Two days of Moda Center Madness inside the student section of High Point University, the school no one in Portland knew about. by Cameron Crowell High Point University (12-seed) is down one with under a minute to go playing the heav ily favored University of Wisconsin (5-seed). The High Point Panthers have yet to win a single game in the March Madness NCAA men’s basketball tournament since the tournament’s 1939 conception.  Star guard Nick Boyd dribbles the ball up the court for the Wisconsin Badgers, who hope to continue their hot streak coming out of a Big Ten Tournament gauntlet, the only team who went on the road to beat arguably the nation’s best team at University of Michigan. The Badgers, however, also hold the unfortunate distinction of losing early in previous March Madness tournaments to much lower seeds.  The Moda Center is rocking. What started as a rabid group of around 400 High Point students, who made the trip to Portland all the way from North Carolina, is now a Greek Chorus of every non-Wisconsin fan in attendance for the Thursday, March 19 morning Madness—Defense! Defense! Defense!  High Point Panthers guard and star player, Rob Martin catches a long rebound off a missed Boyd layup. Martin throws a full court outlet pass to Panthers’ three point specialist Chase Johnston. Johnston, who has not made a single two point shot this year, hits the layup all alone in transition, putting the Panthers up by one with 12 seconds to go. Then a blocked shot and a steal on a prayer pass from Wisconsin, secures the 83-82 victory for the High Point Panthers. They remain the lowest seeded team to win a game in this year’s tournament.  Thousands of miles from home, college kids are hugging, crying, kissing each other, and getting piss drunk. They pour out of their seats and into the Moda Center courtyards, dancing and clowning on passing Wisconsin fans. Two students embrace each other and scream out in tears, “Let’s fucking go gambling!”  CAMERON CROWELL It’s chaos. This is what college basketball is all about. This is a Thursday morning in March. “As soon as the clock hit zero I started crying,” said Alex, 20, a Criminal Justice major at High Point. “Seeing Johnston hit those crazy threes down the stretch. Beating a top team when we really had no expectations going into the game. There’s really no words to describe how good that felt.” While High Point University, a small Methodist liberal arts college in North Carolina, was founded in 1924, the school’s modern story begins in 2005 when the current university president and motivational speaker Nido Qubein took the helm. Previously, Qubein was the Chairman of the Great Harvest Bread Company, as well as serving on the board of other large corporations—now he is among the highest paid university presidents in the country with a total yearly compensation over $3.4 million. During his 20-year tenure, High Point’s undergraduate enrollment has tripled to around 6,500 students, and 2025 was the school’s largest freshman class to date.  With a tuition sticker price of $49,000 alone (before adding room and meal plans that run another $25,000 to $40,000), Quebein built this school by catering to the ultra-wealthy East Coast and American South families. Only 13 percent of undergrads are recipients of low-income Pell Grants according to the National Center for Educational Statistics, whereas the national average is around 32 percent. While a 68 percent acceptance rate doesn't put High Point among the most exclusive southern universities like Duke and Vanderbilt, they needed to find a way to stand out. All weekend Qubein sat at the front row of Moda Center’s largest fan section. Saturday night, as the Moda Center announcer calls out each of the starting players for the 3-seed University of Arkansas Razorbacks, the students all face away from the court. In perfect unison they shout out, “SUCKS!” after each name. While other schools like Brigham Young University (BYU) and Gonzaga may have more total fans at Moda Center over the weekend, none came close to the amount of coordination, or even the amount of students. This is because Qubein and High Point chartered three private jets and put students up in hotels downtown. “I loved the free ice cream trucks on campus,” a 28-year-old alumni who identified himself as the High Point Pink Panther says, donning a suit and mask, the latter of which Moda Center security asked him to remove. The long standing amenity isn’t the only tuition-included culinary bonus for students, other students mentioned the free on-campus steakhouse, hibachi, and mediterranean restaurants. The administration touts these as real world preparation for job interviews and business meetings that might happen over meals, rather than “luxury amenities.” The school even has a replica airplane in which students can “practice [their] quick-pitch” in case they end up seated next to a CEO in first-class.  “They have great steak quesadillas,” says Kenny, a 23-year-old Hospitality Management major. “I wasn’t planning on going to High Point, but when I saw how beautiful [the] campus was, it became the standard,” says Spencer, a 19-year-old Accounting major. “The excitement of our basketball team keeps me here. Where else can I go that’s going to bus us to the airport, put us in a private jet, and let us watch the boys pull out a win like that?” At both universities I attended for undergrad, I didn’t know who the campus president was, but at High Point, Qubein is a cultural force and leader. He hosts a PBS North Carolina conversation series with business leaders on campus, several buildings bear his name, and in 2021 the founder of Ashley Furniture donated a bronze statue of Qubein to the campus. In the student section Qubein sits in the front row, taking near constant selfies with fans and students. Cassie, a 19-year-old English major, wears a blazer with Qubein’s face all over as the design. “She is the only student I’ve seen get a hug from Nido, because of that blazer,” says Spencer. CAMERON CROWELL “Nido is the American dream,” says Spencer. “My parents love him to death. He’s a perfect blend of funny, personality, and professionalism, so objectively he’s a great speaker. [Nido Qubein] came to America with nothing, but was able to become one of the country’s most successful businessmen. He’s someone to aspire to be.” “He keeps us all in line, but he also encourages our school spirit,” says Cassie. “Thank you to Dr. Qubein for giving us opportunities like this.” For the Second Round matchup against the University of Arkansas, High Point sends another private jet with around 200 more students to fill one more section of seats. A student tells me she is staying downtown at the Marriott and asks me for food recommendations. “Don’t worry about the price, the school gave us a meal budget for each day.” Arkansas, whose starting 6’3” point guard Darius Acuff Jr. has played his way into a potential top five draft spot in the upcoming NBA draft on the backs of an Allen Iverson-esque style of play. High Point, by contrast, may also be led by a crafty point guard in Rob Martin, but their senior hooper is listed at 5’10”. The matchup is between a potential future NBA star and a future G Leaguer. “Everyone loves an underdog story,” Cassie says. “Since we won Thursday, we’re America’s team.” For a school the majority of America doesn't know about, this is their moment in the national spotlight. This is not unprecedented, rather it’s something by design for a tournament like March Madness. Small universities have a shot on the national stage in these early round games playing against large state schools. Since 2021, the NCAA policy of allowing Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) deals—essentially creating a legal framework for university donors to pay players—allows more deep pocket private colleges a renewed opportunity to better advertise their schools through athletics.  Liberty University, a private college in Virginia founded by Evangelical über-conservative Jerry Falwell Sr., dropped major bags on their football and basketball teams. In the 2024 March Madness tournament, Grand Canyon University, a private for-profit Christian university in Arizona, made an unlikely sweet sixteen run after investing more than double in athletics than the next highest spender in the Western Athletic Conference.  While NIL donor collectives paying players are notoriously unregulated and not forthright with how much they spend, High Point undoubtedly has placed an emphasis on their schools’ basketball success if the 2021 construction of the new $170 million Qubein Center basketball arena is any indication. “It’s pretty obvious to me that something needs to be done about this non-conference scheduling,” says High Point Head Coach Flynn Clayman in the press conference after their historic win. “High Point and Miami (Ohio) are 2-0 in Quad One games. We won 22 of our last 23, we won 25 games by double digits. [Wisconsin] 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 are really the best teams.” God. Family. Country. The student’s energy is clearly infectious. Undoubtedly High Point won over the crowd at Moda. My interviews were twice interrupted by BYU and Gonzaga (both private, religious institutions albeit with a much longer history of basketball success) fans. Their teams had just lost to big State School competitors, and now they are asking the High Point students where they can get jerseys to support. A Moda Center usher even wears one of the purple, light up High Point cowboy hats.  CAMERON CROWELL “Our values are God, Family, Country in that order,” said Donavan, 19, Marketing major. “I’m blessed we get to come out here and showcase what High Point is about.” As the Second Round matchup tipped off, Moda Center did not feature the ceremonial singing of the US national anthem. The High Point students filled in the gap, collectively singing the Star-Spangled Banner and chanting, “USA! USA! USA!” during the team’s first offensive possession, ending in a made layup by HPU’s senior forward Terry Anderson. It’s the first time I'm hearing a “USA” chant at a sporting event that isn't the US national team competing at the Olympics or World Cup—it wouldn’t be the last. During a media timeout later in the game, the Moda Center jumbotron displayed an advertisement for joining the US military. The High Point fans once again began their “USA” chant.  Sports uniquely allows the world to suspend disbelief. Like how a super expensive private university for the country’s wealthy is somehow an “underdog” compared to two flagship public universities in Wisconsin and Arkansas. Or that values like—God, Family, Country—are apolitical in a moment where the United States is going to war in Iran on behalf of another country. CAMERON CROWELL Saturday’s game itself proves to be electric basketball. High Point and Arkansas, just like the already slain Wisconsin Badgers, are teams that play an uptempo offensive style. It’s fast paced, both teams score a lot, and defense is something of an afterthought. The game is back and forth with the Panthers down by only one point at halftime. Martin scores 30 points for the Panthers, as well as five assists and five turnovers. With three minutes left to play Martin makes a layup to tie the game at 83. The students' cheer eruption nearly silences the Arkansas faithful in attendance. Though the raw talent of Arkansas’ Acuff Jr. proves to be too much for this Cinderella story. The guard absolutely marvels with 36 points and 5 assists, including a dagger 3-pointer to put the Razorbacks up 7 with a minute to go. Ultimately, Arkansas wins 94-88.  The clock struck midnight for the Panthers, who finish the season with a gaudy record of 31-5. Though if this were a true Cinderella story, High Point perhaps more resembles the step-sisters’ hopes for upward mobility, rather than a true rags-to-royalty story.  For these rowdy fans, these games are still a peak in their young lives. For the university admin, it’s ideally only the beginning. I never went to church as a kid, and yet, the manufactured madness of 600 rich kids with a dream of being Cinderella for a weekend, perhaps just for a second, won me over too. High Point’s bet is that our seconds of suspending disbelief turn into minutes, into entire basketball games, into a lifetime for future alumni. ...read more read less