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When the bracket was revealed Sunday, Bryan Hodgson wasn’t just looking for matchups. He was looking for something more.
Then Buffalo, New York flashed across the screen. And everything changed.
South Florida’s first round NCAA tournament game against Louisville, set for Thursday at 1:30 p.m. ET on TNT, will feel like a homecoming for Hodgson. It’s just miles from where he grew up in western New York.
This is also the time when his father will finally have the chance to attend a game and watch him coach.
“My father has dementia and he’s never seen me coach as a head coach in person,” Hodgson said after winning the American Conference tournament. “He’s going to get to see me this week…that means the world to me.
That moment alone would be powerful on its own, but Hodgson’s journey makes it something more.
Born in Olean, New York to a 15-year-old mother, Hodgson’s life changed before he could even remember it. After suffering severe burns as a one-year-old in a traumatic incident involving a wood burning stove, he was placed into foster care.
He eventually arrived at the home of Larry and Rebecca Hodgson, a couple who would go on to foster more than 100 children. But Hodgson wasn’t just another placement.
“They didn’t just take me in,” Hodgson has said. “They chose me…I always joke with them that I must have been a number one draft pick and they signed me to a long-term contract.”
“He came to our house wrapped in a blanket, burned and in slippers,” Rebecca Hodgson said. “That’s all he had.” For Hodgson, that home became everything.
“I mean, [they] took me in as a foster child, adopted me, gave me a second chance at life,” Hodgson said. “Believed in me, instilled important values like discipline and hard work.”
That opportunity for a second chance influenced everything that came after. Yet, his journey was far from simple.
Hodgson played at the community college level, worked his way through the coaching ranks, and earned every step of his rise. He served as an assistant at Buffalo and Alabama before securing a head coaching role at Arkansas State, and he is now guiding South Florida to the NCAA tournament.
“The foster care system saved my life,” Hodgson said. “It gave me a perspective on life that I carried with me every day.”
That perspective shows up in how he coaches and why this moment matters. Because Thursday isn’t just about March Madness.
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It’s about a son coming home. It’s about a father finally getting to see what all of it became.
And it’s about a second chance that turned into something more than anyone could have imagined.
“My dad’s going to be there,” Hodgson said. “I just couldn’t be more thankful.”
March Madness is built on moments. This one has been a lifetime in the making.
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