Speedy Claxton, Hofstra not backing down from chance to make March Madness noise: Force to be reckoned with
Welcome to the jungle.Hofstra head coach Speedy Claxton is coming into March Madness like a lion and wants his Pride to pounce on a storied program in the coming days.“I’m hoping that we could get somebody like a North Carolina — somebody that has a lot of history,” the former NBA champ with the Spurs told The Post.“We’re not going there just to be happy we’re there … we’re trying to win,” the former Hofstra player added.It’s not unreasonable for Claxton to say the 24-10 Long Island school is no charity case and instead a team demanding respect.The apex predators put a dent in the ACC this season on their way to a hard-fought CAA championship — scratching the Pittsburgh Panthers 80-73 and pulping the Syracuse Orange 70-69.“We’re going to be a force to be reckoned with,” Claxton said.“They lace their shoes up just like we do.They get dressed just like we do.
It’s a normal opponent.It’s nothing that we haven’t seen before.”Hofstra’s zenith has been a long time coming: 25 years, a global disaster, and three conference finals heartbreaks — two of which Claxton was an assistant coach for under Joe Mihalich — to be exact.The duo finally had the right stuff in 2020 and came out swinging with an 88-78 upset over UCLA, followed by a CAA title win over Northeastern 70-61 — a revenge game after falling to the Huskies 82-74 in the final prior.Their one shining moment was clouded by COVID-19, which canceled March Madness 2020 before Hofstra could even enjoy Selection Sunday.“Damn.
Every time, it was something,” lamented Claxton, who went dancing as a senior for Hofstra under Jay Wright in 2000.The circumstances were similar in his own college days, minus a worldwide pandemic, of course.“Year after year, we kept falling short, and then we just pushed through.It was very special for that team.”Claxton took over the program in 2021 for his good friend and mentor — he said Mihalich taught him “everything” from running ...