PORTLAND, Oregon -- The Texas Southern men's basketball team was midway through another lengthy road trip. Four days removed from a 40-point shellacking at No. 8 Gonzaga, the Tigers stared down No. 25 Michigan State at a raucous Breslin Center.
Mike Davis knew his group needed a spark. So the head coach enlisted the help of Eric Thomas, a motivational speaker based in East Lansing. Thomas told Texas Southern about dropping out of high school and struggling with homelessness. Then he detailed his master's degree from Michigan State and his dinner with Warren Buffett.
"If you have average skills," Thomas said, "you have to have a phenomenal will."
The Tigers' season shifted in those 12 words. Within eight days, they had stunned the Spartans and Kansas State. They won the Southwestern Athletic Conference's regular-season and tournament crowns.
On Thursday, in the second round of the NCAA Tournament at the Moda Center, No. 15 seed Texas Southern will face its toughest test yet: a No. 2-seed Arizona stockpiled with NBA talent. Davis harbors no delusions about the matchup. He said it's an opportunity to cherish, one whose significance extends far beyond a win or loss.
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