If there’s anyone on Florida Atlantic that understands the magnitude of playing at Madison Square Garden, redshirt sophomore guard Nick Boyd gets it.
Boyd, who hit the game-winning shot in the Owls’ NCAA first-round win over Memphis, spent a number of games in the Garden seats watching the Big East tournament. His uncle, Fred Hill, roamed the sidelines for Rutgers when Boyd was little and served as an assistant coach at Seton Hall under Kevin Willard most recently.
Boyd, who is from Garnerville, N.Y., in Rockland County, and played high school ball at St. Mary’s in Rutherford, N.J., gets his first chance to grace the court as a player Thursday night in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament when ninth-seeded Florida Atlantic (33-3) faces fourth-seeded Tennessee (25-10) at the world’s most famous arena.
To be the one actually playing on the court in a game with massive consequences only seemed like a dream to Boyd when he watched his uncle’s teams.
“I really didn’t expect myself to be in this situation or opportunity or have this opportunity,” Boyd said on Thursday. “I mean, I grew up watching Seton Hall. Isaiah Whitehead hit the game-winner in the Big East championship. Sterling Gibbs hitting the game-winner at the end at Villanova back in the day, I was there for that. Just moments like that that I never really thought I would be a part of. But to be here with these guys and everything like that, it makes it more special, and I feel like we’ve got something to prove, and I’m looking forward to it.”
The 6-3 Boyd was averaging 8.9 points, 4.1 rebounds, and 2.6 assists for the Owls entering Thursday night.
Perhaps it was playing in the New York area that gave Boyd the confidence to make that shot to beat ninth-seeded Memphis, 66-65, in the first round.
“I told Coach [Dusty May] in the timeout, ‘I got it,’” Boyd said after the game. “I don’t know why I was feeling that way, but I just said, coach, let me get the ball. I caught it in the corner. I was going to shoot the three. He jumped for the shot fake. And Vlad [Goldin] had a great seal, allowed me to get to the rim. I just thought about finishing no matter what.”
Pretty bold play from someone who is fourth on the team in scoring.
After beating Memphis, Boyd got the chance to face a local foe in 16th-seeded Fairleigh Dickinson, which had upset top-seeded Purdue, of Teaneck, N.J. in the second round. Boyd had five points and five assists in the 78-70 win to earn the trip to New York.
Florida Atlantic has been beating the odds and gaining confidence all season, winning 33 out of 36 games, including 20 straight at one point. The Owls won the Conference USA regular-season and tournament titles en route to just their second NCAA tournament appearance since becoming a Division I program in 1993.
May is in his fifth season at Florida Atlantic and just happened to come across Boyd while recruiting Johnell Davis, who leads the Owls averaging 13.9 points per game, in Gary, Ind. Boyd was playing at Bosco Institute of Indiana in his gap year following his time at St. Mary’s.
“It was more his leadership, his personality,” May said of watching Boyd practice. “And then for whatever reason, I’ve always had an affection for lefties. So he could pass the ball, he could shoot it. He didn’t look like the guards in our league because he wasn’t as physically developed. But as we got to know Nick, I guess we realized how driven he was and how special of a person he is, and that’s contributed to his success because he grew late and he’s an incredibly hard worker. I’ve never been around a harder worker than Nick Boyd.”
And that hard-working mentality was going to be needed Thursday night against a tough-as-nails Tennessee that just outmuscled fifth-seeded Duke in the second round.
“Everybody calls our phones and says are you sure you’re ready for Tennessee?” Boyd said. “You know they’re physical, right?
“I feel like that’s been the trend for us the whole year. We’re an undersized group, but we’ve got heart. And just got to get yourself mentally prepared and mentally ready to really bang and be physical and try to match that as best you can and give yourself a chance to go to the Elite 8.”