It’s not March Madness without a little Charles Barkley soundbite.
That was the exact case Thursday night when he made sure to give life advice during the Road to the Final Four broadcast following Dayton’s comeback 63-60 win over Nevada.
It was himself, Ernie Johnson, Clark Kellogg and Kenny Smith during their segment on CBS and TNT’s coverage of the NCAA Tournament when it was brought into question the legitimacy of something Smith had wrote. Was Barkley glancing on his paper and cheating off of him?
That definitely wasn’t the case.
“You never cheat off of the dumbest kid in school. That’s a lesson for you. Look at the smart kids if you’re gonna cheat off their paper.”
"You never cheat off of the dumbest kid in school. That's a lesson for you. Look at the smart kids if you're gonna cheat off their paper."
Charles Barkley with an important life lesson for the kids. pic.twitter.com/vAEeiVSAdU
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 21, 2024
Wise words, sure. But perhaps the wiser words came from Kellogg who suggested Hey — maybe don’t cheat at all.
Smart choice, but the discussion came after a huge upset from the Flyers.
With the team trailing the Wolfpack, 56-39, with 7:36 left, Koby Brea hit three 3-pointers to make it interesting.
“In those situations, it’s easy for somebody to try to, like, just get a home run play, try to make it happen by themselves,” Brea said after the game, via the Associated Press. “In the situation we were in, I think we did a good job of just staying together and doing it together, taking it one possession at a time.”
DAYTON COMPLETES THE COMEBACK ✈️#MarchMadness @DaytonMBB pic.twitter.com/uKpVNDeHaz
— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) March 21, 2024
Teammates said it had been the theme all season — being resilient in those tough situations.
Next time, even if you were to take Chuck’s advice, it won’t work. Nobody’s bracket lives to see it through. That’s what makes college basketball so great.
As for his life advice, maybe he should start putting some inspirational quotes on his Instagram page.
About Jessica Kleinschmidt
Jess is a baseball fan with Reno, Nev. roots residing in the Bay Area. She is the host of "Short and to the Point" and is also a broadcaster with the Oakland A's Radio Network. She previously worked for MLB.com and NBC Sports Bay Area.