MEMPHIS, TENN. —- Two minutes into additional time of an unhinged second-round NCAA Match barnburner with Texas A&M, Houston guard Emanuel Sharp checked out walk-on Ryan Elvin and delivered a message.
“Keep prepared,” Sharp instructed Elvin.
Sharp had simply turn into the third Houston starter to foul out after scoring a career-high 30 factors. Star level guard Jamal Shead then grew to become the fourth with 18 seconds left in additional time. With an already harm depleted roster rising thinner by the possession in a recreation that includes greater than 50 fouls, coach Kelvin Sampson was working out of choices.
It was Elvin’s time to shine. The 6-foot-1 senior was “fairly nervous,” he admitted later. However he was prepared. He’d ready his entire life for this.
With a visit to the Candy 16 hanging within the stability and each fan inside FedExForum standing, Elvin entered, chilly off the bench, and was fouled instantly after receiving an inbounds go. He made one among his free throws and turned a one-possession recreation right into a two-possession recreation.
That vital level compelled the No. 9 seed Aggies into desperation mode and proved vital in cementing the 100-95 additional time victory that saved the Cougars from being the primary No. 1 seed to be bounced from the Large Dance.
It was a degree that will have made Elvin’s father, Scott, proud.
“He was with me tonight,” Elvin instructed CBS Sports activities within the victorious Houston locker room. “I knew on that free throw what number of we might shot collectively. I knew I used to be ready.”
When Scott died at age 50 in 2021, Ryan started to doubt if he ought to proceed with the Cougars coming into his sophomore season.
“I used to be emotional due to how a lot he meant to my basketball profession,” mentioned Elvin, who practiced always together with his father as a toddler. “Even trip some locations,” he recalled. “Basketball was an enormous a part of my life rising up, so we shot wherever just about.”
However Elvin is not simply a walk-on, and the Cougars weren’t going to let him stroll away. Shead calls him “a pillar of our tradition” — excessive reward from a distinguished member of a program on its method to a fifth consecutive Candy 16.
Six days earlier than Houston’s 2021-22 season opener, Sampson and the Houston employees made the two ½-hour drive to Spherical Rock, Texas, to assist Ryan at his father’s funeral.
“They had been there,” Elvin mentioned. “I used to be away from the group for, like, per week and bought texts on daily basis, calls checking in and all of that.”
Together with his mom’s encouragement, Elvin returned to the group and was met with speedy love — even getting “bum-rushed” by his teammates upon arrival. “Everybody was so completely satisfied I used to be again,” Elvin instructed CBS Sports activities.
“I give it some thought on daily basis,” he added. “If that was to occur and I wasn’t on this program, what would my life be like? It is arduous to think about, as a result of it has been such a godsend to be round these individuals. I do not assume I might have been capable of cope with it, truthfully, if I wasn’t round this nice group of individuals.”
At Cedar Ridge Excessive College exterior of Houston, Elvin was an All-District performer however not a Division I prospect; he was pursued by Division III packages that will have provided him taking part in time not accessible to him at Houston. However Elvin had an even bigger image in thoughts: he desires to be a coach, and the chance to study beneath a legend like Sampson was too good to go up.
“I type of made the choice based mostly on that,” Elvin mentioned. “Simply making an attempt to actually take into consideration my future. It was a tricky determination. I made the best determination, and I am so completely satisfied to be part of it.”
In 4 seasons, Elvin has by no means performed greater than seven minutes towards a Division I opponent. The one begin of his profession got here on Senior Day earlier this month towards Kansas, when he performed the sport’s first 2:01 earlier than trying out. With the Cougars up massive on the Jayhawks late within the second half, he returned and scored seven factors within the ultimate minutes as the gang roared.
That is the fact for Elvin, a lot the identical as it’s for many walk-ons. He will get to play as soon as the end result is not unsure — or, as in Sunday’s case, when there isn’t a one else accessible. However exterior the strains, Elvin performs a job that surpasses what’s anticipated from most non-scholarship gamers in Division I packages.
“He goes to the grocery retailer and buys groceries and cooks in his residence and invitations the group over,” Sampson mentioned. “He is simply a type of guys. Someone wants a experience, Ryan’s all the time caring for him. He is the man on the group that, once they want recommendation, they go to Ryan.”
Sampson and Houston’s gamers additionally rave about Elvin’s work ethic, which helps set the tone for the entire program.
“Basketball is what I like to do,” Elvin mentioned. “I’ve by no means been probably the most gifted or bodily gifted, so the way in which I attempt to one-up individuals is being a fitness center rat and dealing as arduous as attainable. No matter occurs, I will know that I put my all into it. My dad instilled that in me. My mother, too — to be a tough employee. Work as arduous as you possibly can. That is how I bought to the place I used to be at Houston.”
It is also how Elvin delivered on faculty basketball’s largest stage on Sunday evening together with his group’s season hanging within the stability.
The Houston basketball household as soon as provided Ryan a refuge in a darkish second. With the Cougars dealing with a bleak scenario on Sunday evening, he returned the favor and helped save their season.
“It is meant all the pieces,” Elvin mentioned. “All the things. By no means would have thought I would lose my dad. However they had been with me for positive.”
Sampson summoned Elvin as soon as extra after the sport — first to hug him, after which to provide him the dignity of stamping Houston’s emblem onto the subsequent spherical of the bracket.
Up subsequent for the Cougars is a showdown with No. 4 seed Duke on Friday in Dallas. You in all probability will not see Elvin in that one. But when the scenario requires it, he shall be prepared.
“You by no means surrender and see what occurs,” Elvin mentioned. “Work arduous on daily basis and good issues will occur.”