Houston and Alabama Size Each Other Up From the Same Arena

“Man, that’s a good question,” said Quinerly, who often wears a “Basketball Meets Jersey” T-shirt. He noted that he grew up not far from St. Peter’s and F.D.U., and that one of his former teammates at Hudson Catholic High School, Daniel Rodriguez, plays for F.D.U.

“Jersey’s just different in March,” he added.

Quinerly has had a quixotic journey since leaving Hudson Catholic. He decommited from Arizona after documents in an F.B.I. college basketball corruption probe suggested he took a $15,000 bribe from an assistant coach. He signed with Villanova, but left after a year when he struggled to play in its exacting system. He tore a knee ligament in Alabama’s first-round loss to Notre Dame last season, and thought at least for a moment that his college career was over.

Quinerly was Alabama’s best player on Saturday night with an efficient 22 points, 3 steals and 2 assists — which pained Maryland Coach Kevin Willard, who while coaching at Seton Hall had offered Quinerly a scholarship in the ninth grade.

Willard knew on Saturday that his team had a difficult task playing Alabama at its home away from home, so he was hoping that Auburn might be able to upset Houston and its fans would be so riled up they’d stick around to root against their own rival, the Crimson Tide, in a second-round nightcap.

The enemy of his enemy, Willard hoped, would be his team’s friend.

But if Auburn didn’t win?

“Then at 9:40 at night, knowing Auburn fans, they’re probably going to the bar,” Willard said on Friday.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/19/sports/ncaabasketball/sweet-16-houston-alabama.html