Miami Hurricanes star Nijel Pack has issues with shoes in Final Four vs. UConn
The Miami Hurricanes tried to claw their way back into the game in the second half of their Final Four matchup against the UConn Huskies, the only problem was one of their best players had issues with his shoes. Miami superstar guard Nijel Pack had to get a staffer go back to their locker room in order to try and fix the shoe situation. Apparently, one of his shoes broke and he didn’t have a backup pair.
With 13:31 remaining in the second half, Tracy Wolfson of CBS Sports gave us some further insight on the shoe situation with Pack.
Check out the explanation from Wolfson below. There is a transcribed version of her quotes below the audio clip, too.
“Jim, we have ShoeGate for the Miami Hurricanes right now. Nijel Pack is on the bench because his shoe broke and he doesn’t have another pair of sneakers. They went back to the locker room to try and find him a pair, but right now, he’s on the bench, without any shoes,” Wolfson said.
It’s got to be one of the strangest occurrences ever in Final Four history, that’s for sure. It’s a fair question to ask. What team doesn’t bring a pair of backup shoes to the Final Four? It’s amazing that it happened in such a big game. And when you add in the fact that Pack was given one of the sweetest NIL deals in college basketball this year by John Ruiz, it’s simply mind blowing the ‘Canes didn’t have backup shoes ready right behind their bench.
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Check out the video below of a Miami staffer sprinting to the locker room searching for a new pair of shoes.
It’s certainly unfortunate for Miami, as Pack is one of their best players. And it happened to be on the biggest stage in all of college basketball, the Final Four. It likely wouldn’t have mattered anyways, as UConn dominated most of Saturday night’s game from start to finish. Pack eventually came back in the game and the shoe situation was resolved, but it was still very surprising that the ‘Canes had that issue unfold the way it did.
UConn has been one of the more dominant teams in NCAA Tournament history this year, and Saturday night was much of the same. They were simply the most complete team on both the offensive and defensive sides of the floor. The Huskies will face San Diego State in Monday night’s national championship game.