DeLand, FL — Stetson Men’s Basketball is going dancing.
The Hatters won their first Atlantic Sun Conference championship after defeating Austin Peay, 94-91 on Monday.
Stetson’s, Jalen Blackmon, set an ASUN points record in the Championship game scoring 43 and was rightfully named the MVP of the ASUN tournament.
Stetson finished the season with an overall record of 22-12 and 11-5 in their conference.
Winning the ASUN means the Hatters punch their first ticket in program history to play in the NCAA Division I tournament.
Stetson has played in the NCAA tournament before, but back in the 60′s and 70′s when the school was in Division II. The team made it to the DII Elite Eight in 1970, which was the furthest Stetson has gone in March.
The Hatters have never played in the Division I tourney since they joined the division during the 1979-1980 season.
In his fifth season as Stetson’s head coach, Donnie Jones said, “These guys created history, first to ever do it, there’s only gonna be the first to do it, hang a banner up and have a chance to go be one of sixty-eight teams to play, and have that platform on a national stage, it’s what every kid dreams about.”
Jones, speaking with Scott Anez on Orlando’s Morning News, said it doesn’t matter who they face, “we’ve played the best already, I think anybody we go play will be a great opportunity.”
Prior to Stetson, Jones previously was head coach at UCF from 2010-2016 and Marshall from 2007-2010.
As the team gets ready for March Madness, they’ll have one week of practice before the NCAA DI tournament selection show on Sunday, March 17th. That’s when the team will know their seed, and when and who they are playing.
The NCAA DI Men’s Basketball tournament begins on March 19th with the first four.
Listen to the full interview with Stetson Men’s Basketball Head Coach, Donnie Jones, on Orlando’s Morning News Express: