Northern Kentucky athlete Dantez Walton scooped up the ball from the official to set the play in motion, and four teammates -- all scattered unevenly about the baseline, with one on his left and three on his right -- began trotting down the floor as if Wilson had just belted out "hut hut!" and was masterminding a hurry-up offense. Call it crazy, call it brilliant, or call it what it was: a successful and unique inbounds play that helped the Norse -- who ironically don't even have a football team from which to steal concepts -- escape with a 68-64 win to improve to 14-4, their best start since the program was transitioned to the Division I level in 2012. "Dan Muller actually ran the play at Illinois State, so I have to give him credit," NKU coach John Brannen, who drew up the play, told CBS Sports. "I saw him run it, and I liked it because of the fact that it allowed us to get the ball inbounds, because you never see it. And secondly, it put us in position to put our two best foul shooters in position to probably be the first and second options on the play, which was the main thing because we were up three with 11 seconds to go." Brannen, who was a long-time Alabama assistant coach and who served as the interim coach in 2015, says the play call was put in the day before Friday's tilt against Wright State. Keeping with pop culture, Brannen and Co. were inspired to name it after the champion crowned over his former employer earlier in the week. "We put the play in a day before the game, and we called it 'Clemson'," Brannen said. It's hard to imagine trips right being called -- much less working -- on any basketball court. At any level. At any time. Especially a Division I contest with the game on the line. But the unlikely success of the oddball play that triggered a viral cycle on social media is a microcosm of Northern Kentucky's program direction since Brannen took over in 2015. Northern Kentucky, put flatly, shouldn't be this good. It is defeating the odds with every win. After all, it made the leap to the Division I level in 2012. In Brannen's first season at the helm, the Norse won only nine games. But Northern Kentucky has a program blossoming at a rapid and healthy pace, and he's been able to inject new life into a program that fell on hard times when it first made the leap to the big leagues. In the first four seasons of the program's Division I existence, it did not surpass 14 wins -- including a bumpy 9-21 debut campaign for Brannen in 2015-16. But 18 games into the 2018-19 season, NKU finds itself tied atop the Horizon League standings, thanks in no small part to some imaginative, late-game playcalling from its coach, and potentially in the catbird seat to win the conference outright for a second consecutive season. "We've done really well, we've got really good players, an unbelievable fanbase, and a number of years of success now," Brannen says.<doc-sep>It’s not uncommon for coaches in one sport to turn to other sports for inspiration on how to do things. For example, a big talking point during England’s run to the World Cup semifinals in 2018 was how the team’s manager, Gareth Southgate, turned to the NBA and NFL for tips and pointers on some things the Three Lions did on and off the pitch. Still, we’ve haven’t quite seen one coach do the cross-sport thing to the extent that Northern Kentucky coach John Brannen did on Friday night. The Norse were playing host to Horizon League foe Wright State, and with 11.8 seconds left, Northern Kentucky was doing all it could to protect a three-point lead. This included running an absolutely wild inbounds play in which all five players stood out of bounds. Three players lined up to the right of junior forward Dantez Wilson, who was tasked with inbounding the ball. With all the attention being paid to the trips right setup we had on display, junior guard Tyler Sharpe ran a comeback route and received the pass. How AWESOME was this inbounds play from Northern Kentucky last night. pic.twitter.com/uE5Yiz0i2E — Basketball Society (@BBallSociety_) January 12, 2019 It was all pretty easy from there, as the Norse nearly took 10 seconds off the clock and could have gone in for a wide-open layup if they wanted. Eventually, Sharpe got fouled, went 1-for-2 from the stripe, and secured a 68-64 win for the Norse. As for the inspiration for the play — which was called “Clemson” and got installed one day before the Norse took on the Raiders — Brannen told CBS Sports that he stole the idea from another college basketball coach. “Dan Muller actually ran the play at Illinois State, so I have to give him credit,” Brannen said. “I saw him run it, and I liked it because of the fact that it allowed us to get the ball inbounds, because you never see it. And secondly, it put us in position to put our two best foul shooters in position to probably be the first and second options on the play, which was the main thing because we were up three with 11 seconds to go.” We’ve seen plenty of college basketball players go on to have NFL careers — Antonio Gates, Jimmy Graham, Julius Peppers, etc. Perhaps this will lead to the reverse happening, with former NFL offensive coordinators drawing up inbounds plays for college basketball teams. We’ll know this is a thing if Marty Mornhinweg gets a job on the bench for some MAC team in the next few weeks.<doc-sep>
Protecting a three-point lead and needing just one completion to seal a victory, Northen Kentucky drew up a nice play to take advantage of Wright State’s coverage and got that vital conversion. You might think I’m referring to a football game, but I’m actually referring to the Northen Kentucky-Wright State basketball game that took place Friday night. Here’s the play… How AWESOME was this inbounds play from Northern Kentucky last night. pic.twitter.com/uE5Yiz0i2E — Basketball Society (@BBallSociety_) January 12, 2019 Northern Kentucky goes with the scissors concept that was so popular in the NFL this season, but the quarterback/inbounder doesn’t like the look and works back to his backside receiver running a hitch. He had the corner route for a big completion but took the safe option. Wright State is in a basic Cover 3 defense, with the defender at the bottom of the screen manning his deep third, the man next to him taking the flat and the other defender dropping into a hook zone. The isolated defender is locked in man-to-man coverage, which defenses will often do against three-by-one sets. Coach John Brannen says he got the play from Illinois State. Via CBS Sports: “Dan Muller actually ran the play at Illinois State, so I have to give him credit,” NKU coach John Brannen, who drew up the play, told CBS Sports. “I saw him run it, and I liked it because of the fact that it allowed us to get the ball inbounds, because you never see it. And secondly, it put us in position to put our two best foul shooters in position to probably be the first and second options on the play, which was the main thing because we were up three with 11 seconds to go.” Northern Kentucky made one-of-two free throws and would go on to win the football basketball game 68-64.