Here’s what to know as No. 5 seed Miami heads to Albany to face Drake in NCAA Tournament
Selection Sunday began with two big questions for the University of Miami men’s basketball team: Where will the Hurricanes land in the 2023 NCAA Tournament? Will injured Norchad Omier be available to play?
First, the easy question. The Hurricanes are headed to Albany, New York, as a No. 5 seed in the Midwest Region to face No. 12 seed Drake on Friday. UM is 25-7 and won the ACC regular season title. Drake is 27-7 and champion of the Missouri Valley Conference. The winner plays the winner of No. 4 seed Indiana vs. No. 13 Kent State.
It is the second year in a row the Hurricanes earn an invitation to the tournament and the sixth time since Coach Jim Larranaga took over the program 12 years ago.
As for Omier, that is more complicated.
The energetic Nicaraguan power forward arrived at the campus watch party in a cart after spraining his ankle while landing awkwardly in the opening minute of the ACC semifinal against Duke on Friday night. His status for Friday’s game is unknown.
“There’s really no update at this point,” said UM coach Jim Larranaga. “We’ve got our fingers crossed. We wish him the best, but we’ve got to prepare both ways. Either we have him, or we don’t have him. We won’t know what his status will be for quite a while.”
He added that doctors and trainers are taking care of Omier 24 hours a day and he is spending countless hours in the training room. “Norchad is working on it, he wants to play,” Larranaga said. Having a Friday game instead of Thursday gives him one more day of rest.
Miami will be playing a Drake team known for its three-point shooting and the Bulldogs have won 13 of their past 14 games. Larranaga told his players to start studying Drake online and familiarizing themselves with their players.
Last year Miami was a No. 10 seed, faced Southern Cal in Greenville, S.C., in the opening round and went on to reach the Elite Eight for the first time in school history before losing to eventual national champion Kansas.
“It feels great to be one of those teams in March again,” said guard Isaiah Wong, the ACC Player of the Year. “We have more confidence and experience going in this year. It’s going to be tough to prepare because we don’t know how serious Norchad’s injury is, but if he can’t play, we will play our hardest.”
Guard Jordan Miller conceded that it was more exciting watching the selection show last year because it was his first time. But this time, he knows what to expect and will treat it like a business trip.
The team is motivated to step it up in case Omier cannot play.
“We have the pieces, we have the guys, it was a close game against Duke the whole game,” Miller said. “Norchad is our inside presence, but A.J. Casey and Anthony Walker stepped up. If we had a few stops down the stretch it could have been a different outcome. It’s not impossible without Norchad, but we’d obviously love to have him.”
Miami had been projected by most prognosticators as a No. 5 or No. 6 seed. The Canes won the ACC regular season title and were the top seed in the conference tournament, but fell short against Duke, 85-78, in Friday’s semifinal.
It was the Hurricanes’ second loss in their last four games and three of the final games came down to the final possession.
Despite the Duke loss, the Hurricanes built an impressive resume all season long. They finished 15-5 in the ACC with victories over Duke, at North Carolina, at Clemson, Virginia, Wake Forest, at Virginia Tech, and over Pitt.
If Omier is unable to play, it would be a significant loss. He averaged a double-double this season with 14 points and 10 rebounds per game. Miami was outrebounded 36-24 by Duke on Friday, just the second time that has happened since January, proof of Omier’s value to the team.
The tournament’s overall No. 1 seed is Alabama in the South Region. The other No. 1s are Houston, Kansas and Purdue.
Five ACC teams made the field, Duke, Virginia, Miami, Pitt and North Carolina State. The only other Florida team in the field is Florida Atlantic University, which ended the season 31-3 and is the No. 9 seed in Columbus, Ohio, and opens against No. 8 Memphis (26-8) on Friday.
The tournament begins March 14-15 with the Play In games on truTV (Games begin at 6:40 p.m.) First round action starts March 16-17 on CBS, truTV, TBS and TNT (Games begin at 12:15 p.m.).
