This FGCU 'Dunk City' team wants sustained legacy like Wichita State, Gonzaga
ORLANDO — If anyone is equipped to explain what dunking means to Florida Gulf Coast, it’s Demetris Morant.
The senior forward has 96 of them this year, a mark that has largely contributed to the Eagles surpassing the season total for the 2013 team that earned the upstart mid-major the nickname Dunk City.
As the 14th-seeded Eagles (26-7) try to make a run in the NCAA tournament, they want that magical Sweet 16 run to be the foundation of the program’s success rather than a shadow eclipsing their own accomplishments.
“I just feel like for us to put our own mark on the school would be great for all of us, the players in the coaches,” said Morant. “We have new coaches. We have new players, and I just feel like it’s time for us to show what we’re all about and not just what the 2013 Dunk City was all about.”
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All are quick to share their respect for that 2013 team, some of whom are expected to attend the first-round match-up with No. 3 Florida State (25-8) at the Amway Center on Thursday.
FGCU advanced as a 15 seed that year thanks, in part, to 10 dunks that led the team over No. 2 Georgetown and No. 7 San Diego State. Its electrifying run put the young school on the map.
“If it wasn’t for them, most of these guys probably wouldn’t even be at the school right now,” said Morant.
In fact, the school sees the residual effects in many ways.
The team’s yearly attendance doubled, the school’s enrollment grew 10.2% from the fall of 2012 to the fall of 2016 and fundraising grew from $14 million in 2011-13 to $33 million in 2015-16.
For coach Joe Dooley, who replaced Andy Enfield after that season, it was a “huge jump start.”
“All teams are different, and they want to create their own name,” Dooley said of this year’s team. “But I think what that Dunk City did was help catapult our program to notoriety and make recruiting easier.”
Assistant coach Michael Fly, who has been with the program for six seasons, added, “Before, I would call and say FGCU and kids would say, what is that? I would call afterwards, and (they would say), oh, Dunk City. It just changed everything from a perspective standpoint.”
For all the recognition that trademarked name gave the program – one which has existed for only 10 seasons and been postseason eligible for seven - this year’s team has paved its own way.
The Eagles have earned the program’s first back-to-back NCAA tournament berths, tied their Division I best of 26 wins, went unbeaten in the Atlantic Sun on the road and ranked fifth in the country with 50.2% shooting.
And, yes, eclipsed the 2013 team’s total of 148 dunks with 157 (and counting) this year.
“They started something, and now they're giving us the chance to kind of take a step up and just add some tradition to it,” said guard Brandon Goodwin, who broke a year-old single-season scoring record this season.
Dooley wants the program to build to the level of great mid-majors like Gonzaga, Butler, VCU and Wichita State, building sustained success over time by having a chance to play in March year in and year out, Fly said.
They respect that 2013 team, said Fly, but “we want them coming back 10, 15 years from now and having their own legacy.”
Part of building that goes through a Florida State team that’s long and athletic, thanks in no small part to 6-foot-10 freshman phenom Jonathan Isaac (11.9 ppg, 7.6 rpg) and 7-foot-1 center Michael Ojo.
While the Eagles’ 157 dunks rank them third in the country this season, the Seminoles are first with 171.
“The game plan is to win and by any means necessary,” said Morant. “If we don't get any dunks, if we get 20 dunks, it doesn't matter. I mean, as long as we come out on top, then that's all it takes.”
If they can do that, these Eagles will be on their own way to making a mark on the program.
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