The series on March Madness continues as I am connecting with people who left their mark during the NCAA tourney.  Our guest for this episode didn’t have a game winning shot that advanced his team to the sweet 16 – in fact his team didn’t win game, but he certainly made an impression on many basketball fans during the 2009 tournament.  Ben Woodside and his North Dakota State Bison teammates made the Big Dance in their first year of eligibility as they transitioned to full time Division 1 status.  

Ben and a handful of his teammates red-shirted their freshman seasons at NDSU and wanted that extra year to have the chance to play in the NCAA tournament in their senior season, as that would be the first year the school was eligible to participate.  Their patience and hard work paid off.  Ben had a great career as he was Summit League Player of the Year his senior season and sent his team into the NCAA tourney as he hit the game winning shot in Summit League final against Oakland.

Ben and I discuss his path from Albert Lea, MN to NDSU, some great Tim Miles stories, his 60-point game in college against Stephen F. Austin and of course his performance from 2009 in that NCAA tourney game at the Metrodome against Kansas where he went toe-to-toe with KU and Sherron Collins.   Ben scored 37 points in that game against the defending national champions and made quite an impression on college basketball fans and Kansas head coach Bill Self.

Enjoy this conversation in the Bare's Den with Ben Woodside.