TAMPA, Fla. (AP) 鈥� Alvaro Folgueiras left Spain as a 16-year-old with a dream to play basketball in the United States.
He made the biggest shot of his life in the national spotlight to eliminate the defending champions from the .
On college basketball鈥檚 grandest stage and with his mother in attendance, Folgueiras nailed a 3-pointer with 4.5 seconds remaining to lift on Sunday, sending the Hawkeyes to the Sweet 16 for the first time since 1999.
He ran to hug his mom while teammates celebrated by mobbing one another on the floor. Beatriz Campos hadn鈥檛 seen her son since last summer, when he played for Spain鈥檚 national team. He was a freshman at Robert Morris the last time she watched him play a college basketball game in person.
鈥淚t鈥檚 super special having my mom here. She鈥檚 everything for me,鈥� Folgueiras said. 鈥淲here the world would be without the moms? She鈥檚 super tough. She鈥檚 been through a lot of things in life. Sometimes when I struggle through basketball, and basketball is life, I think of my mom as an example of resilience, and that really inspires me and gives me confidence. Because she鈥檚 not just a fighter, she鈥檚 a super special person. I鈥檓 so lucky to have her as a mom.鈥�
Folgueiras lost his dad when he was 9, so having his mom witness his greatest moment in the sport was emotional.
鈥淐oming back after two years, and seeing where I am right now and how much I worked to be where I am right now, for her it鈥檚 a great feeling because she鈥檚 sent a 16-year-old kid to America without knowing any English. … without anything but dreams and hunger,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd this one is for her and my dad. He鈥檚 watching up there.鈥�
Losing a father at a young age can have a negative impact on any child. But Folgueiras filled the void the best she could.
鈥淗e left us with my mom and my brother in my house. It was kind of hard,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 really feel it as much because my mom always made sure that we didn鈥檛 need anything, absolutely nothing. So I cannot say that I grew up in an environment where I needed some things.
鈥淪ometimes I can say that because I feel his absence. I was just going in the court and playing to get away (from) my house to be with something else. But I can say that I had a happy childhood. Something that we all said, and everyone has these kind of things (in) their life. We are not victims. I never let things like that make me a victim. Not to me and not to my brother, not to my mom. We are like that because my mom was showing out every single day.鈥�
Thanks to Folgueiras鈥� heroics, ninth-seeded Iowa (23-12) gets an opportunity to show out against No. 4 seed Nebraska (26-8) on Thursday in Houston.
Folgueiras, who averaged 8.5 points coming off the bench for the Hawkeyes this season and 14 per game in the NCAA Tournament, wasn鈥檛 the primary option on the go-ahead basket. The play was designed for Bennett Stirtz to get downhill, but Folgueiras called his shot.
鈥淭his dude came up to me and he鈥檚 like: 鈥業鈥檓 going to be ready and I鈥檓 going to make it,鈥欌�� Stirtz said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 what he actually did.鈥�
Iowa first-year coach Ben McCollum called it 鈥渋rrational confidence.鈥�
鈥淚 mean, I work a lot,鈥� Folgueiras said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 trust in confidence. It鈥檚 as simple as that. I鈥檓 the same player I make it or I miss it. With that mentality, I just don鈥檛 let mistakes affect me a lot. Sometimes I do a better job than other times, but that鈥檚 the intention.鈥�
The Hawkeyes have never won a national title and last reached the Elite Eight in 1987.
Folgueiras gave them a shot to end the drought.
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