Last Thursday, I received an email from former Norwich residents Mike and Kay Nearing. Mike was the proprietor of Nearing Dodge for many years until selling the business and relocating with his wife to Estero, Fla. I presume it was Mike who initiated the correspondence, and he wanted to give me a little heads up on the local ballclub he and his wife follow.
“Keep an eye on FGCU (Florida Gulf Coast University) against Georgetown tomorrow night,” he wrote. “You might be pleasantly surprised at what you see. Look up Coach Andy Enfield and pay special attention to his spouse, Amanda Marcum Enfield.”
Okay, I bit.
What is the quickest way to look someone up online? I Googled Andy Enfield. It says in his bio that he played college basketball for Johns Hopkins. He was no slouch, either. He finished his four seasons at Johns Hopkins as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 2,025, and read this kids, he set the all-time NCAA free throw percentage record shooting 92.5 percent – for his career!
Oh, and I looked up Enfield’s wife. Before becoming a stay-at-home mom and wife of a career basketball coach, Amanda Marcum was an international swimsuit model who graced the cover of just about every top fashion magazine. She’s obviously camera friendly, and the CBS/TNT cameras often took the opportunity to angle on Marcum-Enfield for reaction shots.
Mike Nearing followed up with an email late Friday night. His message read: “Hope you were able to watch some of one of the best games in a long time, we are the real thing.”
Mr. Nearing was referring to the Eagles’ upset victory over Georgetown. From game accounts I read, FGCU controlled that game from start to finish, and the six-point final margin was not as close as the game played out. The game aired on TruTV – a channel I do not have – but coverage switched over to a CBS affiliate toward the end, so I was able to witness the Eagles’ post-game celebration. At this point, I am sure thousands of people who had Georgetown advancing deep on their tournament bracket asked: “Who the heck is Florida Gulf Coast?”
Again, the power of Google paved the way to higher knowledge. FGCU, located in Fort Myers, Fla., was established in 1991, but did not admit its first students until 1997. The basketball program was nothing special for many years progressing from NAIA competition to Division II, and ultimately Division I. The transition to Division I was a four-year process that was finally completed last year. That makes this year’s tournament run – in just the school’s second full year as a Division I school – that much more remarkable.
Mike wrote after Sunday night’s victory over San Diego State, “What do you think of FGCU now? We’re going crazy down here. Sweet 16, here we come.”
Mike and his wife have been season ticket holders at FGCU for 10 years along with former Norwich residents Bob and Peggy Raynor. The Nearings and Raynors were in attendance for the collegiate basketball games played by the Eagles, and have seen a fledgling program grow into one of 2013’s best basketball stories. “As I was walking the dog this morning (Monday), I ran into a couple from the neighborhood and the lady said, ‘I am not really a basketball person, but I just can’t stop watching these boys, they are such fun,’” Mike recounted. “A huge crowd was on hand at Alico Arena (home of FGCU) this morning in the wee hours to great the team as they arrived. There is a pep rally tonight, which should be a blast, and there is tons of news media around the area. Peggy, who works at FGCU, said the campus is on fire. The Twitter universe is rocking with tweets, about the Eagles...what great fun it has been, and hopefully will continue to be.”
The Eagles are indeed a fun team to watch who are bucking the odds, and most importantly, they really have some game.

Follow Patrick Newell on Twitter @evesunpat