Northwestern won its first NCAA tournament game in program history on Thursday with a victory over Vanderbilt in first round action. After such a thrilling experience on the court that Northwestern fans for decades have only been able to dream about, the Wildcats had to regroup and focus on the next objective at hand in the tournament. Football coach Pat Fitzgerald was having none of that. He wanted to hulk out and celebrate with the entire basketball team.
As Northwestern men’s basketball coach Chris Collins attempted to get his team to focus on No. 1 seed Gonzaga in the second round, a somewhat familiar voice chimed in with his feedback to remind the team they are among the best teams in the country. This is the moment players in the room recognized the football coach was in the room. As they thanked the coach for his compliment, Fitzgerald made his way through a group of people to hulk out in celebration.
.@coachfitz51 just couldn't help himself yesterday... and we don't blame him. #B1GCats | #PoundTheRock | #ItsTime https://t.co/Mk3t0M5SlQ
— Northwestern Basketball (@NUMensBball) March 17, 2017
Fitzgerald knows a thing or two about breaking some droughts at Northwestern. In 2012, Fitzgerald coached Northwestern to the first bowl victory in school history since the 1948 season. He added a second bowl victory this past bowl season, meaning that for the first time in school history the students got to celebrate a bowl victory and a victory in the NCAA tournament in the same academic year. That used to be just a dream scenario for decades in Evanston.
If Northwestern can pull the upset of Gonzaga, hopefully somebody will keep a camera locked in on Fitzgerald for his reaction.
