Seven games ago, Pat Knight ripped his seniors.
After a bitter 71-59 loss to Vermont in the first round of the NCAA tournament Wednesday night, however, the first-year Lamar coach could barely contain his emotions of pride and gratitude toward the very same players.
''These guys did a heck of a job of leaving their legacy,'' Knight said, fighting back tears. ''I don't know. If there are people that disagree about that, they're morons. These guys just made Lamar relevant again. And it gives us something to build on from here on out, and it puts pressure on the team next year to get something done.''
After a 10-point loss to Stephen F. Austin on Feb. 22, Knight famously said his seniors were ''stealing money being on scholarship.'' It didn't stop there. He also called it the worst group of seniors he'd ever been around and added that his players had problems ''off the court, on the court, classroom, drugs.''
The diatribe became a YouTube standard, with some calling it the best postgame meltdown ever by a college coach.
Yet the Cardinals (23-12) responded with six straight wins, including winning the Southland Conference tournament. But a cold-shooting night couldn't get them out of an early hole against Vermont (24-11), which advances to meet top-seeded North Carolina in the next round.
''These guys did something this year a lot of college athletes don't ever get to experience,'' said Knight, in his first year with the Cardinals after being fired by Texas Tech. ''They're down right now. Losing hurts. But what a ride. These guys were a blast to coach all year long. It was fun. I enjoyed it and I'm going to miss them. Boy, I'll be talking about them until the day I die.''
Devon Lamb and Mike James each had 16 points and Anthony Miles 14 for the Cardinals, who were on the wrong side of a 13-0 run by Vermont in the first half that gave the Catamounts the lead to stay.
Down by 16 points early in the second half, Lamar kept hanging around. It drew to seven points when Miles drove and hit a layup while falling, then completed the three-point play. On the next possession, he hit a 3.
But Vermont always seemed to keep the Cardinals at arm's length.
Vermont scored the next four points and then, after a nifty scoop shot in traffic for a bucket by James, freshman Four McGlynn came in and promptly drilled a 3 from the right wing to make it 59-47 with just over 6 minutes left.
The Cardinals, making their sixth NCAA appearance and first since 2000, never got closer than nine points again.
McGlynn led the Catamounts with 18 points.
Knight was disappointed but not down.
''I can't wait until next year. But I'm going to miss these guys,'' he said before choking up. ''It's been a special year. To go from getting fired a year ago and make the NCAA tournament - and it's nothing I did. It's the six seniors.''
Miles, who had apologized to Knight the morning after the coach went off on the seniors, said he thought the program had turned a corner.
''I know coach Knight is going to do a good job with the program, and it's just a good start to something great,'' he said. ''I'm glad we did a good job, just putting us back on the scene. I got a lot of faith they're going to keep it going.''
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