Trey Bonham and Honor Huff recently walked into Riverport Grille to grab a meal.
The rest of the patrons at the downtown restaurant immediately recognized the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga’s star backcourt duo, who recently helped the Mocs win the program’s first National Invitation Tournament championship. They gave Bonham and Huff a standing ovation, and the restaurant paid for the guards’ meal.
“Shout-out to them,” Bonham said with a laugh.
That’s just one highlight from the past two weeks for UTC men’s basketball players, who have gone on a media tour since the Mocs’ 85-84 overtime win against the University of California Irvine in the NIT title game on April 3 at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. That capped a five-game run through the 32-team tournament in which the Mocs were the underdog each time out and trailed in the second half of four of those matchups before finding ways to win.
That tour culminated with Thursday evening’s championship parade downtown that featured buses, the UTC band, and a large gathering at Miller Park.