David McCormack was the MVP for Kansas on the floor in their national title win on Monday, and it sounds like he was the MVP for them in the locker room as well.
Kansas had a historic comeback against North Carolina after trailing by 15 at halftime and as many as 16 in the game.
McCormack finished with 15 points and ten rebounds, including the last two made baskets for the Jayhawks in their 72-69 victory. He revealed to Tracy Wolfson in an interview after the game what his message to his teammates at halftime was.
“I was in the locker room, I was smiling to my teammates, they thought I was crazy,” said McCormack. “I said, ‘Yo, we just come out here, we have fun, and we do what we was born to do.’ I looked at Och [Ochai Agbaji], I looked at CB [Christian Braun], I looked at Remy [Martin], I looked at everybody … Gotta send the small man. We just executed.”
"I was smiling to my teammates [at halftime] — they thought I was crazy. I said … '[Let's] have fun and do what we were born to do.'"
– David McCormack to @tracywolfson pic.twitter.com/HNHpuNJwHn
— CBS Sports (@CBSSports) April 5, 2022
Kansas relied heavily on the senior forward McCormack, who scored nine of his 15 points in that second period. It was an unbelievable comeback for the Jayhawks and something that had never been done before in NCAA history.
Though they seemed completely toast in the first half, Kansas had proved throughout the 2022 tournament why they were the top team in the country. McCormack’s leadership and clutch play down the stretch definitely helped the Jayhawks find their groove again en route to pulling off one of the greatest comebacks in sports history.
