Emory gets focused on winning its first national championship

The Emory basketball team is more concerned with rim protection than it is with roster protection as it prepares for the NCAA Div. III championship game on Sunday.

Under ordinary circumstances, a larger school from a higher division could be ready to shell out some NIL money to initiate a transfer and raid the roster. Schools similar in size to Emory often have their players poached by Division I schools with larger budgets.

But that wouldn’t be smart, according to Ben Pearce, Emory’s senior All-America guard. Pearce said it doesn’t make sense to chase dollars — not when an elite education and valuable business opportunities are so prevalent at Emory, along with the opportunity to play for championships.

“I think you can maybe chase a higher division, but I don’t think that there are many places in the nation at any division that offers such a well-rounded opportunity like Emory does,” Pearce said. “They say the grass isn’t always greener on the other side, and when the grass is so green here, that makes that statement so much more true.”

Pearce is one of the most decorated small-college players in the country. He was named first-team All-America and national player of the year by D3 Hoops and won the Jostens Trophy, awarded each year to the best non-Division I player based on basketball, academics and service. He is a finalist for the Bevo Francis Award, given to the nation’s best non-Division I player.

Pearce set a single-season scoring record (24 points per game) this season and leaves as the school’s all-time scoring leader, as well as second all-time in assists. He will graduate with a degree in business and sociology on May 11 and will attempt to begin a professional basketball career this summer.

He and Jair Knight, another All-American who averaged 18.8 points and 6.4 rebounds, would have both had ample opportunities to transfer if they had any eligibility left. They can instead enter the final game of their careers with no distractions as they lead No. 2 Emory (27-3) into the championship game against No. 3 University of Mary Washington (29-3), in Indianapolis at 4:30 p.m. on Sunday. The game can be seen on ESPN Plus.

The teams are familiar with each other. Emory defeated Mary Washington 80-78 in the Elite Eight round of the playoffs last year. UMW, led by All-American Kye Robinson, plays a more physical style than Emory — which prefers to use its fast-paced attack — and defeated No. 1 Trinity in the semifinals.

“They’re really, really solid defensively and make it hard for you to score around the rim,” Emory coach Jason Zimmerman said. “They’re very talented on both ends of the court, so it’s going to be a challenge.”

The other Emory starters — Ethan Fauss, AJ Harris and Mario Awasum — could be transfer targets. Fauss, a 6-foot-9 junior, averages 14.7 points and 8.7 rebounds and shoots 36% on 3-pointers. Harris, a 6-foot-5 junior, averages 10.1 points and 5.3 rebounds and scored 19 in a quarterfinal win over Illinois Wesleyan. Awasum, a 6-foot-6 sophomore, averages 9.1 points and 7.5 rebounds and has scored in double figures in seven of the last nine games.

“We want what’s best for our guys,” Zimmerman said. “Emory is a pretty good spot, right? You get a world-class education, you play basketball at a really high level, and you get to travel to some great places, play for championships, like, you just don’t get in that many places. If a guy wants to experience a different level, we would help him, but I think we have a great experience here.”

Pearce said the excitement level around campus has been hard to fathom. He’s gotten emails and texts from countless students and professors — some he hasn’t even seen since his freshman year.