What is RIGHT with College Basketball: One Last Ode to the 2025 High Point Panthers

After the brackets were announced this past Sunday, I spent the better part of the next few days between two college basketball worlds.

One, the mainstream world of college basketball; where people were spending most of their time griping about which 19-win team did or didn’t get into the tournament. Where mid-majors were firing coaches left and right in attempts to find their next “CEO” hire and players hit the portal faster than power conference coaches could swat away NIT bids. In this world there were transfers, teams getting uninvited from the postseason and the general sense that the holy dollar was still well on its way to breaking the sport we love.   

The other world, a small group chat of dedicated High Point alumni and fans that I was invited to join earlier in the year. A haven of sorts from the hoopla and “grave injustices” of the college basketball media landscape. Just a bunch of dudes talking and sharing clips about their team, the matchup, their travel plans, their school’s first appearance and just how genuinely awesome the whole experience is.

It’s been a breath of fresh air; and I am immeasurably appreciative that they accepted a random, long-winded stranger into their cheery conclave for the past six months.

But it also got me thinking. What made the second world's banter so much more enjoyable wasn’t just the fact that we’re all genuinely good dudes…though we are. It’s that at a time where everything seems broken in college basketball, this High Point program represents so much of what can, and should be, right about the sport so many people love. I know what you’re thinking, "take the purple glasses off"…but hear me out.

Go back with me, if you will, to the morning of March 9, 2024. Everything seemed right for the High Point Panthers. The uncertainty of a program led by new head coach Alan Huss had all but disappeared in a short, but exciting, four months. Led by Duke Miles, Kimani Hamilton and Kezza Giffa the Panthers were Big South Regular Season champs, hosting the conference tournament on their own floor, and everyone in the world of college basketball had penciled the Panthers into the 2024 NCAA Tournament.

But then life happened. Some questionable fouls were called (imagine that). The arena got palpably tense. Longwood’s Walyn Napper banked in a three pointer. A pass from Duke Miles went just out of the reach of a fellow Panther. And that was that. The Panthers whole season came crashing down with an early tournament exit and uncertainty entered the High Point basketball program for the first time since Alan Huss held his introductory press conference.

From that moment forward, a redemption arc began.

Alan Huss tweeted the great C.S Lewis: “Failures are finger posts on the road to achievement.”

Every guy on High Point’s team had a choice to make; capitalize on this season’s success by finding another opportunity, or paycheck, elsewhere or commit back. Commit back not only to your coach and school; but to your teammates, brothers and a shot at redemption. Almost all of them chose the latter and High Point returned four of five starters along with sixth man Kezza Giffa, the Big South Preseason Player of the Year.

But that was just the beginning of the selflessness this team would come to exhibit. In the offseason, Alan Huss’s staff went out and found some dynamite offensive weapons in Chase Johnston and D’Maurian Williams; both of whom would eventually earn starting roles on the team. This meant that former starters Trae Benham and Laye Thiam would be relegated to bench roles and significantly less minutes than the season before. In an era where many guys would have mentally, or even physically, checked out after finding themselves in such a situation, Laye and Trae did the opposite. The two embraced new roles and focused on improving their game and being ready when the moment of opportunity arises.

Earlier in the season an unexpected ailment to Kezza Giffa held him out of a game against fellow NCAA Tournament qualifier, American. Laye Thiam got the last-minute pencil into the starting lineup and proceeded to drop a season-high 25 points and helped carry his team to victory on a night when they really needed him. He mostly went back to playing a supporting role until two Sundays ago when it was Thiam that found himself, amid a Ramadan fast, hitting 2 major three pointers to seal his school’s first NCAA Tournament birth. Redemption through perseverance.

As far as the aforementioned Benham goes? Well you probably know him by now as the High Point “mean mug” guy; a facial expression he’s been perfecting all season after big plays. What you may not know is the important role that Trae’s faith has played in his ups and downs this year; and how that has positively impacted his teammates. His willingness and openness to committing his life to something greater than basketball is something people of any walk can appreciate. You can consider that an even higher form of redemption.

And then of course, there is Bobby Pettiford, Jr. The guy who once played for Bill Self at Kansas and could have probably started on 340 Division 1 basketball teams but chose Alan Huss and High Point University. How did we get so lucky? On the court, Pettiford is simultaneously a glue guy and Mr. Cool. Yes he’s calm, cool and a prolific scorer under pressure. But he also does things like rebounding and fighting through screens that don’t always show up in the box score but make a huge difference in the only number that matters. Alan Huss called him one of the best teammates he’s ever coached or played with.

It’s not just the bench or role players that are selfless on this squad. During a game at Winthrop earlier this year, Alan Huss sat a struggling Kimani Hamilton in favor of reserve Terry Anderson. Anderson, who hadn’t had many great offensive outputs to this point in the season, dropped a couple buckets and got the offense cooking. Before he could press his luck too much, Huss attempted to get Hamilton back in the game to which Mani opposed stating that Terry had the hot hand. Anderson went on the grab 14 points in the game and it sparked a confidence in his game that has carried on since.

It’s not just the selflessness in opportunities; it’s the joy that these guys exude for each other. Go back and watch the Big South Championship…nobody is cheering harder for Bobby Pettiford Jr. than Kezza Giffa (and that includes me, the self-described #1 Bobby fan). Everyone knows about Trae Benham's mean mug but do yourself a favor next time you see Trae break into a mean mug and check out D’Maurian Williams for a split second. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a human being smile from ear to ear the way D’Mar does when Trae is in his element. These guys just love the game and playing for each other.

I’m not trying to leave anybody out either. Terry Anderson and Simon Hildebrandt have fought through injuries to become instrumental pieces to this High Point team. Juslin Bodo Bodo is an absolute worker in the paint who also volunteers his time and money to building better opportunities for kids back in his home of Cameroon. There’s not enough space on this page for me to tell you all the reasons why you should be a fan of these guys, individually and collectively.

It’s no wonder that on top of all this, the Panthers also have the love and support of a university and community that appreciates and supports them in a way that is hard to describe. High Point completely packed out their arena earlier this month, not for senior night or a rivalry game, but for a viewing party of the Mens and Womens NCAA selection show. Hundreds, if not thousands, of fans and students made the 3.5 hour trek to watch this team play in Johnson City for the Big South Championship and thousands more packed the Qubein Center all season long cheering the Panthers along to a 16-1 record at home. We’re all incredibly proud of this squad.

Finally, talking shop, this team is just an absolute blast to watch play. Led by the highly talented Kimani Hamilton and Kezza Giffa (both first team all-Big South) the Panthers rank 25th nationally in KenPom offense.

They’re a deep team that includes sharp shooters like Chase Johnston (43% from 3) and Trae Benham (39%) as well as quick guards like Bobby Pettiford Jr. (Big South tournament MVP) and D’Maurian Williams (2nd team all-Big South) that can break you down off the dribble.

In the United Nations of front courts they’ve got size, athleticism and a diversity of skill sets between the seven-foot Cameroonian Juslin Bodo (2nd team all-Big South), the crafty Canadian, Simon Hildebrandt, and the young Aussie, Josh Ibukunoluwa.

Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out, you have to also factor in two of the most efficient scorers in the Big South, Abdoulaye Thiam and Terry Anderson.

So it’s no surprise that the Panthers rank in the KenPom top 60 of a bevy of offensive categories including 3P%, 2P%, ORB rate, FTA rate, etc. that would test any NCAA defense. It makes this group so much fun to watch on any given night; knowing any of a dozen or so guys can make your jaw drop at any moment.

That being said the Panthers, like all of us, aren’t perfect by any stretch of the imagination. There were times in November/December when it seemed like not a lot could go right for High Point.

They struggled through a myriad of injuries, to find a cohesive defensive identity and keep their opponents off the boards; leading many people to wonder if something had been lost in the offseason or if the right buttons were being pushed in the locker room. Alan Huss even joked recently that at a certain point this year even the people in his own home were questioning some of his decisions.

But Huss knew what we all didn’t.

He accepted a long time ago what we all didn’t want to; that successful teams take time and commitment to the process, not just commitment to the results.

He and this team trusted the process and values that they knew would put them in the best position to succeed; emphasizing a constant work ethic and mentality that put long term team goals over the immediate needs of individuals. In time, Huss has admitted that this team has become “player-led, not coach-fed” and that emergence of leadership has made all the difference.

The results are what we saw the last month of the season; a team coming together to be as tough and cohesive as they are offensively potent. It’s how they won the Big South Regular Season in route to a 14-game win streak. It’s how they won the Big South Tournament with their bench playing almost the entire last 15 minutes against a veteran and NCAAT-worthy Winthrop squad. And of course, it’s why, regardless of what happens on Thursday afternoon they’ve already etched themselves into High Point University lore.

Just by following the process.

I couldn’t be happier for this team and this program. Not just the players and coaches but everyone; from the managers, support staff, the band/cheer/dance teams and alumni that have waited 25 years or more for this moment. What an absolute joy to not only make the tournament but to do it with THIS team; a group that embodies all that is good about college sports. My message to the team is this: the greatest gift of making the NCAA Tournament is the chance to lace ‘em up one more time with your brothers; at least for one more day.

So pardon me if I‘m all out of time to brood over the bubble snubs, NIL budgets, and coaching searches that have inundated the college hoops social-media-sphere this past week. I’ve got a Huss bus to catch; next stop Providence, Rhode Island, final stop…who knows? But what I do know is that this team, this staff, these fans…there’s nobody I rather be on this hell of a ride with. Thank You all, and let’s do this thing boys! Whether it be one, or maybe six, more times. Go Panthers, Beat Purdue!