Dayton's opening act

The Mountain Hawks of the Lehigh University men’s basketball team are in semi-uncharted territory as they enter the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2012, playing Prairieview A&M in the First Four in Dayton Wednesday night.

But luckily for the young team, the atmosphere of UD Arena is a little more familiar. They played the Dayton Flyers in December 2024 ending in a 62-86 loss to Dayton. 

“The atmosphere is crazy … definitely one of the better atmospheres I’ve been in in my college field,” said Nasir Whitlock, sophomore guard for Lehigh.  “It was exciting to play.”

“The atmosphere is crazy … definitely one of the better atmospheres I’ve been in in my college field.”

Hank Alvey, sophomore forward, agreed. “[B]eing here before definitely helps going into this game,” he said. “It helps to be familiar with the environment.”

And the warm welcome they received as they arrived Monday afternoon didn’t hurt, either.

“When we arrived at the hotel, they rolled out a red carpet for us,” Alvey said. [We had a] police escort. I’ve never seen that, just running through red lights. The hospitality has been great.”

“We’ve never had things like that. I know some other colleges have, but we haven’t had [that],”  Whitlock. “And just seeing everybody support you, it’s been good.”

Lehigh head coach Brett Reed, who has been coaching for more than 30 years, said what Dayton presents for the First Four is rare.

“This is a wonderful facility; it is fantastic, and the support from the community here in Dayton is incredible,” he said. “We’re really looking forward to this game because we know what it means to this community. We know the type of support that’s going to be there now — our guys could sense that when they came out and played last year.” 

Reed said team members were welcomed off the plane but then headed to a facility in nearby Xenia, Ohio, to practice, while Lehigh’s cheerleaders and band headed to the team hotel — where they were met with a hero’s welcome.

“There’s bagpipes playing and people cheering,” Reed said. “I’m so glad that our students and administrators had a chance to have that warm reception. But there were no players there because somebody didn’t get the memo.”

But later, when the team returned to rest at the hotel after their practice, Reed said, they got the same treatment.

“It was the same thing dialed up all over again! Bagpipes playing, people waving, banging cowbells …” he said. “It was a really special experience for our guys and hopefully a memory that they’ll cherish forever.”

UD sets the stage for the tournament’s opening act into something unforgettable — a stage where, no matter who you are or how you got here, the madness already feels real.

Photography by Maggie Endres ’26