There's no question Phil Martelli Jr. did an excellent job coaching No. 11 VCU to a win over No. 6 North Carolina on Thursday, but his postgame comments are what truly won over the college basketball world.
After VCU erased a 19-point deficit to defeat North Carolina in overtime, Martelli
"I am gonna shout you guys out. I know there’s a lot of professional media, our student media, the best in the country. They are unreal. Unreal, unreal. of these guys drove in a snowstorm — I’m not sure why they did it — to Davidson to cover us in Davidson. They came out to St. Louis, they’ve been everywhere along the way," Martelli said, via WFMD.
"... This crew right here, I told them in Pittsburgh, I’ll tell them again, I cannot thank you guys enough. You are what this is about, right there. The rest of these [media members] are getting paid — not enough. They don’t get paid enough, but they get paid to be here — they’re not paid to be here, and they show up every single day, every single game, and I can’t thank you guys enough."
© Bob Donnan-Imagn Images.
Countless members of the media applauded Martelli for giving VCU's student reporters a special shoutout.
"Really cool moment tonight postgame after VCU upset UNC. VCU head coach Phil Martelli Jr. made a point to shoutout the student reporters that made the trip," Ben Portnoy of Sports Business Journal said. "Lots of great stuff this time of year, but this was a really awesome, genuine exchange."
"I love this," Trey Wallace of OutKick commented. "We all have different stories, but we’ve all cut our teeth in this business, and I promise you this moment will mean a lot to these young reporters later in their careers."
"So awesome. Phil just gets it," John Fanta of NBC Sports wrote.
Can VCU continue its Cinderella run?
Next up for VCU is a showdown with No. 3 Illinois in the Round of 32. Tipoff is set for 7:50 p.m. ET on CBS.
As of this Friday, ESPN's matchup predictor gives VCU only a 17.6% chance of upsetting Illinois.
We'll see if Martelli leads the Rams to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 2013.
