View from a form at Florida Gulf Coast University(!)
View of the beachfront campus.
This year’s Cinderella college basketball story, having advanced to the Sweet 16 as the first ever 15th seed in March Madness, is undoubtedly the Florida Gulf Coast University Eagles. Sure, there have been plenty of other upsets so far in the tourney. But you are talking about a school that was only recently granted Division 1 status.
FGCU has one of the most unique stories in the tournament. The university has only had students on campus since 1997, has been eligible for the tournament for only two years, lost 20 games in 2010-11, and has a head coach, Andy Enfield, who had only ever been an assistant before arriving on campus two seasons ago. And when he did arrive, Enfield watched his leading scorer, rebounder and assist man all transfer to other schools.
“A lot of people called me up and said, ‘Are you crazy? You have no players left. You guys are gonna be terrible,’ ” Enfield says.
Making matters worse, most recruits thought FGCU was a JuCo in the Florida Panhandle. It’s not. It’s in Ft. Myers, a South Florida vacation spot where the beaches sport some of the softest sand in the world.
FGCU may be a directional school, but it’s the Gulf Coast part that gives it a recruiting tool most others don’t have. Dorms there overlook a beach on a lake, just a few minutes from the Gulf of Mexico. That’s where junior forward Chase Fieler lays out “four or five times a week.” He knows most of the lifeguards, and water sports are free for students, including wakeboarding, canoeing, paddle boarding and tubing.
“If you don’t see it here,” Fieler says, “you can’t picture how good it is.”
See Also: What is Florida Gulf Coast University?
Preparing students for the “real world”
Better than an arrogant professor staring at the ceiling discussing arcane concepts at an Ivy League.
haha, I may have been on a beach near there. I always figured it was just some resort/hotel complexes, not college dorms.
Looks like the students at FGCU don’t need to leave campus for spring break. WOW to have a beach right on campus.