By ROBERT WILLIAMS

Upstart Davidson College’s march through the NCAA basketball tournament is no surprise to those in the know. As a member of the Davidson community for some two decades, I have had plenty of opportunity to appreciate its students, faculty, and coaches up close and personal.

Davidson is the only top-10 liberal arts college in the United States that also plays NCAA Division I sports and has a religious affiliation (Presbyterian). The college prides itself in excellent teaching, close relations between students and faculty, community service, and an Honors System that leaves bookbags and wallets in public places untouched (or returned) during unmonitored examinations.

A Davidson trustee once noted that Davidson tries to be Athens, Sparta, and Jerusalem all at once. Perhaps that is its “market niche.”

Bob McKillop is not merely a terrific basketball coach, but one of Davidson’s finest teachers.

Stephen Curry is not just a sharp-shooting point guard (nicknamed “Prime Time” by his teammates), but a student required to attend classes, take examinations, and graduate.

All Davidson athletes know that they are first of all students privileged to be at one of America’s best (and most expensive) colleges. They are more concerned with their GPA than the NBA. The graduation rate for athletes is among the highest in the country.

That is why they will bone up on their reading in the bus coming back from the game, any game.

This particular team is the best since Davidson Coach Lefty Driesell in the 1960s recruited his players by parking his car outside their homes and not leaving without a commitment.

The present players are faithful, fearless and fun-loving: they believe they can beat anybody, are afraid of no other team (they played Duke, North Carolina and UCLA close in December), and are obviously having fun out there.

So Davidson in the final throes of the tournament is no surprise. In view of Davidson College’s long Presbyterian history, it may even be predestined.
But Davidson will win in the end because its players are students, its coach a teacher, and the lessons of this marvelous journey good for a lifetime.