York's Brady Cummins shoots into NCAA March Madness with Colgate, as a starter this time

Brady Cummins admits he didn’t watch many regular-season college basketball games growing up in York, Maine.

However, once the calendar turned to March, he, like many of his friends, found himself in front of his TV watching as many tournament games as he could and followed his bracket right to the Final Four and national championship game.

“Watching all those games was always cool and exciting,” said Cummins, who led the York High School boys basketball team to the Class A state championship game in 2020. "It was a dream of mine to play in those games."

Now, Cummins, who played two years at The Brooks School after leaving York after his junior season, will be part of that March Madness excitement as a sophomore starter at Colgate University.

Cummins scored 19 points as the Raiders earned an automatic bid by winning the Patriot League championship on Wednesday, beating Lehigh, 74-55. It is the fourth straight league championship for Colgate, and its seventh overall NCAA Tournament appearance.

“(Playing in the tournament) has always been a childhood dream of mine, and obviously the dream of every kid who loves basketball,” Cummins said Friday morning from the Colgate campus. “I don’t know if it's sunk in yet. It’s really a surreal feeling.”

Colgate enters the tournament with a record of 25-9, its fifth straight full-season, 20-win campaign. Colgate went 14-2 in a COVID-shortened 2020-21 season.

“I am really proud of the group for being committed to the process,” said Matt Langel, in his 13th season as Colgate head coach. “The team was interested in from day one, and I think that helped us become the team we are today

Cummins, Colgate await where, who they will play

Colgate was 26-8 heading into last year’s tournament and was the No. 15 seed in the Midwest Region, setting up its first-round date with No. 2 Texas.

Cummins expects a similar seed in this year's tournament.

“Possibly, if we’re lucky enough, maybe we move to a No. 14 seed, that would be nice,” Cummins said.

Cummins and teammates will gather at the Seven Oaks Golf Club, located on campus, to learn their fate when NCAA brackets are announced late Sunday afternoon.

"The one thing I think we learned last year was that we know we can compete against these top teams,” Cummins said. “Using our experience and knowing we can stay in these games definitely helps. If you believe you can win, it gives you a better chance. You have to be the tougher team, and the smarter team when you are playing against a more skilled team.”

Cummins played just one minute in last year’s NCAA Tournament 81-61 loss to Texas.

“Everything we did leading up to that game felt so special,” Cummins said. “Being in that spot to compete at the highest level against a team like Texas, obviously, was a great feeling. We were lucky to get there last year with a great team. We’re super excited to be back in this situation again this year; to be able to contribute more on the court is something I am very excited about.”

Colgate is 0-6 in previous NCAA Tournament games, losing to the likes of Kansas, Connecticut, Tennessee, Arkansas, Wisconsin and Texas. It has never been better than a No. 14 seed, which it was in 2021 and 2022. It was a No. 16 seed in 1995 and 1996, and a No. 15 seed in 2019 and 2023.

Cummings joins Duncan Robinson as Seacoast player to reach March Madness

Cummins joins New Castle’s Duncan Robinson as Seacoast residents to play in the men's Division I NCAA Tournament. Robinson, who has played for the Miami Heat for the past six years, was part of the University of Michigan team that lost to Villanova in the championship game of the 2018 tournament.

York’s Dan Brault was close. He was a reserve on Holy Cross, which lost to Bucknell in the Patriot League championship game in 2005.

“I am honored to be in the same category as those guys,” Cummins said. “I am just grateful to be on this team, with these guys. Everyone on this team has the same goal to compete in March Madness every single year. Everyone is so serious, and that makes it a lot easier. These coaches are unbelievable with developing each of us and bringing us to compete on this stage.”

Cummins calls championship game performance his best yet

Cummins' 19-point game against Lehigh in the Patriot League title game was a career high.

“We’re excited to be keep playing in March,” Cummins said. “That’s every team’s goal; to play as long as you can in March. We set the goal at the beginning of the season to make it as far as we did last year, and try to win a game. It’s great to be back in this spot.”

Cummins said he probably would consider Wednesday’s 20-minute performance the best game of his two-year college career.

“I felt good coming out from the start,” Cummins said. “My teammates set me up well, and got me going right away. My teammates did a good job of finding me, and continued to set me up. It makes it a lot easier when you have four other guys on the court who can score.”

Championship game effort was on heals of a tough semifinal

Cummins was 0-for-5 from the field, including 0-for-4 from 3-point range in Colgate's semifinal win over Bucknell. He played in 21 minutes, but was held scoreless for the only time this season. Colgate rallied from 15 points down in the second half, pulling out a 68-65 win.

“We were 0-for-15 from 3 at one point, and he had a couple of those misses, and they weren’t close,” Langel said. “There’s a certain mental barrier that you have to break through in those moments. I think he came out at the beginning of the championship game really determined to play with physicality, force and attack. You could see that growth mindset in how he approached that championship game. He played terrific throughout.”

Cummins’ development as a player

Cummins appeared in just 15 games last season and played a total of 72 minutes. This season, Cummins played in 29 games, cracked the starting lineup midway through the season and started 17 of the last 18 games. The only game he didn’t start during that stretch was on Senior Night.

“I didn’t get a lot of opportunities or time to play last year,” Cummins said. “We had a very experienced group and I didn’t play much, but I developed every day in practice going up against those older guys.

“I continued to grow and absorb everything from the older guys,” Cummins said. “I sat back, watched and learned what it took to play at this level and compete for championships. It made me really motivated for this year to be on the court and compete for a championship.”

Langel said Cummins’ progress is on par to what he and his coaching staff envisioned.

“If you told me, he’s going to have a career-high 19 points, and that’s coming at the end of second year, I would’ve said ‘sure, that’s right on par with what we have him projected to be capable of,” Langel said. “He had limited opportunities last year, but he has stepped up this year.

Langel said there is not another player on this year’s team like Cummins.

“He’s dynamic, he can really score,” Langel said. “He has improved his shooting, and I think that is something that he acknowldeged he had to work on. I am immeasurably proud of him. What he has done this season, is not really a surprise. I think he is a terrific talent, and hard worker. He has a bright future ahead of him.”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Cummins, Colgate University men's basketball ready for March Madness