(Zach Spiker MetroNews Talkline interview)
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — This year’s NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament will feature several West Virginia connections beyond just Bob Huggins’ club. Former WVU players Darris Nichols (Florida), Rob Summers (Cleveland State) and Frank Young (Appalachian State) have helped teams to the tourney as assistant coaches. Morgantown High School graduate and former WVU staff member Zach Spiker has led the Drexel Dragons into the field of 68.
Spiker is in his fifth season leading the Dragons. Drexel secured their first tournament berth in 25 years with a 63-56 win over Elon Tuesday evening in the championship game of the Colonial Athletic Association.
“When you start to think about the journey and where it is, it can kind of trip you up a little bit. You can get lost and it can overwhelm you. I have to compartmentalize it a little bit and I haven’t really taken myself out of that zone because I wouldn’t have had my team and my mind right for the game,” Spiker said on MetroNews Talkline.
“Getting the team to the tournament, helping the team and a school that hasn’t been there in a while is very gratifying.”
Spiker is in his 21st season in the college game. Prior to arriving at Drexel, Spiker was the head coach at Army for seven seasons. The past twelve months have posed a new list of challenges for his team.
“I think about our basketball players in the last year, the pandemic starts and we are trying to get them home. We are trying to get guys that live in Lithuania home as quickly as they can. There’s been social injustices that our players have faced, in-front and personal in West Philadelphia and throughout the world. It is all mixed in with extended time away. It is hard not go get emotional thinking about our guys.”
We are going DANCING! pic.twitter.com/hkLJfKc4kP
— Drexel Men’s Basketball (@DrexelMBB) March 10, 2021
The CAA is a mid-major conference and with a record of 12-7, the only path for the Dragons to make the NCAA’s was by winning their league tournament title.
“There was a lot of pressure because if we don’t win, we are not going into the tournament. We don’t have the luxury of being a big school with a conference record that will make you stronger for an at-large bid. There’s a lot of pressure and emotions in that day.”
Spiker was an administrative assistant at WVU from 2002-2004, working for head coach John Beilein.
“Coach Beilein gave me an opportunity to come back to Morgantown during one of the stops on my coaching journey. He was a great influence and I actually had a call with him Tuesday morning. He has been in that situation before.
“Coach Beilein is a tremendous offensive mind and we have done some 1-3-1 defense. You just kind of take and learn from everybody, whether that is coaches that you have worked for our your staff.”