Local Brief
High Point shocks Wisconsin as new money hits March Madness
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Chase Johnston scored the shot that gave High Point University its first-ever NCAA tourney win. Photo: C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images
High Point University pulled off a major upset Thursday, knocking off No. 5 Wisconsin 83-82 for the school's first NCAA tournament win.
Why it matters: March Madness is changing now that colleges can pay players. High Point hasn't publicly detailed its NIL strategy, but it is notoriously wealthy and unveiled a flashy new basketball arena five years ago.
The big picture: Money has flooded into college sports since NCAA players won the ability to get paid for their name, image and likeness in 2021.
- Last year, schools began paying athletes directly, with some spending millions and hiring general managers to professionalize operations.
Between the lines: Mid-majors with big bucks can now attract players who will allow them to compete with the Power Five in new ways.
- That may be especially true for schools like High Point that don't field football teams, which have far larger rosters.
State of play: Two years in a row, the Panthers have secured automatic NCAA tournament bids by winning the Big South championship.
- Last year was HPU's tournament debut, but they lost in the first round.
- In the offseason, they recruited eight players from the transfer portal. Pickups from Arizona and Southeast Missouri State now lead the team in points, rebounds, assists and steals.
What they're saying: The offseason also saw Flynn Clayman promoted to head coach. He delivered a viral soundbite on the court after Thursday's upset, saying with a clear shoulder-chip that power conference schools should schedule regular-season games against mid-majors like High Point.
- "I know how good of a team we had. But nobody would play us," Clayman said as his team swarmed him.
Zoom in: Also helping with recruiting is High Point's snazzy arena, the Qubein Center, which opened on campus in 2021 with an estimated $170 million price tag.
- It seats 5,000, but contains what the school says is the state's second-largest scoreboard. (Charlotte Motor Speedway's is the largest. It seats 95,000.)
- High Point's jumbotron is capable of projecting images onto the court, which the blog Stadium Journey notes is "a feature typically found only in professional sports arenas."
- Stadium Journey notes there is "not a bad seat in the house" and awarded it a 4.43 rating out of 5 — tied for second place with far larger schools like Villanova, Texas and Notre Dame in its comprehensive ranking of college arenas.
What's next: The No. 12-seeded High Point men's team plays No. 4 Arkansas on Saturday. Time TBD.
- "They're good. I mean, they're good!" Razorbacks coach John Calipari said about High Point in his postgame interview Thursday.
- High Point's women's team, seeded No. 15, plays No. 2 Vanderbilt in the first round at 7pm Saturday.