Matt Brady's interview with ESPN's Freddie Coleman

   Late Monday night, ESPN's Freddie Coleman had Matt Brady on air to talk about the CAA championship. Coleman actually began the interview a little awkwardly as he referred to Brady as "the coach of the Colonials" (GW what? A-10 huh?)

   Coleman didn't take long to point out JMU's recent struggles with adversity.
 
   “When we’ve been healthy in my five years we’ve been really good,” Brady said. “In years one three and five, we weren’t undone with injuries and we won 20 games. We were a threat in CAA conference tournament.”

   The Dukes (20-14) put have now had three 20+ winning seasons under Brady in his five seasons with the program. A vast turn around for a program that only saw a total of 25 wins between 2003-2007.
   
   “In years two and four we got walleyed with injuries," Brady said.

   Coleman then asked Brady if he thought last night's victory "vindicated" him as a head coach for the future.

   “It’s a funny thing Freddie,” Brady said. “I felt like we made progress all along the way, but you hit potholes along the way."

    "People think success is immediate,” he added. “Anybody that has success in any walk of life understands that it’s not easy and in sport someone is trying to stop you from winning."

   As he has for most of the entire season, especially this weekend, Brady recognized that the Dukes would not be in the position they are in without the six seniors that line a 13 man bench night in and night out.

   “We just kind of jumped on their backs,” Brady said of the seniors.

   Coleman then brought up the fact that Northeastern overcame a school record 24 point deficit just hours before Monday's contest. Brady applauded Bill Cohen on his tremendous coaching and said he expected the Huskies to make a run in the second half. NU got within eight points at the 8:23 mark, but that was as close as they came.

   “To do it two nights in a row is hard to do in March," Brady said of the Huskies struggles.

   Out of the 6,038 in attendance last night at the Richmond Coliseum, I would argue that 95.5% of them were 'rootin' for Dukes' (goes out to any JMU season ticket holder in section 109).

   “There’s tremendous school spirit here,” Brady said. “It’s really unlike most things I’ve seen. We have a lot of alums that remember the glory years under Lou Campanelli in the mid 80s where they won three straight first round games in 82, 83, and 84.”

   The Dukes lost to UNC team in the second round of the tournament in 1983, a team that featured someone by the name of Michael Jordan.

   “Those are the glory years of JMU,” Brady said. “We’re hopeful that we can restore some of that glory."

   Brady knew there was a light at the end of the tunnel and that light has come. "Harrisonburg is officially on the map," Nike Basketball's twitter account said last night. Folks, Harrisonburg, VA located in the gorgeous Shenandoah Valley is indeed on the map.

Matt Brady pre-game speech last night