COLUMBUS, Ohio — You know who has seen enough of Peter Hooley's game-winning shot against Stony Brook that clinched the America East tournament championship for Albany and sent the Great Danes back to the NCAA Tournament?
Peter Hooley, that's who.
"Too many times," Hooley said with a smile when asked how many times he had seen the shot Thursday afternoon ahead of Friday's game between No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 14 Albany in the East Region. "You see it on different types of platforms and stuff … it's pretty exciting. It's a fun time I'll definitely never forget."
It's been a crazy week in the middle of a crazy few months for Hooley in the wake of his mother passing away, as he described in the column he penned for Thursday's editions of The Post.
But Hooley said he would be more than ready to play when Friday's game tips off around 7:30 p.m., and Albany coach Will Brown thought the experience — and all of the attention that has come with it — has been a blessing in disguise for the junior guard from Australia.
"I think he's comfortable right now," Brown said of Hooley. "I think he's proud of his mom. She was a wonderful woman, and if you spend time talking to Peter, you know she was his biggest fan.
"It's an unbelievable family, and I think Peter knows that she's watching and she's listening, and I think every time he talks, he's sending a message to her, and I think he enjoys that … I think he enjoys it."
The task for the Great Danes won't be an easy one, as they'll be facing an Oklahoma team that finished second in the Big 12 — and one motivated to not only avenge losing to lower-seeded North Dakota State in their first NCAA Tournament game last season, but also to avoid becoming the third three seed from their conference to go down this week, after Baylor and Iowa State were upset Thursday.
"Oklahoma, we're not going to catch them sleepwalking," Brown said. "They're going to be ready. They're going to be excited to play.
"Lon Kruger is one of the best coaches in the country … [and] I've heard several people say they might have the best starting five in the country outside of Kentucky. So they're good, they're going to be ready to go, and we're looking forward to the tremendous challenge that's in front of us."
Albany players couldn't help, but admit that seeing two 14 seeds pull off upsets only boosted their confidence.
"It definitely does," Hooley said. "Any college basketball player who says they're not watching the games is lying to you.
"Obviously we'll see what happens, and it doesn't change anything for us. We still have to prepare the same way, we're still going to go out and play the same way and make sure we stick together and grind it out."
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