How Jairus Lyles and UMBC made NCAA history

UMBC made history on Friday evening by becoming the first 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. The Retrievers forced the top- ranked Virginia Cavaliers to lose their defensive identity, thanks to the dominant showing of senior guard Jairus Lyles.

Lyles finished with 28 points with an array of perimeter jumpers, finishes in the lane and pull-up attempts, displaying utter confidence and a feeling that he deserved to be competing against the top-ranked team in America. The UMBC standout got to this point through battles of relevancy, but also adversity, by calling three separate college programs home before settling on his ultimate place, which led to March history.

RANKINGS: 2018 Rivals150 | 2019 Rivals150 | 2020 Rivals150 | 2018 Team | 2018 Position

Lyles attended the famed DeMatha Catholic (Md.) High School and played alongside NC State recruit BeeJay Anya. Lyles spent much of his high school career as a member of the Rivals150. On the travel circuit, he played alongside a crop of highly acclaimed prospects including Anya, Stanford Robinson, Josh Hart and Ish Wainwright, and while he often played second fiddle his raw abilities were always present.

“Talent with him has never been a question,” Team Takeover travel coach Brendan Straughn said. “I think the tournament spotlight is exposing what guys in the DMV knew, especially at DeMatha and with Team Takeover, and that is Jairus can play with anybody in the country.”

When it came time to choose a college to attend, Lyles decided that VCU was where he was meant to be. However, after one year in Richmond, head coach Shaka Smart took the job at Texas, which forced Lyles to tranfer to Robert Morris. Lyles spent just one semester at the NEC program before moving closer to home and enrolling at UMBC.

The rest is history.

Unlike others who could have immediately played at the highest level upon transferring as a graduate student last spring, Lyles remained loyal to the Retrievers. Throughout his three years at UMBC, Lyles never averaged less than 18 points or five rebounds as he prepared for the greatest upset in college basketball postseason history.