Season to forget transcends into something special for Ohio

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- Before he transferred to Ohio, guard Armon Bassett allegedly failed a drug test while playing during the apocalyptic siege that was the Kelvin Sampson era at Indiana. Bassett was booted.

He ended up with Ohio, a team that has seen difficult times this year. Bobcats players were suspended for violating team rules. Tommy Freeman lost his mother to cancer. One player quit and one was shown the door for violating team rules. There were devastating injuries, bad losses and awkward desperation. Ohio isn't so much Cinderella as it is Cinderella sporting a bloodied nose, fingerless gloves and mouthpiece.

If people are truthful, before this moment, there was never a single indicator -- not one -- that this Ohio team would be the one some are saying could be the next Davidson. If anything, the opposite was true.

Then something happened to Ohio along the way, as it seemingly does every March to one lucky team. A nudge here, a piece of inspiration there, a hot player emerges, and somehow the concoction goes from standard to spectacular.

The Bobcats transformed from a teeny-tiny soap opera to a team with a chance to blossom into full fledged slipper-dom, but it wasn't always that way. Before shocking Georgetown in the opening round of the NCAA tournament Thursday, Ohio was an average team in an average MAC. It had a losing record in conference play and needed an overtime road win as a No. 9 seed just to stay alive in that tournament, let alone succeed in the NCAA against the Hoyas.

At one point in their season the Bobcats dropped five of six games and in that stretch came losses to Bowling Green, Akron and Kent State. Not exactly Kentucky, Kansas and West Virginia. Earlier in the season, Pittsburgh beat Ohio 74-49.

They were just guys, like a hundred other teams in a hundred other places. Then they made history.

"The Ball State game we did have our backs against the wall a little bit, we were down by eight or 10 with 10 minutes to go," Bassett said. "I would say that's the closest thing. But we didn't stop believing there. We felt like we could have won a regular season championship if we get a couple of plays to go our way. We watch the TV and we see everybody make a deal about us being 7-9. Out of nine losses, every one of them was like two or three points. We could have easily won those games. But that's what it is."

And you know what? Ohio's trek to NCAA tournament hotness may not end this weekend. Ohio plays Tennessee on Saturday, and the Volunteers are a sloppy team that doesn't play smart. Tennessee might be ripe for the plucking.

No player typifies Ohio more than Bassett. He left Indiana after the failed drug test and transferred to UAB. He never played a game at UAB and ended up at Ohio. He was a troubled soul who found his way just in time for Ohio.

Bassett scored 32 points against the Hoyas, giving him 148 points in his past five games. Basically, Bassett has carried this team.

Ohio is benefiting from the presence of transfer Armon Bassett, who is happy to put his troubled past behind. (US Presswire)

"Well, I had two good years playing at Indiana, got to play for one of the best college coaches of this time," Bassett said. "I got into a little trouble along the way, kind of, and I had to go through a long while of my name ... nothing but bad stuff being written about me. And it just made me stronger. And I went to UAB and had some family things going on. And I wanted to be a little closer to home. And Ohio is not what you call exactly close to home, but for me to get home for an emergency, I can get home faster than I would be able to get home from Birmingham, so I wanted to make the move. "I've got to thank God for putting me through these situations, for making me a stronger person and giving me the strength to come out of this. And thanks to Coach [John] Groce for giving me a chance to play. I've just got to be thankful, really."

Said Groce: "I think Armon has been through a lot of adversity in his life. And some of it dates back even -- I know you're alluding to probably Indiana and UAB, but even before that. I've known Armon since he was 13 years old and his mother, and from where he started to where he is now and all the different things he's been through, I'm thrilled that he's had this opportunity to grow and to improve, not only as a basketball player while he's been at Ohio but also as a person through this process."

Next comes a much taller and physical Tennessee team, but it seems as if nothing bothers this Ohio group. They'd kick Wilt Chamberlain in the knee and then laugh about it.

The Bobcats have seen everything. So what's a little NCAA tournament pressure?