Soderberg returns to Final Four with Virginia
Portage County Gazette
By John Kemmeter
For the second time in his career, Brad Soderberg will coach in the Final Four this weekend.
A former Pacelli High School and University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point (UWSP) standout, Soderberg is in his fourth season as an assistant coach for the University of Virginia men’s basketball team (33-3), which used an overtime victory over Purdue Saturday, March 30, to advance to the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Basketball Final Four in Minneapolis.
“Needless to say, it’s the thrill of a lifetime,” said Soderberg. “I was fortunate to go with the Badgers in 2000, so I’ve got that memory, but in light of how our season ended last year, I think this one might be a little more special.
“Just because of the pain and the suffering that our kids went through last year, from being the first team in NCAA history to lose to a 16th-seed, it was very difficult to overcome,” he said. “So this one’s pretty special, and I couldn’t be happier for our entire program, but in particular for coach (Tony) Bennett. He’s one of the great coaches who had not been to a Final Four, so now he’s got that monkey off his back, and it’s really exciting.”
In high school, Soderberg starred for his father, former longtime Pacelli boys basketball head coach Don Soderberg, then played at UWSP for Dick Bennett, where he started alongside Terry Porter on the Pointers’ 1984 NAIA National Runner-up team.
Soderberg went on to serve as a head coach at NCAA Division III Loras (Iowa) and NCAA Division II South Dakota State, before he joined Dick Bennett’s staff as an assistant coach at the University of Wisconsin, which reached the Final Four in 2000.
Soderberg was the interim head coach at Wisconsin in 2000-01 and guided the Badgers to the NCAA Tournament, when current Virginia head coach Tony Bennett was one of his assistant coaches, then later was the head coach at NCAA Division 1 Saint Louis and NCAA Division II Lindenwood (Mo.), before he joined Tony Bennett’s staff as an assistant coach at Virginia in 2015.
“I’ve got a very special relationship with the Bennett family, and so much of my career has to do with something either Dick or Tony Bennett did for me,” said Soderberg. “Making that important phone call or writing a letter of recommendation, or asking me to assist them, in Dick’s case at Wisconsin, and Tony’s case at Virginia.
“So I consider myself a part of the Bennett family, and I’m just so grateful that we crossed paths way back in the day in Stevens Point,” he said. “And I’m just enjoying the residuals of being by Tony’s side, he’s a remarkable head coach, and it’s just an honor for me to be able to assist him.”
In Soderberg’s first season at Virginia, the Cavaliers fell to 68-62 to Syracuse in the Elite Eight of the 2016 NCAA Tournament, then lost to Florida in the second round in 2017.
Last season, Virginia became the first No. 1 seed to lose to a No. 16 seed in the NCAA Tournament, as it fell to the University of Maryland-Baltimore County in the first round to finish 31-3 overall.
“It was extremely difficult, for all of us to just deal with the criticism, first of all,” said Soderberg. “The disappointment, the pain of it, the embarrassment of it.
“And because of Tony’s leadership, I think he helped the guys navigate their way through all of the pain, and I know his overriding comment was, ‘we have to own the loss. Don’t blame anybody else, don’t complain, own it. We just didn’t play well against a team that was playing extremely well, and it happened,’” he said. “But it was a hard process, I remember about a month after that game was over, we started our off-season training, and everything was hard.”
Virginia bounced back and won its first 16 games to start this season, and went on to carry a 29-3 record into the NCAA Tournament, as it again earned a No. 1 seed in the tournament this year.
The Cavaliers ran into trouble in the first round against 16th-seeded Gardner-Webb, as they trailed 30-16 in the first half and 36-30 at halftime, before Virginia pulled away in the second half for a 71-56 victory.
“We were down by 14 against Gardner-Webb in the first half, and the pressure was palpable,” said Soderberg. “I mean, we could feel it.
“And so for us to come out of that game with a win, and to advance was probably more relief than joy, and it kind of freed us up to play, and now we are playing,” he said. “And because of that, I think what this team is really made of is showing itself, and as a result, we’ve advanced into the Final Four.”
Virginia followed with wins over Oklahoma and Oregon to move on to the Elite Eight last Saturday against third-seeded Purdue, which led 70-68 with 5.9 seconds left after Virginia junior guard Ty Jerome made the first of two free throws.
After Jerome missed the second, Virginia junior forward Mamadi Diakite tapped the rebound back past halfcourt, and freshman point guard Kihei Clark picked up the loose ball as the clocked ticked down.
Clark threw ahead to Diakite, who caught the ball and released a shot just before the buzzer, as he buried a jumper to send the game into overtime tied at 70-70.
“When the free throw was missed, and by the way, we didn’t try to miss it, people have asked that, we wanted to make it and then foul immediately and try to have one more possession at the end,” said Soderberg. “When the ball ricocheted into the backcourt, I basically said to myself, ‘well, that’s it.’
“I thought it was over, because I didn’t think we could advance the ball back to the frontcourt in time, much less get a shot off,” he said. “And our little freshman point guard just ran it down and had the sense to throw it as quickly as he did to our big kid Mamadi Diakite, and the next thing I know, the ball was in the net.”
In overtime, Virginia was down 75-74 with 42 seconds to play, then scored the final six points to go on to an 80-75 overtime victory, and earn a trip to the Final Four.
“It was unbelievable, and the emotions are so right out there in front of you,” said Soderberg. “Tony and Dick had a great embrace at halfcourt, and those two guys have been such a part of my life since I was a little kid, that to see them just sharing that moment together, was incredible.
“And then my family was there as well, and my grandson, and it was just a great thing,” he said. “I’m so thankful, because I’ve been in this business 33 years now, and I’ve got hundreds of friends in the business who have never been there, so I just feel so fortunate, because I’m no better coach than they are, I’ve just been in the right spot at the right time, and I’m just so grateful.”
Virginia will play Auburn in the National Semifinals at 5 p.m. Saturday, April 6, with the winner to take on either Michigan State or Texas Tech in the National Championship Game at 8 p.m. Monday, April 8.
With the Final Four a roughly three-and-a-half hour drive from Stevens Point, Soderberg will have a number of his family members in Minneapolis for the weekend, as Virginia looks to continue its NCAA Tournament run.
“I’ve got six siblings, and nieces and nephews, and my brothers-in-law and sisters-in-law are all going to be there, so I’m excited,” said Soderberg. “It’ll be a reunion, and mom and dad will be at the game.
“It’s very, very special, and it is ironic that it’s in Minneapolis, just because it’s as close to home as we’re going to get,” he said. “It’s incredible how everything has worked out the way that it has.”