with each win.

It has reached a whole new level during March Madness for the small school from Spartanburg, South Carolina.

There will be plenty of eyes on Wofford again Saturday afternoon when it faces Kentucky at approximately 2:40 p.m. on CBS. Nathan Hoover, who scored 18 points in the Round 1 win against Seton Hall, believes the Terriers are ready.

“We’re doing a great job of not letting it get to us. We know that can bring in a lot of problems if we’re not focused on the right things. But we’re doing a great job being focused,” Hoover said. “The main thing we have to focus on is the game, preparing for it. We know it’s going to be a very tough, difficult, hard-fighting game. So we’re not focused on the little things that don’t really matter. We know what the big picture is.”

HOW TO WATCH

Who: No. 2 seed Kentucky vs. No. 7 seed Wofford

What: NCAA Tournament second round game

What time: 2:40 p.m. Saturday

What channel: CBS; Stream online via NCAA.com and March Madness Live

This story was originally published March 22, 2019 at 8:27 PM.