PHILADELPHIA — Not every team in the Sweet 16 has a supermodel enter its locker room after a historic win.
But the boys at Florida Gulf Coast did.
After their history-making win over San Diego State here propelled them into the Sweet 16, the victorious Eagles reserved a couple of special cheers for their locker room.
“The first was ‘An-dy, An-dy’ as their coach entered, and the second was ‘A-man-da, A-man-da’ as his wife walked through the door in a green tank top.
And why not?
The power couple of Florida Gulf Coast coach Andy Enfield and supermodel Amanda Marcum might just eclipse Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn in the next week as the Eagles have become the first-ever No. 15 seed to advance to a Sweet 16. They will face Florida in the South Region semifinals on Friday in Arlington, Texas.
Florida Gulf Coast remains undefeated in their NCAA Tournament history at 2-0. The last team to start that way? Florida in 1987.
“This is an indescribable moment right now, beating the odds and going to the Sweet 16,” Marcum said in the FGCU locker room minutes after the historic 75-62 victory.
The mother of three, Marcum said she isn’t expecting much sleep in the next week as the national focus amps up on her husband, his team and his famous wife.
“That’s OK, I don’t care if I don’t sleep for the next week,” she said.
Enfield is a former NBA assistant with the Boston Celtics and the Milwaukee Bucks. He also produced a health services start up called Tracked Manager that went on to sell for $100 million — more than the school’s endowment of $50,167,850. And to top all that off, he is married to a supermodel.
She has gotten near as much exposure in the last week as Enfield and his high-flying, Dunk City team of upstarts.
“It’s definitely not supposed to be about me, it’s these guys who are so amazing and that work so hard,” Marcum said. “I mean, I’m flattered, it’s nice. But I’m so glad that everybody gets to see how amazing FGCU is.”
Enfield told the story on Saturday about how while his wife was pregnant with their third child, Marcum, in 2011, he was busy making recruiting phonecalls from the hospital to build his team after he had left Florida State following a five-year gig as an asssitant.
With those calls, he built his current team, which was led by recruits Brett Comer (13 assists) and Bernard Thompson (19 points), as well players who were already at FGCU when he got the job in former walk-on Sherwood Brown (17 points, 8 rebounds) and Chase Fielder (11 points).
“Oh, I was definitely pissed but I understood he had to get started recruiting really fast,” she said with a laugh. “But at the same time, we did have a little bit going on at the time.
“It definitely shows his dedication to his job.”
And now those recruiting calls have paid off, and Enfield and the Eagles have made history.
“It’s amazing,” Marcum said. “I’m so happy for him, for the team and I knew he was capable of this and I love seeing it play out. It’s such an amazing feeling.”
