In the crowd’s defense, incredibly tall people are very fascinating.
If you’re not aware of who Oral Roberts’ Connor Vanover is, he’s a 7-foot, 5-inch monster, and as a matter of fact, he was the tallest player in the NCAA March Madness college basketball tournament before losing in the first round to the Duke Blue Devils Thursday night. Despite the loss, however, Vanover is going viral for … tying his shoe.
And unfortunately that would be the only highlight of the night for the Golden Eagles.
Early in the game, Vanover’s shoe came untied, which forced him to quickly get it tied back up so the game could resume. However, his 7-foot, 5-inch frame made it difficult, and even though it might have been a little bit embarrassing, the crowd was loving every minute of it — even exploding at one point to root on the big man.
7’5″ center Connor Vanover had to take a second to tie his shoe
The crowd was cheering him on 😅 pic.twitter.com/nnNNacejUT
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) March 16, 2023
🏀 When you’re 7’5″ and asked “If you were a Marvel character, who would you be?”
👉 The answer: “Groot … he’s a tree, and I feel like I kind of resemble that.”
ORU Basketball Q&A: Meet Connor Vanover #MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/nHA3VNS4NY— OralRobertsU (@OralRobertsU) March 15, 2023
Now the upsets are definitely my favorite part of March Madness, as for most people (like how I’m rooting on Kennesaw State to beat Xavier and UCSB to take out Baylor at the time of this writing), but little moments like this are another special part of March Madness. They happen all the time.
And it also reminds you that these are still kids that we’re watching, and that’s a part of the reason why everything around this tournament is so amazing. The youth, the passion, and yes, the quirkiness. (RELATED: Northern Kentucky Band Director Will Redden Goes All Out For March Madness In Absolute Pure Glory)
Ahh … the beauty of March Madness.