This week i witnessed one of the more impressive team performances I've seen in college sports in a while, from the Division II Chaminade University Silverswords of Hawaii basketball team. Most people know Chaminade as the host school of the Maui Invitational, a eight team tournament which usually involves several of NCAA's elite teams. Chaminade is usually the only Division II team and entering this year's tournament they had just won 5 games in the 25 year history of the 3-game tournament.
Chaminade's all time record in the Maui invitational reflects the huge difference between Division I and Division II basketball. Think about it like this: There's about 360 Division I college basketball teams which offer 12 scholarships per school, which means there is usually a significant drop-off in talent between the two levels.
Apparently Chaminade didn't receive that memo. In the first of the Silversword's three games, Chaminade played Michigan State down to the wire, losing by just eight points. May I remind you that Michigan State was the #2 team in the country, and a popular pick to win this year's NCAA Division I Championship. Yet Chaminade, led by 5"6 inch point guard Steven Bennett and center Mamadou Diarra were able to keep the game that close.
Chaminade managed to win its third game against the Oklahoma Sooners, 68-64. While Oklahoma is not a basketball powerhouse, they are still a high profile team, and the Silverswords clearly asserted themselves as the better team. As the ESPN analyst mentioned, both Bennett and Diarra are Division I-talent and were good enough to start for the Sooners.
Prior to their win against Oklahoma, the last time Chaminade won was in 2007, against Princeton. At the conclusion, Bennett was named to the All-Tournament Team, an honor shared with some of college basketball's elite players. The last time a Chaminade player made the All-Tournament team was in 2000.
Overall, a very impressive effort and I'm looking forward to see how Chaminade handles its schedule this season
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