Speedo stunt from swim team helps Miami (Ohio) ride a wave of success into March Madness
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Travis Steele heard the murmurs inside the arena burst into a rock-concert explosion of noise as 27 lithe men — wearing nothing but Speedos, goggles and swim caps — bum-rushed the stands behind the basket and waved their arms to provide a nearly-nude distraction on opposing free-throw attempts. With Miami (Ohio) already riding a wave of popularity as one of college basketball's darlings , the swim team's Speedo stunt added a ripple of excitement during the RedHawks' March Madness opener. Steele coached the RedHawks to a 31-0 regular-season record that almost took a backseat (or backstroke?
) to the swimmers' antics. “I know if I was distracted, I know the young man at the line was distracted,” Steele said of the swimmers’ arena arrival at the First Four in Dayton, Ohio. “Obviously, it worked.
He missed a free throw. ” SMU's Corey Washington — perhaps thrown off by the wall of topless men with hairless bodies — indeed missed a foul shot after the swimmers swarmed the area behind the backboard. Miami (Ohio) went on to beat SMU 89-79 on Wednesday night for its first NCAA Tournament victory in 27 years.
“You see these guys all in Speedos sprinting down the stairwell right there at UD arena in the end zone, and it’s like, 'Oh my God,” Steele said. Luke Pugh, a freshman swimmer out of Indiana, was the one who decided the swim team should wade out of the starting blocks and into the basketball stands. Pugh thought it would be fun to find a way to throw some colorful support behind the basketball team, in the spirit of Duke's Cameron Crazies.
His suggestion in the team group chat eventually led to the swimmers attending their first home game in January. Their support stretched all the way to Miami's tournament win in Dayton, about an hour's drive from the RedHawks' campus. “We didn't expect to blow up like we did,” Pugh said.