Jay GreesonIt's a glorious moment and high-water mark for mid-major programs and players when they take the practice court after the Kentucky Wildcats are done to get ready for the Indiana Hoosiers.
The Mocs' magical run has arced over a special winter in which UTC experienced a program-record 29 wins, punctuated by a Southern Conference tournament championship.
It, quite simply, was a season for the ages that was crafted by multiple hands and was authored by a first-year coach who inherited a deep and talented roster of players who have persevered more than almost every other team in the field.
Four years, and three coaches. Zero postseason wins since 2009. Very good talent but unknown in the moment.
It was a cycle of highs and lows that was defined by polarities that also attracted intriguing pieces from the end of the John Shulman run to the two-year stint of Will Wade to the record-setting past five months of Matt McCall's first season as head coach.
McCall has pushed all the right buttons, and along the way he has been quick to praise his predecessors for the talent level of these Mocs.
For Wade, who is about to make his NCAA tournament debut Friday with Virginia Commonwealth University (where he was an assistant from 2009 to 2013), his time in Chattanooga was memorable. And the decision to leave was even more emotional.
"It was tough - you knew it as you were building it," Wade said earlier this week on Chattanooga's "Press Row" radio show regarding this UTC team. "It was tough to leave because you put a lot of sweat equity into getting it to that point and being there to see it through. But the VCU job is a great job and a great opportunity I couldn't pass up.
"But I loved my time in Chatt."
Wade's time was certainly well spent. And McCall has added the flourishing additions to that talent foundation.
For Wade - the guy who recruited Greg Pryor from junior college and lured Justin Tuoyo (who ironically followed Wade from VCU to Chattanooga before Wade headed back) - the connection was more about the people than the zip code.
"I have it on my phone to get the scores and updates from all the UTC games," Wade said. "We'd put Alex, our video guy, on it and make sure we had it on the screen to watch them play.
"I kept up with them but wanted to keep a distance because it's Coach McCall's program and he's done an amazing job with those guys."
So Wade followed the Mocs from afar, wishing them best while giving McCall the appropriate space to make the program his own.
Plus the full-time job of quickly rebuilding the VCU program kept him busy.
"Had to remake the roster when we got here," Wade said. " It took us a little while to get going. We started 5-5 and went 19-4 down the stretch."
But when conference tournament time arrived, Wade was as focused on UTC as anyone.
"I was a nervous wreck watching the (SoCon) championship game," Wade said. "My wife had to leave the room because I was yelling at the TV and I was so into it. I was worse during that game than I probably am during our games."
Wade is the middle man in an unusual coaching exchange tree that started when Shaka Smart left VCU for Texas, creating the moves for Wade and McCall. That all three teams are in the NCAA tournament is a great testament to those coaches and the foundations they left. (Current Tennessee coach Rick Barnes was fired from Texas, for what it's worth.)
The Mocs' success in particular, though, was something Wade expected from the start. McCall recognized it almost immediately after taking the UTC job.
"I knew from the very beginning that this team could be this good," McCall said on "Press Row" on Tuesday. "This team's connectivity it was clear that it was a strength, and we made a lot of decisions to make sure we didn't disrupt that."
McCall deserves a lot of credit for that and for redrafting his style around a talented bunch that theoretically could be even better next year.
Wade knew it before he made the gut-wrenching decision to head back to VCU.
"To be totally honest, that first year (at UTC) went a lot better than anyone expected," Wade said. "I didn't think anyone thought we could jump-start it like that, and that put it a year or two ahead of schedule. I knew this year and next year would be two very, very good years (for the Mocs).
"You always want to leave a place a little bit better than you found it, and I feel like we did that and the program has continued to get better."
Mission accomplished. On all accounts.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6343. Follow him on Twitter @jgreesontfp.