The last month has been a whirlwind for former Parkersburg South standout Chase Fieler. After being on center stage during an NCAA Sweet 16 run with Florida Gulf Coast, Fieler has finally had a little time to absorb what all transpired.
“It wasn’t too bad at all (of a month),” Fieler told the MetroNews “Statewide Sportsline” crew Wednesday night. “It was a lot of fun being in the NCAA tournament and making the run we did and getting the notability we did throughout the entire process.”
Fieler’s team, of course, was the story of the tournament as the 15th-seeded Eagles knocked off No. 2 seed Georgetown and No. 7 seed San Diego State to become the lowest-seeded team to make the Sweet 16. Fieler was a part of Florida Gulf Coast’s slam-dunking barrage that turned heads across the country.
“We had a lot of alley-oops all year,” Fieler said. “Our team had around 160 on the season and I had 60 alone.”
And Fieler’s success in the NCAAs had many wondering how so many other D-I programs missed out on him coming out of high school.
“All I ever thought about and wanted to play was Division I,” Fieler said. “I didn’t have the numbers (my junior year) and I just came off of a five-inch growth spurt, so my name wasn’t really out there. I didn’t have any Division I looks until really the middle of my senior year.”
As a sophomore with Parkersburg South, Fieler was just a 6-foot guard who dressed for the varsity team, but didn’t play.
“Toward the end of the season, I grew about one inch in height and then four more inches over the summer,” Fieler said. “I started playing with the team year-round and got on a good AAU team and kept playing everyday.”
And Fieler’s story is similar to many of his FGCU teammates — a group of players that, for the most part, were overlooked by most D-I programs.
“We definitely have a lot of players that maybe didn’t get the notoriety in high school or didn’t get recruited to the high levels that came here, developed and just got a lot better,” he said.
You can see the complete interview with Fieler above.