Princeton University community sends off Tigers ahead of NCAA Sweet 16

The players are making their school proud – including some high-profile alums like former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley.

Matt Trapani and Nick Meidanis

Mar 22, 2023, 9:55 PM

Updated 562 days ago

Share:

The Princeton Tigers basketball team received a huge sendoff as they continue their March Madness run in the Sweet 16.
The players are making their school proud – including some high-profile alums like former U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley.
Bradley says it would be the stuff of legend if the team can pull off two more wins this weekend.
"I’ve been excited for a couple of weeks now. I think I speak for the team when I say that,” says junior guard Matt Allocco.
Head coach Mitch Henderson is leading yet another Cinderella from New Jersey – like Saint Peter’s last year. He knows all about the NCAA Tournament run from his playing days – including the iconic upset against UCLA in 1996.
"I was just saying to one of the freshmen. I was like, ‘You know, you have any appreciation of how different this is?’ And he was like, ‘Yeah.’ But I knew he was like, ‘No,’” Henderson says.
Bradley gets it. He led Princeton to the Final Four in 1965, upsetting Providence to get there. Bradley says that the Providence team thought so little of the Tigers that they cut the nets down a game early.
"And we saw ‘em cut the net down. That's called disrespect. Right. And so the next night, we went out and beat them 109-69. And that was a high moment,” Bradley says.
He scored 29 in a semifinal loss to Michigan. And 58 in a third-place game -- still a record for the Final Four.
"My teammates and coach got me off to the side and said, ‘Shoot the damn ball.’ And they knew it was my last game, and I saw a film of that game not so long ago. You know, I was pretty good. We saw the film, now some kid would say, ‘God you guys wore short shorts,’” says Bradley.
But what hasn’t changed is that basketball still makes Princeton cool.
“Want to know where we’re going to be Friday?” asked one student. “Not the library. Louisville!”
Princeton will play Creighton Friday evening in the Sweet 16 game.