FGCU Pulls Off Major ESPY Upset

The ending to this Cinderella story just got a little happier.

The “Dunk City” legend added another dream-like chapter Wednesday night.

Before the most star-studded sports gathering of the year, six members of the FGCU men’s basketball team and their former coach, Andy Enfield, were called on stage at the ESPY awards as winners of an online fan vote for “Best Upset.”

“On behalf of our entire university, or my former university, this means a lot,” said Enfield, now with the University of Southern California.

“We are so appreciative of the support and the recognition that the nation gave these young men as they did something no other team ever did in the NCAA tournament by going to the Sweet 16.”

Florida Gulf Coast University can now add a “Best Upset” ESPY to its trophy cabinet, after winning what many thought would be a tight race between the Eagles’ NCAA tournament win over Georgetown and Texas A&M football’s regular-season win over Alabama.

FGCU — represented by current players Chase Fieler, Brett Comer, Bernard Thompson and Eric McKnight and former players Sherwood Brown and Eddie Murray — beat out three other nominees for the award:

• The Louisville women’s basketball team for upsetting No. 1 overall seed and defending national champion Baylor in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament;

• Boxer Juan Manuel Marquez for his knockout of heavily favored Manny Pacquiao in December; and

• Texas A&M for its college football upset of top-ranked defending national champion Alabama in November in Tuscaloosa, Ala.

“For all our fans, without you guys we wouldn’t be here,” said Murray, a Bishop Verot High School graduate from North Fort Myers who also spoke on behalf of the team.“Thanks for voting, especially our student section, the Dirty Birds, and Fort Myers, aka, Dunk City.”

(h/t two articles from The Fort Myers News Press:Upset of the year goes to… FGCU’s Dunk City! and It’s official: FGCU wins ESPY for “Best Upset”

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