‘Almost Teared Up’: Jordan Pope Living March Madness Dream With Texas Longhorns
in the First Four for a matchup with the Xavier Musketeers on Wednesday. Though heading to Dayton probably wasn’t what the team had planned headed into the season, it now gives Texas new life and Pope a chance at living a lifelong dream.
Pope was one of multiple players that met with the media after Selection Sunday. He admitted he almost teared up when seeing Texas pop up on the bracket after missing the NCAA Tournament during both of his seasons with the Oregon State Beavers.
“When I seen everyone start cheering when our name popped up, I almost teared up a little bit,” Pope said. “This is what I dreamed for, this is what I came to Texas for. That was part of my decision in leaving (Oregon State). I wanted to be part of March Madness and get my chance to be on that stage. And now that we have the opportunity, I’m just grateful.”
Pope played his first two seasons in Corvallis but the Beavers didn’t sniff an NCAA Tournament bid. He was Oregon State’s leading scorer in both seasons.
This year, Pope’s usage on offense has taken a step back but Texas wouldn’t be in the bracket if not for some of his timely plays. When Tramon Mark fouled out in overtime against Texas A&M at the SEC Tournament, Pope stepped in as the lead guard and won the game for the Longhorns in the second overtime.
In that second overtime session, Pope made arguably one of the plays of the season for Texas when he somehow found Tre Johnson on a wrap-around pass from under the basket to the top of key. With no one around him, Johnson hit the deep triple to give Texas an 87-85 lead with 2:06 to play. Pope bounced in a jumper on the next possession and the Aggies were never able to retake the lead.
Pope and the Longhorns will now prep for Xavier. Wednesday’s game in Dayton will tipoff at 8:10 p.m. CT.
