President Vagt appeared on ESPN's Cold Pizza

President Vagt Rallies 'Cats to Nationwide Audience on ESPN

Thursday, March 16, 2006
Contact: Bill Giduz

Davidson's President Robert Vagt ' 69 carried the Wildcat hopes for NCAA basketball tournament glory to the nation on Thursday morning through an interview on ESPN's "Cold Pizza" show.

In the five-minute interview, President Vagt talked about the college's history and the importance of Division I sports on campus, and student excitement over Davidson's 12:15 p.m. Friday opening round NCAA Tournament matchup with number two seed Ohio State.

To access the interview, click here. (Link requires Real Player)

"Certainly, Davidson is a model of how you get it done both successfully athletically and academically," concluded the show's host, Jay Crawford.

About fifty Davidson students will leave campus at 2 a.m. Friday on a bus bound for Dayton, Ohio, the site of the game. They will return immediately following its conclusion, and will make the same trip on Sunday if Davidson pulls the upset. Hundreds more students are expected to gather in the Alvarez College Union on Friday to watch the game on three big screen TVs there.

More than 400 students and fans gathered with the team in the Union's C. Shaw Smith 900 Room last Sunday to discover what seed the NCAA assigned to the Wildcats. The drama took nearly the entire hour-long show on CBS, as Davidson was one of the last teams unveiled in the bracket.

Davidson and Ohio State played each other in the first round last time Davidson played in the NCAA Tournament in 2002.

This is the eighth trip to the NCAA Tournament for Davidson, and third under head coach Bob McKillop. When the 'Cats played Ohio State four years ago in the first round as a 13 seed, they nearly pulled off the upset before falling by five points, 69-64.