The next day, the Bulldogs boarded a plane early in the morning and headed to the next city.
There were also two acquaintances of Zhang Yu on the plane—Dell and Sonya.
They came to Birmingham before the first round, watched Curry's game live, cheered him on, and certainly won't miss the next game.
And coincidentally, the host city for the next two rounds of the Eastern Conference happens to be Charlotte.
Not only that, Zhang Yu was stunned when she learned the name of her next opponent—Virginia Tech, the alma mater of Dell and Sonya, also rejected Curry's school.
When he announced the news, Curry's eyes lit up, and his expression was obviously a lot more excited.
After getting off the plane, he took the initiative to contact his alma mater, Charlotte Christian High School, so that the Bulldogs could use the school's arena for training.
Zhang Yu simply found a hotel nearby as the team's accommodation.
Although this is a little far away from the competition arena, it is convenient for the team to train.
The game is three days later on March 3, and the Bulldogs have plenty of time to rest.
After settling in the hotel, the team followed Curry to Charlotte Christian High School for restorative training.
When they walked into the campus, they were warmly welcomed by the students.
With two years of outstanding performances, Curry is extremely popular in Charlotte, not to mention his alma mater.
Zhang Yu deliberately asked the players to sign and take photos with the students before entering the arena. Curry showed nostalgia and talked about a lot of interesting things in high school.
In training, Curry's aggressiveness was exceptionally strong, and he wished that every ball could be finished by himself, which was completely different from the past.
Zhang Yu knew that this must be a stack of two layers of buffs, Homecoming + Revenge, which made his desire to win extraordinarily strong.
But the game is imminent, Zhang Yu's training intensity is not high, the main purpose is to maintain the players' state.
In the afternoon, the training was over, and the team left Charlotte Christian High School, preparing to go back to the hotel to rest.
Just after they walked out of the school gate, many reporters surrounded them.
They handed over strange radio equipment such as microphones, recording pens, and mobile phones in their hands, and asked their own questions one after another.
Amidst the noise, the staff of the team's basketball operation department rushed out to maintain order, and the chaos gradually subsided, and the reporters began to ask questions in an orderly manner.
"Coach Z, the best result in the history of Butler University is the Elite Sixteen. Are you confident to break this record?" A young reporter asked.
"Of course." Zhang Yu nodded concisely.
The rest of the reporters glared at this colleague, what nonsense are you talking about, why can't you ask some valuable questions?
"Stephen, you are going to play against Virginia Tech soon, which is your parents' alma mater. Can you tell me why you chose Butler University instead of VT?" Another blond female reporter threw the question to Curry.
However, Zhang Yu has already stipulated that during March Madness, the team members cannot answer reporters' questions without authorization, lest they answer inappropriately and be affected by public opinion feedback.
Curry glanced at Zhang Yu, and after he nodded, he began to organize his words and answered:
"I actually went to VT to try out first, but I was rejected, and then I came to Butler...not only VT, but I also went to many schools, but none of them were willing to give me a full scholarship."
Many reporters present exclaimed in a low voice. How could some school reject Curry and the NCAA scoring champion?
Not everyone knows Curry's history of blood and tears that summer.
But the blonde female reporter was not among them. She had already done her homework and dug out Curry's past clearly. This question was just a foreshadowing.
"Now that you have proven your talent and strength, do you feel that those schools, including VT's coaches, have blind eyes and failed to see your potential?" This question is what she really wanted to ask.
Curry pondered for a while, then said:
"I don't think so. Maybe they think I'm not suitable for the team. I was really thin at the time. If it weren't for the leader, I might not be able to play in the NCAA."
Later, the reporters wanted to ask more questions, but were stopped by the Bulldogs entourage, who asked the players to board the minibus and return to the hotel.
The next day, the reporters turned around and came outside the arena rented by Virginia Tech to interview them.
The blond female reporter saw the opportunity and asked the head coach Seth Selinberg:
"Coach Salinburg, Stephen Curry of Butler University said in an interview yesterday that only Coach Z saw the potential in him, while other coaches, including you, turned a blind eye to it. What do you want to say?"
The smile on Salinberg's face froze instantly.
Although he knew for a long time that someone would definitely ask questions about Curry, but when he heard the reporter ask, he still felt a pain like a twitch in his heart.
Whenever he saw the guards on the team dribbling around and trying their best to get to the inside and score a two-point layup, he couldn't help but think of Curry strolling to the frontcourt, the three-point line. The scene where the basketball is hollowed into the net with a two-step free shot.
If he had followed Dell Curry's persuasion and recruited Curry, there would be nothing about Butler University!
Unfortunately, all this can only be realized in a dream.
In short, Salinburg is very regretful now, very regretful.
But of course he couldn't answer that way. He coughed and said:
"Curry does have potential. I admit I was wrong at the time, but Zabian and Harmon are also very good players. They are more suitable for the Hodgs."
Zabian and Harmon were the two guards who squeezed out Curry's full scholarship.
Now one of them is the starting point guard averaging 10.7 points and 4.3 assists per game, and the other is a backup shooting guard averaging 5.4 points per game. The combined total is only slightly more than half of Curry's scoring average...
It can only be said that two years in Hedong and two years in Hexi, don't bully the young and thin.
"You don't regret it at all?" the blond female reporter asked.
"Of course not... Actually, I have found a way to limit Curry." Selinberg said vaguely.
He had severely slapped Dell's face at the beginning, and Dell, as a famous player in the history of the Hodges, had donated nearly one million dollars to the school, and he was not a source of water at Virginia Tech.
In the past two years, as Curry's performance has become better and better, Selinberg has felt a lot of pressure in school, and he must not admit defeat in front of the media.
"Can you tell me?" The blond female reporter's eyes lit up.
"This is the team's secret tactic, so it's inconvenient to disclose it." Selinberg shook his head and refused, and ended the reporter's interview by the way.
Just kidding, he was just perfunctory. If Curry is so easy to restrict, can he become the NCAA scoring champion?