Daily News | ‘Every kid’s dream’: North Philly’s Clarence Rupert returns home with Cinderella St. Peter’s for Sweet 16
St. Peter’s had just clinched the sweetest of spots in the Sweet 16 when a reporter wanted to know last Saturday how the tiny school from Jersey City was able to keep up with the physical play of their bigger opponents.
“I had to tell him, ‘You forgot, coach,’” said freshman forward Clarence Rupert, who started both tournament wins. “I guess since he’s from New York and all. But he knows what’s up.” The 6-foot-8 Rupert found his way to St. Peter’s after his college plans fell through. He had offers to play for bigger programs while attending a Charlottesville, Va. boarding school but those scholarships were retracted during the pandemic as coaches were unable to see Rupert play.
The size of St. Peter’s arena didn’t matter when they bounced Kentucky in the first round or knocked off Murray State -- “Knowing that they did me like that,” Rupert said of the school that took away his scholarship. “I was saying ‘We have to get them out of there.’” -- to become the third 15th seed to reach the Sweet 16.“We’ve known this. Everyone says it’s an upset or a Cinderella story. But it’s not,” Rupert said. “We put in the work every day and give 110% in practice. It’s not no upset.