'Nobody would play us': High Point coach gives fiery interview after Wisconsin upset

Flynn Clayman has led what is thus far the biggest upset of March Madness on Thursday, March 19, leading No. 12 seed High Point to an 83-82 victory over No. 5 seed Wisconsin.

Mere moments after securing the biggest win of his young coaching career, Clayman let his feelings be known on the sentiment mid-majors "don't play anybody."

In a postgame interview with TBS' Jared Greenberg, Clayman gave a fiery interview, saying, "We played somebody now."

"It looks pretty obvious to me that high-majors need to play mid-majors during the season," Clayman said. "Because they said we ain't played nobody? We played somebody now."

Asked how the win feels, Clayman continued, "It feels unreal, because nobody would play us, just like they wouldn't play Miami (Ohio). But they got to play us in this tournament."

Speaking in his postgame news conference, Clayman continued by saying his team deserved the opportunity to be at March Madness — and that they weren't just happy to be here, either.

"High Point and Miami (Ohio) are 2-1 in Quad 1 games. We couldn't get games. They couldn't get games," Clayman said. "Akron, UNC Wilmington, Belmont couldn't get games. We won 22 of our last 23 games and we didn't move up one spot in the metrics. Not one. We won 22 of our 23. We've won 25 games by double-digits.

"That team (Wisconsin) right there is a fantastic team that beat five top-10 teams. If we can get games like this on neutral courts and some home games, I think we'd know who's really the best teams. I'm proud of these dudes. We're not just here to win one game; we're here to get to the Sweet 16."

Clayman's comments come after Miami (Ohio)'s metrics were questioned ahead of Selection Sunday, with former Auburn coach-turned-basketball analyst Bruce Pearl publicly stumping for the Tigers over the RedHawks. Pearl pointed to the RedHawks' poor strength of schedule and early exit in the MAC Tournament as reasons why other teams were more deserving.

As it stands now, High Point and Miami (Ohio) are a combined 2-0 in the 2026 Men's NCAA Tournament and are slated to play No. 4 seed Arkansas and No. 6 seed Tennessee, respectively.