At Florida Gulf Coast’s Midnight Madness event, Chase Fieler’s moniker became official. The Eagles introduced him as “the mayor of Dunk City.”

In last season’s NCAA Tournament, Fieler, secretary of dunk Brett Comer and cabinet members Sherwood Brown and Bernard Thompson captivated the nation as the No. 15 seed in the South Region, upsetting No. 2 Georgetown and No. 7 San Diego State en route to the Sweet 16.

Now the Cinderella Eagles are known throughout the land, and will enter this season with eyes fixated on their glass sneakers and little-known town of Fort Myers, Fla. With the return of mayor Fieler, Comer and the addition of head coach Joe Dooley from Kansas, Florida Gulf Coast is out to prove it can once again attend the grand ball.

“Far and away, nothing we do locally to drive the economy and interest in Fort Myers can compete with that kind of national notoriety,” said Randy Henderson, the actual mayor of Fort Myers, in an email. “Enrollment in the school spiked and continues. People love Fort Myers.”

In 1983, there was Jim Valvano, North Carolina State and the “Cardiac Cats”. In 1988, there was Kansas’ “Danny and the Miracles.” In 2013, it was “Dunk City” and Florida Gulf Coast, a small school on Florida’s western shore that earned full Division I postseason eligibility only two years ago.

But on Nov. 13, in its second game of the season, FGCU upset Miami (Fla.).

“After that game, it really gave us the confidence that we could play with one of the elite teams in the country,” Fieler said.

The Eagles went on to win the conference championship and earned themselves an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and a first-round matchup against No. 2-seed Georgetown.

“When we saw that matchup, we kind of got wide eyed,” Comer said, “because we knew we could really go up against them and win the game.”

The origin of the “Dunk City” motto is unclear. Some players first heard it on ESPN. Others say they saw it on Twitter. But against Georgetown, “Dunk City” won, and won in “Dunk City” fashion.

With the Eagles leading 65-58 with 2:03 left in regulation and the Hoyas pressing, Fieler threw an underneath-the-basket inbounds pass to Thompson. Thompson made a quick pass to Comer, who was waiting just outside the 3-point line on the right side.

Racing from end to end on the left side of the court was Fieler, who soared through the air and caught a pass from Comer with his right hand cocked behind his head. Fieler threw it down with authority. He officially earned his mayoral title after the game.

“That’s something we’ve done in practice and we’d done throughout the entire season,” Fieler said. “I don’t think we really knew how big of a deal it was and how much it meant to the nation until the timeout when the stadium was going crazy and when we got out and watched it on ‘SportsCenter.’”

The dunk put the finishing touches on a win and put “Dunk City” on the map. In Western Florida, there was pandemonium.

“You would walk into a gym and all everybody was talking about was FGCU and ‘Dunk City’ making it to the Sweet 16,” said Eagles freshman guard Armand Shoon, who attended Westwood Christian High School in Miami. “I definitely wanted to be a part of an up-and-coming program, and with the success they had, it was a no-brainer.”

But in the Sweet 16, the Eagles lost to Florida. A month later, head coach Andy Enfield departed for Southern California. Two weeks later, the school announced the hiring of Dooley, an assistant from Kansas.

Dooley doesn’t mind the up-tempo style, and said the team can probably average more points, or at least as many points, if it cuts down on turnovers and rebounds on the defensive end.

“It doesn’t need to be remade,” he said, “it just needs to be refined.”

FGCU doesn’t plan on doing any renaming either, just building on last season’s unprecedented success.

“At this point, we have to build a legacy,” Fieler said. “Not just a one and done, or just one or two years. We have to keep winning.”

As for Mayor Henderson, he doesn’t mind sharing the spotlight with Fieler, the mayor of “Dunk City.”

“I will be tutoring Chase in the ways of Mayorhood,” he said. “He will be reciprocating by helping me improve my game. I love basketball. It’s a win-win.”

Published on November 7, 2013 at 2:25 am

Contact Josh: jmhyber@syr.edu