Chicagoland to Princeton to Sweet 16? Blake Peters, Caden Pierce shining in the moment

A 15-year-old Blake Peters’ goals were modest enough.

He wanted to play basketball in the Ivy League. Oh, and he wanted to be our nation’s Attorney General or Secretary of State.

Yep, that’s all.

I thought it was kind of adorable when he told me that four years ago at Evanston Township High School. Now I’m wondering if he’ll succeed Merrick Garland or Antony Blinken. Maybe both?

Ah, you have to love the NCAA Tournament. It makes anything seem possible, as Peters deliriously shouted into a TNT camera — “Anything is possible!” — after underdog Princeton upset Missouri 78-63 in Sacramento, Calif., to advance to the Sweet 16.

Peters has had more than one shining moment. As a freshman guard at Evanston, he beat the buzzer with an 80-foot shot for a miracle win against Maine South. The game happened to be televised, and Peters ended up, incredibly, at the ESPYs, nominated for Best Play along with LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo and Notre Dame women’s basketball star Arike Ogunbowale, who won the award for her buzzer beater in the national championship game.

A year after his shot, I interviewed him about having — and losing — 15 minutes of fame at such a tender age.

“I’d like to be known for more than that shot,” he said.

The 6-1 Peters went on to become Evanston’s career scoring leader and greatest shooter, making 332 three-pointers. Sure enough, he made it to Princeton, whose coach, Mitch Henderson, calls him an “absolute driller.” Peters has drilled eight threes in two tournament games and was one of the biggest stars of the second round, coming off the bench to score 17 points in a 10:42 second-half flurry that’s a no-doubter for every tournament highlight reel.

He also hit a pair of second-half daggers in a 59-55 first-round shocker against No. 2 seed Arizona.

“He wants to be Secretary of State,” Henderson said, “and so he’s very unflappable.”

Where have we heard that first part before?

After a long trip back to campus in New Jersey, Peters returned a text.

“The last couple of days have been much more meaningful than ‘the shot,’ ” he wrote. “That moment changed my life, no doubt, but what this Princeton team is doing right now is extremely special. … It’s just a spectacular thing to be a part of.”

Princeton also has 6-6 freshman Caden Pierce, one of the drivers of Glenbard West’s state-championship express in 2022. Pierce starts for the Tigers, is their fourth-leading scorer and top rebounder and was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year.

Henderson, a former longtime assistant to Bill Carmody at Northwestern, is in his 12th season at Princeton and says Pierce is the best rebounder he has coached. Another Evanston connection: Both of Pierce’s parents were Northwestern athletes.

Last year’s tournament had Saint Peter’s. This one has Blake Peters. Oral Roberts made it to the Sweet 16 as a 15 seed in 2021, Saint Peter’s reached the Elite Eight as a 15 in 2022 and now it’s Princeton turn to bask in the moment as the bandwagon overflows with sudden fans of the Tigers, who will be heavy underdogs again against Creighton or Baylor in Louisville, Ky.

Can they win again?

Anything is possible.

THREE-DOT DASH

Northwestern did itself proud all season and right to the end of a 68-63 second-round loss to UCLA, but now comes the harder part: not sliding back into the lower half of the Big Ten. Will Boo Buie and/or Chase Audige be back? Whatever they decide, victories in a league that was way down this season will be tougher to come by. …

The Wildcats nearly became the fourth state school to send a team to the Sweet 16 since Illinois last got there in 2005. Bradley made it in 2006. Southern Illinois made it in 2007. Loyola got there (and beyond) in 2018 and made it again in 2021. Eight straight Big Dance appearances by the Illini have ended the first weekend. They might as well be holding up the walls. …

Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images

Is anyone else beyond tired of seeing players throwing themselves to the floor hoping for whistles after layup attempts? It’s bad enough when it isn’t hurting either team, but it bit Northwestern hard at the worst possible time when Audige took a completely unnecessary spill after a clean block by UCLA’s Adem Bona with 2:02 left. Audige — a finalist for national defensive player of the year — didn’t get back on “D” and his man, David Singleton, hit a wide-open, back-breaking three for a 62-56 lead. Silliness. …

Duke had a 10-game winning streak going into the tournament and looked like a Final Four possibility, but it ran into a brick wall in Tennessee. Essentially the same thing happened a day later to No. 2 seed Marquette against Michigan State. Simply put, beefy old dudes beat up skinny young dudes. Sometimes, that’s just the way it goes.

Michigan State-Kansas State in the next round is going to be brutally physical, with the winner getting Tennessee in an Elite Eight matchup fit for a wrestling mat. …

The best team in the tournament is Houston. Unless it’s Alabama. Or Texas or UConn, each of which is loaded and seemingly peaking at the right time. One of the four will cut down the nets on April 3. What, you thought it was going to be Princeton?