David Mirkovic celebrates Illinois' Final Four berth with Texas accessory
David Mirkovic, from Montenegro, was sporting a cowboy hat in the locker room after Illinois defeated Iowa in the Elite Eight.
HOUSTON — The Illinois men’s basketball team was in the airport in Champaign, Illinois, preparing to board a flight to Houston for the NCAA Tournament regional, when Illini freshman forward David Mirkovic made a prescient purchase. Mirkovic’s teammate, Keaton Wagler , sent him a link to an artificially generated photo of Mirkovic wearing a black cowboy hat. It was meant as a joke, but Mirkovic found a similar looking hat on Amazon and ordered it for $34.
It was delivered to the Illini’s hotel in Houston on Friday, the day before Illinois played Iowa in the Elite Eight . Mirkovic only intended to wear the hat if the Illini won. They did, 71-59 , and after the team celebrated in the locker room by spraying each other with water guns – a program tradition that began two years ago in the NCAA Tournament – Mirkovic proudly donned his new headwear.
Asked if he felt like a cowboy, the Montenegro native paused and replied, “I don’t know. What does it mean, being a cowboy? ” He paused and reconsidered: “Yeah, why not.
We’re in Texas. ” Mirkovic scored nine points and had a team-high 12 rebounds in Illinois’ Elite Eight win, coming just one point shy of his second consecutive double-double. He was still named to the South Regional All-Tournament team and his performance helped Illinois advance to the Final Four, where it will play either Duke or Connecticut.