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High Point University’s Cinderella run in the NCAA Tournament is already capturing the imagination of college basketball fans, but the blossoming love affair with the small North Carolina school isn’t limited to the players on the court.
Jimmy Rosselli, 20, and Griffin Wright, 22, the student radio voices of the Panthers, are once again capturing the attention of hoops fans after their viral call of Thursday’s 83-82 win over No. 5 Wisconsin spread across the internet like wildfire.
The two could barely contain themselves as Owen Aquino blocked Nick Boyd’s up for a layup to preserve the one-point High Point lead in the waning seconds.
“Blocked! There it is! There it is! Throw on the glass slipper! It’s a Cinderella story in Portland, Oregon!” Rosselli said on air while Wright enthusiastically shouted “Blocked!” in disbelief.
“That final minute was just, I mean, that’s what you dream of when you put your head down at night,” Rosselli, a Huntington native, told The Post in a phone interview. “I mean, I know we were dreaming of it last night. Waking up and having a close game, obviously, wasn’t a buzzer beater, but it was the magic of March.”
Wright, a senior, said that after Chase Johnston gave High Point the lead, his fandom came out.
“As a color guy, I don’t like to interrupt Jimmy at all. I don’t like to talk when Jimmy talks, but I did not care,” Wright, a Richmond, Va., native, joked. “I love that team. So I think in that moment it was so much emotion because we got to experience it there, and I would’ve had the same reaction if I was on the couch.”
Their names — and voices — probably sound familiar.
The broadcasting duo had a run with internet fame last year during March Madness when their call of the Panthers’ win in the Big South Conference Tournament went viral. They were mentioned everywhere from ESPN to Barstool Sports and even made an appearance on “Good Morning America.”
However, their run in the 2025 NCAA Tournament was short-lived, as High Point was knocked out in the first round by Purdue.
This time around, Rosselli got the chance to call a moment that had never happened in the history of the men’s basketball program.
The Long Island native said that while he does write out some of his calls, he still lets the emotions of the moment carry how it goes on air.
“I want the passion to be real, so I knew I was going to say, ‘throw on the glass slipper, it’s a Cinderella story,’ but I didn’t know what was gonna come out of it,” he said. “Whether I was gonna say something before it, whether I was gonna say something after it. When I write my big calls, I want them to connect with people.”
The two student broadcasters said they’ve already heard from a number of people, with Rosselli saying that he’s “still catching up on texts.” Wright told The Post people he knew from high school and an old teacher reached out.
“It’s really always really cool to see who’s watching and how many people truly care about you,” Wright said.
The Panthers’ win sets the stage for them to face Arkansas in the second round and for another chance at March Madness immortality.
Asked about High Point’s chances in the second round, Wright responded: “It’s March.”
“I think we can pull one out and make history again,” Wright added. “But it’s gonna be a lot, it’s gonna be hard. It’s gonna be a tough one. But this team’s been through a lot, so I really have all the faith in the world.”
English (US)