In lieu of the NCAA Tournament starting I will be going down memory lane talking to several former college basketball stars pertaining to their memories of March Madness. We’ll start off our mini-series of blogs with Devon Moore of James Madison University. During the 2012-2013 nobody saw the James Madison Dukes dancing during tournament time other than themselves. The Dukes started the season off slow, before meshing at the right time of the season. From the end of regular season to the end of the CAA conference championship the Dukes were a force to be reckoned with.
Prior to the season the Dukes weren’t expected to make much noise, but with the veteran team they had it was a possibility that the right switch could click for them at any given moment . Going 11-7 in conference play and 21-15 overall proved that they could play with just about anybody.
During that run Seniors A.J. Davis and Devon Moore were one of the more underrated back courts in the CAA Conference, and in the country. Moore’s leadership, play-making ability, and will to win helped drive the team to have a dance in March. The Dukes also received great play from Ray Goins, and a host of other players. In the CAA tournament championship the Dukes defeated Northeastern, and earned their first NCAA bid in a very long time.
The Dukes went on to beat Long Island University, but eventually lost to the No.1 seed Indiana Hoosiers. Though, the Dukes lost, they still created many memories for those who followed them. Let’s take a trip down memory lane, and listen to what were the fondest memories of that run, by All-CAA player Devon Moore.
RH: What were your fondest memories of your March Madness run during your senior season?
DM: ” It really started during the CAA Tournament. Being able to play with my fellow teammates, and especially our seniors, our goal was to give JMU a title. While at JMU it was the greatest place in the world for 5 years, and I felt that I owed that to the whole fan base and the University. After we beat Northeastern in the CAA title game I felt like I was on top of the world. After we received our bid to the NCAA tournament to play it was just icing on the cake from that point forward. We felt like rock stars with all of the media attention, and being escorted every place we went, it was an amazing feeling. We were able to play in Dayton, Ohio , which is an hour from my home town of Columbus, Ohio, so it was just a blessing to play my last few games in front of my family. It felt great to beat LIU, and actually win a tournament game. We wanted to shock the world to beat Indiana in the next round, but we didn’t. Nobody hung their heads, because we went farther than anyone expected. It was a great feeling to see JMU’s name in the bracket, and it gave me a feeling that I achieved my goal to help put JMU on the map. ”
