The Grambling State men’s basketball team made history by qualifying for the NCAA Tournament for the first time.
Now, reality sets in.
The Tigers are taking on Montana State in a First Four matchup. Being the first Grambling team to make it to March Madness is something that Tigers’ guard Tra’ Michael Moton said is “a real great feeling. (It) ain’t never been done at Grambling. So to be the first to do that really feels good.”
The Tigers and Montana State tip off at 6:40 pm EST on TruTV.
Grambling players also spoke about the importance of representing HBCUs on the NCAA Tournament platform.
“It means a lot. Just being here feels great, and being the first to do this is a really great feeling,” said Moton.
Grambling guard Jourdan Smith said about the NCAA tournament experience: “It’s a real good feeling, especially with the situation that we’re in, being the first basketball team in our program to be here. That just gives us more of a reason to go out and show everybody what we have to prove.”
As they prepare to face Montana State, Grambling is playing their best basketball at the right time, winning 9 of their last 10 games. The Tigers have not lost since March 9.
Tonight, we make our @MarchMadnessMBB debut. But the journey to get to this point has been unforgettable!
🎥 @N_Kebe57 | #GramFam | #ThisIsTheG🐯 pic.twitter.com/B4pT9rjrG8
— Grambling State Men’s Basketball (@gsutigers_mbb) March 20, 2024
Smith says the recent wave of winning stems from the team collectively getting on the same page.
“You could sort of feel the difference on defense,” Smith said. “Like it wasn’t as many missed assignments, missed plays, accidental plays, and things like that. And the energy just picked up on defense. And once we had those situations we started making more shots and started to play with even more energy.”
Although the NCAA tournament is breaking new ground for Grambling, UD Arena will not be unfamiliar to them.
The Tigers played at Dayton earlier this season, falling 76-46 on Dec. 2 to the Flyers.
Smith did not play in the game, but Moton did, and he said the experience would enable them to not “be so rowdy, and we can be calm and just play basketball.”
Grambling’s non-conference portion of their schedule included meetings with Colorado, Iowa State, Sam Houston, Troy, the aforementioned Dayton team, and Washington State.
“There wasn’t anybody that we were really shaken by. We feel confident against anybody.”
