Trine athletics photo

By Joe Sager
D3sports.com

History continues to be made for Trine’s men’s basketball program.

The Thunder isn’t looking to stop anytime soon, either.

Buoyed by the first two NCAA Tournament victories in program history, Trine (25-4) is looking ahead to its quarterfinal matchup against Washington University (20-7).

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“It’s awesome,” Trine senior Brent Cox said. “As a freshman coming in, we talked about this is where we’d want to be, eventually. We have a very competitive group of guys and we were able to fulfill some of our dreams. We’re not done yet, but we have our foot in the door right now.”

Friday’s game, like the Thunder’s first two tourney contests, takes place at Trine’s MTI Center, which hosts Saturday’s sectional final as well.

“Every chance we get to play on this court is something to cherish and embrace,” Trine senior Cortez Garland said. “We’re so thankful for the support we get and all the people that come out to watch us.”

The atmosphere was a little different last weekend as Trine’s students went on spring break and other Thunder sports teams were away as well. Nevertheless, fans and teams from the area filled the MTI Center to watch Trine defeat Fontbonne (91-81) and Coe (76-70).

“You can hear the excitement in the crowd. That energy is kind of contagious on the court,” Cox said. “It helps you lock in and be more confident. It feels good knowing our fans and a lot of teams in the surrounding area have our backs like that.”

Spring break comes to an end this week, so the Thunder expects the basketball fever to intensify.

“It’s the beauty of March Madness,” Garland said. “For us, we’re lucky enough to be put in a position to host it. It’s special to have our fans around because they have a different type of love for us.”

“I think everybody is just as excited as we are,” Cox added. “It’s great to see the fans and students who show up every game and all the people from the surrounding areas and from the community show up and support us. They are just as as happy as we are that we’re successful.”

The Thunder knew it had the chance to be very successful this season after Garland and his brother, Fred, a junior, transferred from conference rival Albion and junior Drew Moore transferred in from a junior college to join a talented core from last year’s 22-4 squad.

“This summer, when we were getting our freshmen and transfers coming in, we realized this could be one of the most talented teams we’ve ever had in our program’s history,” Cox said. “We have a whole lot of talent and a whole lot of guys willing to make sacrifices and willing to help each other go the extra mile. It’s a really tight brotherhood. We’re all chasing the same goal and we all know we want to get there together.”

The new additions meant a shuffling of the rotation, which continues to this day. It hasn’t been a problem for the Thunder, though.

“To see the respect these guys have for one another is remarkable,” Trine coach Brooks Miller said. “We added Cortez, Fred and Drew from other programs and everybody had to adjust their roles from where they were in the past. To see these guys embrace it, it’s incredible. It’s such a good thing to be part of a group of players with so much respect for each other. They are willing to adjust their roles game in and game out based on matchups and what they do best and what other teams do best or what other teams give us.”

Cortez Garland leads the team in scoring at 15.9 points per game, while Fred Garland (13.7), Aidan Smylie (10.8) and Cox (10.9) are next. The team insists scoring depth is not its only strength.

“We’ve averaged close to five double-figure scorers, but we led the MIAA in assists and that’s something that’s really significant with us,” Miller said. “The other thing we’ve done so well is, defensively, we’ve created 13 steals a game and we’re not a team that presses very often. It just shows you that these guys have bought in and they all contribute in some way. When it comes to playmaking, we have so many guys who can make plays and in so many different ways. Aidan Smylie impacts a game in more ways than I have ever seen – nobody impacts a game more without actually scoring that much.

“So, as a coach, it’s really rewarding to watch people work together and so well. It’s really easy to be locked into yourself, especially for young people who want to get likes on social media for scoring a lot or doing individual things. To see these guys enjoy one another’s success is really rewarding.

“I think we can keep getting better, too. We’re still learning from each other because of the three new faces in the rotation.”

Despite it being the program’s first national tournament run, Trine understands what it takes to be successful. That’s why the team wants to continue to make all involved proud.

“We have a lot of people at Trine making sacrifices for all our students, but especially the basketball program this time of year,” Miller said. “We have people working overtime to make sure our arena is ready to go, among other things. We’re happy we can go out there and represent them and have them here to be part of the success we have had.

“For a lot of people, this is the culmination of all the hard work, all the long drives to AAU tournaments, all the times sitting on hard bleachers,” he continued. “It’s great to share this opportunity with as many people close to our program as we possibly can.”