The field of 68 is set, and teams all across the land are preparing for the teams they’re going to face in a few days. The conference tournaments were just as full of drama, though, and none was more compelling than Albany’s Peter Hooley hitting a game winning 3 to send Albany to an NCAA Tournament berth (they play #3 seed Oklahoma). The story behind it will bring you to tears, too.
Long story short, Albany (the #4 seed in the America East Tournament) pulled off a few upsets along the way to clinch the automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament. Albany player Peter Hooley hit the game winning 3 to send Albany past Stony Brook.
However, the real kicker is that Peter lost his mother to cancer earlier in the year, actually missing a handful of Albany’s games because of it. This article on ESPN shows some great insight into Peter’s relationship with his mother, which makes this incredible story all the more touching. ESPN even did an interview with Hooley…
It’s stories like this that make March one of the best months of the year. Albany’s next game is against #3 seed Oklahoma, and it’s pretty safe to say most of America is now a fan of the Great Danes, especially Peter Dooley.
