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 informed Elvin.
Sharp had simply turn out to be 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 damage depleted roster rising thinner by the possession in a sport that includes greater than 50 fouls, coach Kelvin Sampson was operating 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 complete 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 certainly one of his free throws and turned a one-possession sport right into a two-possession sport.
That essential level compelled the No. 9 seed Aggies into desperation mode and proved essential in cementing the 100-95 additional time victory that saved the Cougars from being the primary No. 1 seed to be bounced from the Massive Dance.
It was a degree that may have made Elvin’s father, Scott, proud.
“He was with me tonight,” Elvin informed 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 consistently 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 anyplace 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 outstanding member of a program on its option 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 help Ryan at his father’s funeral.
“They had been there,” Elvin mentioned. “I used to be away from the workforce for, like, every week and obtained texts on daily basis, calls checking in and all of that.”
Together with his mom’s encouragement, Elvin returned to the workforce and was met with speedy love — even getting “bum-rushed” by his teammates upon arrival. “Everybody was so comfortable I used to be again,” Elvin informed 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 in a position to cope with it, actually, 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 applications that may have supplied him enjoying time not accessible to him at Houston. However Elvin had a much bigger image in thoughts: he needs to be a coach, and the chance to study underneath a legend like Sampson was too good to go up.
“I form of made the choice primarily based on that,” Elvin mentioned. “Simply making an attempt to essentially take into consideration my future. It was a tricky resolution. I made the correct resolution, and I am so comfortable 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 testing. With the Cougars up huge on the Jayhawks late within the second half, he returned and scored seven factors within the ultimate minutes as the group roared.
That is the truth 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 now not unsure — or, as in Sunday’s case, when there is no such thing as a one else accessible. However exterior the traces, Elvin performs a task that surpasses what’s anticipated from most non-scholarship gamers in Division I applications.
“He goes to the grocery retailer and buys groceries and cooks in his condo and invitations the workforce over,” Sampson mentioned. “He is simply a type of guys. Someone wants a trip, Ryan’s at all times caring for him. He is the man on the workforce that, after 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 try to one-up individuals is being a health club 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 may. That is how I obtained 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 workforce’s season hanging within the stability.
The Houston basketball household as soon as supplied 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 the whole lot,” Elvin mentioned. “Every part. By no means would have thought I might lose my dad. However they had been with me for certain.”
Sampson summoned Elvin as soon as extra after the sport — first to hug him, after which to offer him the glory of stamping Houston’s emblem onto the following 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 can be prepared.
“You by no means surrender and see what occurs,” Elvin mentioned. “Work arduous on daily basis and good issues will occur.”