Brandon Hanks is one of five Morrisville State starters who all average in double figures. Morrisville State athletics photo

By Brian Falzarano
D3sports.com

After two weekends of defying the odds and the skeptics and bracketology, Morrisville State arrives in the Sweet 16 as one of the most compelling Cinderella stories in the recent history of the men’s bracket, ready for another 40 minutes of making history.

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Although the Mustangs probably blew up several brackets with their surprise victories at No. 15 Ramapo in the first round, then in overtime at No. 13 Rhode Island College last weekend, the only ones who are not swept up in the shock and awe of them still playing spoiler are the 15 student-athletes and coaching staff who are piloting this most remarkable run into St. Mary’s City, Md., this Saturday to face No. 11 St. Mary’s.

“We always knew the way we gelled in the beginning of the season, the first couple of games, that we could potentially be a very, very good team,” junior guard Brandon Hanks said. “But the outsiders looking in, no one would have thought we would have been in the Sweet 16 preparing to play the No. 11 team in the country.”

In Morrisville, N.Y., they steer clear of the Cinderella term -- even if players like Hanks admit that “we kind of feed off” the underdog capacity. Fourth-year coach Joe Smith simply focuses on developing another winning game plan against another ranked opponent as his Mustangs continue to infuse the Division III men’s bracket with madness.

Prior to this season, Morrisville State’s only appearance under the March spotlight came last season, a one-and-done -- the 2012-13 is just the third Mustangs squad to appear in the NCAA Tournament in any sport -- that set the table for this most unlikely underdog story.

More than just scouring central and upstate New York for fresh high school talent, Smith’s coaching connections at local junior colleges helped construct a second-straight North Eastern Athletic Conference champion. Junior forward Rhamel Williams (10.1 points, 6.1 rebounds per game) followed friend and junior guard Steven Thompson in transferring from Herkimer County Community College, while junior guard Jailaan Kinsey (10.5 points) joined the Mustangs from Tompkins Cortland Community College and, along with Williams, bolstered a balanced starting five.

“We looked at last year and we were really proud of the guys,” Smith explained. “We weren’t extremely deep last year. We won a lot of really, really close games just to get (to the NCAA Tournament). I knew one of the things we had to improve was to get a little deeper, but find talent that would fit in with the guys we had coming back.”

Hanks (10.8 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.2 steals) returned in the backcourt alongside senior Andrew Lucio (5.8 points), who had arrived from Onondaga Community College prior to the 2011-12 campaign. Combined with holdovers such as junior forward Kucjok Ater (11.0 points, 5.6 rebounds) and junior guard Mickey Davis (12.2 points, 4.9 rebounds), and Morrisville State finally possessed the depth and scoring balance necessary to bust through March’s brackets.