It’s that time of year again when we share our expertise on who will have the final dance amidst the March Madness and yet again have our brackets busted early and in many cases oh so often. Among the field of 68 teams that will be marching along the Madness will be the usual powerhouses such as Duke, Michigan State, Louisville and Kentucky. There's the occasional Cinderella schools who are largely responsible for all this madness. Then you have George Mason, Wichita State, Loyola-Chicago and Florida Athletic, all who danced their way unexpectedly towards a Final Four appearance. It’s that madness that not only busts our brackets but also attaches us to all this March Madness excitement.
This year’s Cal State University of Northridge basketball program finished their season tying a school record of 22 regular season wins, finishing in a 3rd place tie in the Big West Conference with UC Riverside. In their time as a Division I school, the CSUN Matadors have appeared in the NCAA Tournament twice, in 2001 and 2009. The Matadors march towards madness begins this Thursday night in the Big West Tournament where they will face either No. 5 seed UC Santa Barbara or No. 8 seed Cal State Bakersfield. Should CSUN hope to wear the glass slipper, they will most likely have to win out their conference tournament. But hey, it's March, and we all know it's these under the radar schools that create much of this March Madness.
With all the powerhouse schools and possible Cinderella stories among the 68, only a small number will be fortunate enough to be in the NBA or perhaps in other professional leagues.
One of the players hoping to wear the glass slipper for the CSUN Matadors is senior point guard PJ Fuller II.
PJ Fuller
Hometown: Seattle, WA
High School/Previous School: Findlay Prep/University of Washington
SJ- Previously you were playing for the University of Washington before transferring to CSUN. What was the transition like to go from a major program to that of CSUN?
PJ- It’s a much smaller school but its an amazing school. I love it here. You can’t go wrong with the L.A. weather over the Seattle weather. My coaching staff are amazing, my teammates are amazing. Everybody was so welcoming and I felt comfortable here.
SJ- Your team this season tied a school record with 22 wins this season. How does it feel to be a part of school history?
PJ- It feels amazing to have that title forever. I’ll always be able to say that I’m part of history at this school because of our record this year, for me and all my teammates and the coaching staff. It means a lot to us.
SJ- Once your hoops days at CSUN are through do you plan to remain here in L.A. and pursue your career, be it in athletics or other ventures?
PJ- Because of basketball I’ve travelled all over the country and all over the world. You never know where the roundball is going to take you. That’s the fun thing about it. You get to go places, meet new people, learn new cultures and just enjoy life playing basketball doing what you love. But I would love to be in L.A. L.A. is like my second home. I’ve been coming out here since I was in 6th grade. My big brother lives out here so L.A.’s my home. I’ll be here for sure.
SJ- With a chance to play in a major venue come tournament time, what would you say was the most daunting venue you played at during your time here at CSUN?
PJ- In the Big West I think our worst loss was at UC San Diego, I wouldn’t say the crowd was too crazy or anything like that but just because I felt it was our worst loss. It didn’t represent who we are as a team.
SJ- Looking Forward. Why will you and your fellow Matador teammates be wearing the glass slipper on your way through all this March Madness?
PJ- Because we deserve it. We’re going to do everything we can in our power to get there. We’re going to treat the game of basketball the right way to make sure we are deserving of putting on that glass shoe.
Could CSUN be one of those “Cinderella Schools” whose glass slipper shatters your bracket? Can PJ Fuller be that one player who plays a significant role in busting many a bracket? Let the madness begin !
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