One of a million fun things for old farts like me to do in southwest Florida is to support the locals in athletics, and a real bang for your buck is making the trip north to Estero to cheer on the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles as they compete in Atlantic Sun conference basketball play. For a paltry $12, I can sit in the front row of the general stands on the home team end, so close to the action that I risk a sweat spray, but TBH, my cheering mate doesn't like that very much so we choose the 4th row. We can still smell their hard work from there!
Some will recall a few March Madnesses ago when the men's program were Cinderella upstarts affectionately coined #dunkcity for their high-flying opening round upsets, but success has not come consistently for the men's program since they were March Madness darlings. The real story surrounds the women's program with it's 8 year strangle-hold on the A-Sun championship trophy.
Yep, you read that right, the ladies are the reining champions for 8 straight years!
22 years ago, the Board at FGCU made an astute decision ... or, they were just flat out lucky ... by hiring Karl Smesko as their head coach, and he's rewarded them by engineering the winningest team in NCAA Division I women’s basketball history in terms of winning percentage, notching a 582-105 (84.7%) record. The feat makes more sense when compared to other prolific contenders like U Conn (79.9%), Tennessee (79.8%) or Stanford (77.3%). If you count his successes prior to FGCU, coach Smesko 643-132 (83%) ranks him 3rd behind U Conn's Auriemma (1180-156 or 88.3%) and LSU's Kim Mulkey (692-112, 86.1%). There are loads more stats to be touted, but suffice it to say, the guy gets the job done with style.
In the most recent trip to Alico Arena, the jaw-slackening ooh-ahh home court of FGCU, I was eager to see the battle of the Titans, if you will, between the league-leading, unbeaten squads of FGCU and Kennesaw State, and while the game was thoroughly entertaining ... especially if you root for FGCU ... it emerged as a disappointing 28 point blowout. Thanks to their continuing consistency, the lady Eagles have garnered a loyal following as a silver-haired legion of foam-finger waving, tee wearing, pompom shaking supporters fill the arena each home game. I'm not too proud to admit that the numbers that night swelled by 2 when my bestie and I donned our tees and took in the action. The undying loyalty of its geriatric gang has helped FGCU extend the nation's fifth-longest active home winning streak to 23 consecutive games. FGCU has not lost inside Alico Arena in 405 days.
Yep, they haven't lost at home for over a year!
Some of my fellow basketball lovin' buddies like to go to men's NCAA games because they crave the sheer athleticism of today's contests, and while I too Jones for an ooh-ahh alley-oop as much as the next fan ... Go watch my beloved Tar Heels if you want highlights ... it's the execution that draw's this old coach's attention to the ladies. Even the FGCU hashtag #raining3s touts the strategy of coach Smesko's sides as, case in point, the smashing of Kennesaw featured laser-like shooting from beyond the arc at a 44% clip. Heck, Smesko's teams have made a combined 6,775-for-19,509 (.347) from long range over his 21 years.
The only thing missing from FGCU's resume is a deep run in the women's March Madness. Who knows, maybe this year? Either way, for my money, it's time well spent!
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