High Point Coach Advocates for Mid-Major Basketball

After a hard-fought loss to Wisconsin in the Round of 64, High Point head coach Flynn Kleiman took the opportunity to champion the cause of mid-major basketball.

Kleiman, clearly energized by the Panthers’ unexpected victory over the Badgers, challenged the notion that teams from outside of power conferences shouldn’t be taken seriously due to their supposed weaker schedules.

“It’s obvious that high-major teams need to compete against mid-majors early in the season,” Kleiman expressed during a post-game interview. “They always said we weren’t playing anyone. Well, we just played someone.”

Kleiman also pointed to Miami (Ohio), a team that, despite boasting a stunning 31-1 record, had a tough time entering the tournament, having to defeat an ACC opponent, SMU, just to face Tennessee.

“Nobody wants to play us, just like they avoid Miami (Ohio),” he remarked. “But now they have to play us in this tournament.”

This debate often resurfaces each March, highlighting how teams in more prominent conferences like the SEC or ACC can often receive better tournament seeds despite having worse records than some dominant mid-major teams.

Kleiman brought his concerns to the postgame press conference as well.

“We really need to rethink this entire non-conference scheduling approach,” he continued. “Both High Point and Miami (Ohio) are 2-0 in Game 4. It’s frustrating—it’s like we couldn’t secure games. We’ve won 22 of our last 23 matches, yet we didn’t see any movement in the metrics. Not even one spot.”

This year, High Point secured its second consecutive Big South championship, finishing with a 30-4 record and making it to the NCAA Tournament for the second straight year. Last season, during their inaugural NCAA appearance, the Panthers fell to Purdue as a No. 13 seed.