BY MATT CRAIG | NCAA Extern | Ball State Sports Link
This piece was originally published on NCAA.com
The past week held plenty of surprises, and I’m not just talking about what happened at the Academy Awards on Sunday night. It was the final week of college basketball’s regular season, and social media was in peak form heading into postseason play.
As always, there were funny videos, touching moments, and incredible occurances. And yes, there was a connection to the Oscars.
Here are the 5 best social media moments of the week.
5) Miami had quite a week, as they strengthened their March Madness resumé with huge wins over Virginia and Duke. While the action on the court was good, the postgame celebrations were outstanding. After the Virginia game, coach Jim Larrañaga headed to the locker room for a dance party, in which the 67-year-old coach proceeded to show off all the groove he’s got. As the tweet says, it was indeed lit.
https://twitter.com/CanesHoops/status/833865969751773187/
4) The same goes for Syracuse, which picked up a crucial home win over Duke on Wednesday as they hope to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. It helps, of course, that they had over 30,000 fans inside the Carrier Dome to support them. And after the game, the flood of orange seemed to go for as far as the eye can see.
https://twitter.com/Cuse_MBB/status/834586761238081536/
3) The national anthem before every game is a staple of the pregame ritual, though it ordinarily lacks a little creativity or flair. That wasn’t the case before Tuesday night’s SEC matchup at the University of Arkansas. Joe Everson not only sung the national anthem but simultaneously painted a depiction of the famous Iwo Jima flag raising–upside down! The performance climaxed with the red and white stripes being painted while he held the word, “brave” in a moment of unrivaled patriotism.
2) Mahershala Ali is set to become a big star in Hollywood, after his performance in Moonlight earned him an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. But did you know that Ali went to school at Saint Mary’s College? Or that he came there on a basketball scholarship? I bet not. And though Ali gave up basketball, which at this point looks like the right choice, Saint Mary’s gave him a shout out on Facebook after his Oscars’ victory.
1) What could beat an Oscar-winning performance? How about a proposal at mid-court of Indiana’s assembly hall after a senior night celebration. Indiana senior Collin Hartman grabbed the microphone after the Hoosiers’ 63-62 win over Northwestern, before eventually taking a knee. The surprise on his now-fiancé’s face was priceless, as Hartman’s teammates completely lost it on the sidelines. It was a moment no one in the building will soon forget.
She said yes!@IndianaMBB's @CollinHartman30 made his Senior Night extra special with a proposal. 💍 https://t.co/A9ExNyUqXB
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) February 26, 2017
