CLEVELAND — The first two rounds of March Madness are being played in Cleveland this weekend, and a few former Northeast Ohio players are having a homecoming because of it.
Players like Cleveland native Amarion Dickerson, who plays forward for No. 15 seed Robert Morris University, told News 5 how it felt to play in Cleveland for the tournament.
"To play in front of your hometown crowd, in front of a lot of fans, a lot of people you know, is all just an unbelievable blessing. I just thank God for it all," Dickerson said.
Dickerson grew up just a few minutes from Rocket Arena and said people can expect some die-hard Cleveland fans to show up for the tournament.
RMU Head Coach Andrew Toole said Dickerson takes great pride in being from Cleveland.
"When we come here to play Cleveland State, he'll go through his list of favorite restaurants and, you know, all the attractions that make Cleveland... what it is," Toole said.
The RMU forward played basketball at Cleveland's James Ford Rhodes High School and said the culture and environment stood out to him while he attended.
Shawn Spencer, the coach of the James Ford Rhodes boys' basketball team, coached Dickerson when he was on the team.
Now, Spencer will see Dickerson play on college basketball's biggest stage on Friday.
"He just continues to grow," Spencer said. "Every piece of adversity he faced, he handled it well and he pushed through it all."
Spencer took his current players to watch the open practices at Rocket Arena on Thursday before the tournament's tip-off.
"I think it's good for the community, honestly," said Spencer. "Through each adversity, you know, each piece of life happening... you still can make it. If you push through [and] persevere, things will take care of itself."
The Robert Morris Colonials were ranked 9th in the NCAA Horizon League preseason poll and beat Youngstown State 89-78 for the Horizon League championship game on a 10-game win streak last week.
The challenge that the Colonials will face on Friday is No. 2 seed Alabama Crimson Tide— who reached the final four in the 2024 tournament.
"I think we have what it takes to take a run and compete with... all the high-level teams that [are] in this tournament. I feel like we're a great group of guys that really established the brotherhood over the course of the months that we've been together, so I feel like we definitely have a huge chance to go on a great run in this great tournament," Dickerson said.
This is RMU's 10th NCAA tournament appearance. The team qualified for the tournament in 2020, but it was canceled due to COVID-19, making this year their first time playing in an NCAA game in 10 years.
