LOUISVILLE, Ky. — They walked in clad in their Princeton hoodies and sweats, and it wasn’t long before the patrons at Vincenzo’s, an Italian restaurant in Louisville, were requesting photos during dinner on Wednesday night and giving them an ovation as they left.
“Had a big round of applause from everyone there. … It just feels the world’s on our side,” sophomore guard Blake Peters told The Post. “Everyone’s rooting for us.
“We’re doing it for Princeton. This has taken on a life of its own. This will be remembered far beyond our time here, so we’re just trying to go as far as we can.”
Yes, America loves the underdog.
America loves Cinderella.
“That really gave us a feeling that the whole country’s behind our back,” senior guard Konrad Kiszka told The Post. “Wherever we go, people will be cheering us on. It just feels really good, gives us some confidence for the game.”
The 15th-seeded Princeton Tigers will be the underdog against 6-seed Creighton on Friday night in the South Regional at the KFC Yum! Center.
“When we were walking out, the whole restaurant gave us a standing ovation … not standing ovation, but a round of applause on our way out. That was pretty cool,” freshman forward Caden Pierce told The Post.
Sophomore forward Darius Gakwasi never imagined anything like this when he left Portland, Ore. for Princeton.
“When we walked in, everybody turned their head, they wanted to take pictures of us when we were eating dinner,” he said. “It was nice to get that treatment and know that people are behind us and supporting us as we continue on our run.”
The Princeton players talk endlessly about how much they love one another. The locker room was lively, and belief dressed among them.
“It’s just been nice seeing how many people want to support us, and are just happy for how far we’ve gotten so far,” freshman forward Vernon Collins said.
Senior forward Jacob O’Connell, a Nicolas Cage lookalike, finished an interview talking about molecules to revel in the worship.
“It was a nice restaurant … it’s funny we were walking in there in like sweatshirt and sweatpants, or like travel suits, we’re like we feel like we don’t belong,” O’Connell said, “and meanwhile like people are clapping for us, people are coming taking pictures of us.
“We’re well underdressed for this restaurant, but somehow we’re stars, apparently. It was a cool feeling.”
The food drew rave reviews from every player.
“They had a set menu for us — there was like some fettuccini on there, we had chicken parm, tortellini, tiramisu … it was good,” Gakwasi said.
Freshman guard Xaivian Lee seconded that emotion.
“That was actually my favorite restaurant I’ve been to so far, to be honest,” Lee said.
During March Madness?
“No I mean all year,” Lee said.
Princeton in the Elite Eight? Food for March Madness thought.
“There were probably three or four separate people who just walked up to the table and we were like, ‘Hey, can we get a picture of you guys real quick?’ ” O’Connell said. “I’m in the middle of chewing my food, but ‘Yeah, if you want to take a picture, go ahead.’ ”
Your Princeton Tigers — America’s Darlings.