Fins Up! Former UK Assistant Rod Strickland Takes Long Island to the NCAA Tournament

One of the most dramatic turnarounds in college basketball was orchestrated by a former Kentucky assistant. Rod Strickland is taking Long Island University to the NCAA Tournament.

Strickland was a part of John Calipari’s first coaching staff at Kentucky, and remained in Lexington until 2014. He left to join Orlando Antigua at South Florida. The former NBA star spent some time in the G League before replacing another former Calipari pupil, Derek Kellogg, as the Long Island head coach in 2022.

Strickland took the wheel a few years after schools merged and the program rebranded from the Blackbirds to the Sharks. They did not look like Sharks immediately. In Strickland’s first two seasons, they won ten total games. Last season, they finished one game over .500 before bringing the heat in 2025-26.

Long Island led the NEC with a 15-3 record in conference play, earning homecourt advantage in the conference tournament. That homecourt advantage in the Shark Tank paid off on Tuesday night. Greg Gordon and Malachi Davis each scored 24 points as Long Island took down Mercyhurt 79-70 to win the NEC Tournament. Strickland is taking Long Island to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2018, when they were known as LIU Brooklyn.

Long Island and the Fins Up Origin Story

Rod Strickland deserves plenty of credit, but the real brains behind the operation are in the stands. Long Island’s biggest fans throw their Fins Up during every opponent’s free throw attempt. It’s created one of the most hostile environments in all of college basketball.

If you’re wondering why LIU is 11-1 at home, it’s because they have these absolute menaces on the sideline pic.twitter.com/ZTIk9RxxOG

— Jeff Sunday (@TheDegenWeekly) March 5, 2026

The players have embraced it, using it as a call to arms for Shark Nation. When on throws their Fins Up, the entire arena falls in line.

FINS UP!! 🦈🙏 pic.twitter.com/DT79X76Yal

— Long Island University (@longislandu) March 10, 2026

If you thought that was crazy, just wait, it gets crazier. Somebody decided to bring their wiener dog to the home games. Winston became a fixture, rocking his own Fin to throw Up during free throws. Winston the Long Island dog became so popular, he got a sponsor for his Fin.

This is what March is all about. Winston the dog with a @TickPick NIL deal in the Tank

Branded dorsal fin😭🦈 https://t.co/YIQWvl61IM pic.twitter.com/UaZHLI9pmg

— Ryan Hammer🔨 (@ryanhammer09) March 10, 2026

The best part? Fins Up was started by two random college basketball fans in New York City who have no ties to Long Island.

A couple of years ago, two guys went looking for a team to cheer for. They went to games at Manhattan, Iona, Fairfield, and Columbia before getting settled into the Shark Tank before it became the Shark Tank. About a dozen fans were in the stands in “the saddest home environment you’ve ever seen.”

“One game had a million fouls,” David recalled on the BlueBloodedPod. “We organically just started joking. ‘Everybody, hands up. Fins up.’ We started doing it and bringing our friends to the games. They thought it was hilarious.”

And now it’s become the calling card for a low-major NEC team that’s on its way to the NCAA Tournament, all thanks to a couple of college basketball sickos. You never know how March Madness is going to deliver the goods, but it always does.