Mark Sears adds West Region MVP to his stellar senior résumé
LOS ANGELES – Mark Sears didn’t answer a question about Mudita, Alabama’s motto during its NCAA Tournament run. But not because he didn’t want to or didn’t have anything to say.
It was because coach Nate Oats was scratching notes on a piece of paper in front of them and informing the guard that he had been named the West Regional’s most outstanding player.
Sears averaged 24.3 points per game and shot 44.7 percent from 3-point range in the Crimson Tide’s four NCAA Tournament games to lead Alabama to its first-ever Final Four. It is easy to be distracted after helping his home state team accomplish history on Saturday.
“Just feeling a lot of emotions,” Sears said. “Being from Alabama, the state of Alabama, and to do it with this group of guys, it’s amazing.”
Against Clemson in the Elite Eight, Sears paced the Tide with 23 points and made seven 3s as Alabama topped the Tigers, 89-82, to win the West Region. The senior scored only five points in the first half but came to life in the final 20 minutes with 18 points and six 3s on seven attempts. Sears was clutch late in countering Joe Girard III’s triples with big shots.
“Mark has been scoring at a really high level for us all year,” Oats said. “He struggled early in this game. I knew it wasn’t going to keep going the whole game. He was able to hang in there, hang in there. Kept getting stops.”
That belief from Oats meant a lot to the First Team All-SEC honoree and the rest of the team.
“He gave us all the confidence in the world,” Sears said. “When you’re playing for a coach like this that he wants you to shoot open shots, if you pass up a wide-open shot you’re going to hear about it when you go back to timeout.
“Just playing for a coach that gives you the freedom within the system, it’s something you would love to be around and play for.”
Sears didn’t let his quiet first half affect him and played with emotion down the stretch, holding up four fingers on his way to the Alabama bench and blowing kisses to the crowd.
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“Even though it’s intense we play the game because we have fun with it,” Sears said. “To be in those moments you dream about it as a kid, and just to have fun with it because you remember, even though it’s a business to go out there, we still gotta have to have fun with it.”
Sears is in his second season at Alabama after starting his career at Ohio. The Muscle Shoals, Ala., native is the Tide’s leading scorer, averaging 21.5 points per game, and has recorded more points in a single year than any other player in program history – and counting.
The All-American has led Alabama all season long and has now led his home state school to its first-ever Final Four. He reflected on his journey from mid-major to a national stage.
“Coming out of high school, I wasn’t highly recruited,” Sears said. “My parents, they kept encouraging me to never give up and stay focused, put God first. I just put the work in, trusted God, and now I’m here. That’s really all I can say.”
Oh, and what about Mudita?
“Ever since we first heard of it when conference play started, it really stuck with us and really changed our season around,” Sears said. “We started out 6-5 and we heard the word Mudita, and that changed our season around because you could see it on our face, cheering for others when they’re succeeding even though we’re not succeeding.
“It changed us around. It really helped us win this Final Four because of Mudita.”
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