Sweet 16 surprises include local connections

If you – to borrow a phrase from LSU coach WIll Wade – have been under a rock the last four days, March Madness has been a little, well, maddening.

Six of the Sweet 16 teams are seeded seventh or higher, and half of those teams have ties to southeast Louisiana.

Most prominent are a pair of No. 7 seeds whose ties start in the head coach’s chair.

Texas A&M, the No. 7 seed in the West Region and fresh off an 86-65 dismantling of defending national champion North Carolina Sunday in Charlotte – only the second time the Tar Heels have lost an NCAA Tournament game in their home state.

The architect of the Aggies program is New Orleans native Billy Kennedy, whose path has traversed through all parts of the region – student-athlete at Holy Cross, Delgado and Southeastern; student assistant coach at Southeastern; volunteer assistant at the University of New Orleans; assistant at Northwestern State and Tulane, and head coach at Centenary and Southeastern.

Kennedy has another New Orleans native on his staff – special assistant Don Maestri, who was head coach at Holy Cross from 1970-79 and went on to win more than 500 games as head coach at Troy before retiring in 2013. Kennedy lured Maestri out of retirement to join his staff two years ago.

It’s the second time in three years Texas A&M has reached the Sweet 16. In 2016, the Aggies pulled off the greatest late-game comeback in tournament history, rallying from a 12-point deficit in the final minute of regulation to defeat Northern Iowa in double overtime and reach the regional semifinals.

Speaking of comebacks and No. 7 seeds, Nevada is headed to the Sweet 16 after the greatest second-half comeback in tournament history. The Wolf Pack trailed second-seeded Cincinnati by 22 with 11 minutes left before ending the game on a 32-8 run to stun the Bearcats 75-73 and move on to the South Region semifinals in Atlanta.

Nevada’s head coach is former LSU assistant Eric Musselman, and he added some Tiger connections prior to this season.

LSU lifer Johnny Jones – who played on the Tigers’ 1981 Final Four team and was an assistant to Dale Brown before serving five years as the school’s head coach – is in his first year as associate head coach with the Wolf Pack. Jones’ son John, who prepped at University Lab, is a freshman guard and has played in seven games this season.

A couple of hours after the Wolf Pack completed their comeback in Nashville, No. 9 seed Florida State pulled off yet another stunner, knocking out the West Region’s top seed, Xavier. FSU will join A&M in Los Angeles for the West Region this weekend.

St. Paul’s graduate Harrison Prieto is a sophomore walk-on forward for the Seminoles. The former District 6-5A most valuable player and all-state swimmer has played in two games this season for FSU.