Thursday, March 19, 2015

Hampton not counting on Jesus' help vs. UK

LEXINGTON, Kentucky -- Jesus never called Edward Joyner back, but Hampton University's basketball coach doesn't think it'll take divine intervention to knock off overall No. 1 seed Kentucky in Thursday night's round of 64 NCAA tournament game at the KFC Yum! Center.

Joyner had 297 text messages awaiting him after the Pirates, a No. 16 seed one game below .500, upset Manhattan in a play-in game Tuesday in Dayton. Some texts had to do with what's ahead – a date with 34-0 UK – but the coach's quote on the Wildcats caught on more.

"Hold on, I told y'all I had Jesus on speed dial," Joyner said, pretending to make a phone call. "Hey, Jesus. First of all, you can't play, so I am not worried about you being hot. OK? Fine. They want to know how much of a mountain and what are our odds. Hello? Hello? I guess he'll get back to me."

Joyner said Wednesday inside the Yum! Center that Jesus finally responded, but only via email. Hey, that's progress. And some words from above left him hopeful even as a 31-point underdog.



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