For Marshall, Friday's 81-75 March Madness win over Wichita State was not only a display of resiliency but also a chance to show off one of the hottest junior basketball players of the 2018 Men's NCAA Tournament: Jon Elmore.
It wasn't hard to notice the 22-year-old standout in Friday's tilt, and that's saying something, considering the court also featured what Twitter gleefully mistook for a middle-aged man. Elmore was all over the floor against the Shockers, pouring in 27 points, which tied for the most among both teams. And his second-half three-pointer from downtown -- or, more accurately, the neighboring zip code -- both knotted the contest at 52 and set social media ablaze.
So who is Elmore, besides the guy who stole the spotlight -- or at least fended off Conner Frankamp for it -- in Marshall's Friday win?
Simply put, he's the guy that's been driving the Thundering Herd all season and it's no surprise he led Friday's stampede.
A transfer from Virginia Military Institute in 2015, the 6-foot-3 guard is the son of former VMI record-breaker Gay Elmore and the grandson of former West Virginia player Otmer Elmore. In other words, he's got great genes, which helps explain how he averaged 31.4 points per game coming out of George Washington High School in West Virginia. Since making a name for himself at Marshall, he's drawn comparisons to Steve Nash and Steph Curry, lit up the USA Conference tournament with historic scoring marks and quietly performed as one of the country's most efficient shooters.
This past season, Elmore's 22.8 points-per-game mark led Marshall. And his defensive numbers aren't too shabby, either, as the junior ranked second among his teammates in rebounds per game.