Friday, September 05, 2008

Rick Byrd has spent a good portion of his summer fielding speaking engagement invitations.

"Most of the time, nobody wants to hear me talk," said the soft-spoken Byrd, heading into his 23rd year as Belmont head coach. "But when you play Duke like that, they do."

It's been five months since Belmont "pulled at your heartstrings" (as CBS announcer Craig Bolerjack put it) during a 71-70 loss against the Blue Devils at the Washington, D.C., pod. The Bruins, the No. 15 seed, led by one point until Gerald Henderson's game-winning finger roll with 11.9 seconds remaining and played so valiantly that their effort was received almost as warmly as a win.

"It was certainly unlike any other game in my career," said Byrd, who has led the Bruins to three straight Big Dance berths. "Different than the other times we went to the [NCAA] tournament and lost. But we really aren't a different program than we were when the ball went up that night. But the perception is dramatically changed."

By extension, the Bruins' performance also reflected well on the 27-year-old conference that they've owned for the past three seasons. The Atlantic Sun opened November with marquee nonconference wins over teams from the Big East, the SEC and the Pac-10, and in March the three-time league champions nearly added the ACC to the list.

"I was just so proud of those guys," said Atlantic Sun commissioner Ted Gumbart, who spent the game seated right behind the Belmont bench. "They played so hard every possession. Coming back in the second half when they were down by nine … What they did deserves to go down as one of the great tournament games.

By Kyle Whelliston
ESPN.com