Watkins native earns ‘March Madness’ dream

Watkins farm boy Josh Streit was coming out of the tunnel at Amica Mutual Pavilion in Providence, R.I., with his headphones on watching the Kansas and Arkansas men’s basketball teams play – the game before his fifteenth-seeded Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks team took the floor versus second-seeded St. John’s University in the opening round of the Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.

“That game [I] was kind of like [thinking], ‘Wow, we made it. We did what we were supposed to do,’ because that was our goal from the start of the season, was to win our conference championship and go to the NCAA tournament. Just the experience … going to shootaround, having open practices, and all the good stuff, getting some gear, NCAA gear was just amazing.”

Streit finished his likely final year of college basketball eligibility and reflected on the ending, one that brought him and his  Maverick teams to the highest stage in Division I men’s college basketball: “March Madness” and the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.

The beginning

A 2021 Eden Valley-Watkins High School graduate, Streit played under Coach Adam Langer  from his freshman to his junior season. He earned his first varsity minutes for the Eagles coming off the bench as a freshman. His senior season, he played under Coach Jacob Anderson. During his four years within the varsity program, the Eagles combined for an 84-20 record. The team finished 27-2 during his junior season and 17-3 his senior season.

Having three older brothers – Jared, Jacob, and Justin – Streit remembers playing with his third brother, Justin, during his freshman and sophomore seasons.

“That was really fun (playing with my brother), and then just playing with the dudes that I grew up with,” Streit said. “Just classic growing up together and playing high school basketball that was really fun. I enjoyed the community, and I have nothing but good things to say about Eden Valley [Watkins] and the basketball program.”

All three of his brothers went on to play college football, but he chose to play college basketball, also getting college football offers.

“Since I’ve been younger,” Streit said, “I’ve always wanted to play basketball.”

College career

Streit played most of his college career – three years – with the North Dakota State University (NDSU) Bison. For his final season, he transferred to the Mavericks, a team in the Bison’s same conference, the Summit League.

One of his Bison assistant coaches, who had coached Streit during his freshman year, had left the Bison program to coach with the Mavericks, a connection and familiarity that helped. Going back, this same assistant coach recruited Streit out of high school.  Streit and one of his Bison teammates came down to Omaha for a visit and they both eventually committed to the Mavericks, another helpful influence in moving toward Omaha. He also knew some of the guys on the team from competing against them over the years.

“I met with all the coaches, really liked them, and I’ve obviously been playing against them,” Streit said, “so I  kind of see their system and I thought it would just be a good fit.”

During the Mavericks’ 22-13 conference championship season,  Streit averaged 2.3 points and 3.5 rebounds  over 19.1 minutes per game, according to espn.com. He also tied for the team lead in blocks with 17 total on the season.

Nervous about coming down to Omaha for his final year:  a new situation with not as much familiarity compared to his prior team, the Bison, Streit found a home in Omaha thanks to an “amazing” group of teammates.

“I had a relationship with all 15 guys, so that was the start of it. We all got along real well,” Streit said. “And then just bringing a program [to the NCAA Tournament] who has never went to the NCAA Tournament, never won a regular season championship, just kind of like meant a lot for me.”

NCAA tournament run

The Mavericks were picked  to finish eighth in the nine-team Summit League preseason poll, something Streit pointed out as  a motivating factor for his team coming into the season.

“No one really believed in us …. We had a pretty rough non-con[ference schedule], and just sticking together with all the guys meant a lot,” Streit said. “And obviously winning games helps it all, but just the relationships I’ve made down here with all my teammates and coaches have been unbelievable.”

As for that NCAA Tournament bid, the Mavericks knew before the Summit League Championship game that it had earned this bid. Its championship game opponent, St. Thomas, was new to Division I and wasn’t yet eligible to qualify for the NCAA Tournament. Hearing some  negative online chatter about this before the championship game was even played gave the Mavericks more motivation, Streit said.

“We really wanted to win the game either way,” Streit said, “just to say we won it outright.”

The Mavericks won the game 85-75, leaving Streit filled with joy postgame. About a week before the championship game, he wondered how he would feel if his team earned that tournament bid.

“I was just super happy. I think it was just a lot of relief off my shoulders because, to me, I played college basketball instead of college football because I wanted to make the NCAA Tournament, and I didn’t do that my first three years,” Streit said. “So just knowing that I accomplished what I really wanted to was relieving to me and obviously doing it with this team, in this situation, the situation I had, it was just a ton of joy.”

Support

From the entire NCAA experience, Streit will most remember the week and a half build-up after the team clinched its conference tournament championship and before it opened versus St. John’s, especially the support the city of Omaha gave the team. Omaha is also home to another Division I program-Creighton.

“The Selection Sunday [event], we had a really good turnout. And just even walking around Omaha, I would get people saying stuff to me, like, ‘Congrats on the tournament…,’” Streit said. “I think that was really, was interesting to me, because I never, we never got that before we went to the tournament, so just the recognition that the town gave us was amazing.”

Speaking of support, he also had much of it from those closer to him, including family and friends. He recognized his parents, Rich and Sue, for everything they did for him.

“They’ve raised me the right way. They brought me to all AAU games. Let me play sports, football, basketball throughout high school,” Streit said. “Did anything and everything they could for me to be successful, so I give everything to them.”

His three brothers also did much for him, showing him how to work hard inside and outside the athletic arena. His family has about 350 beef cattle on a 600-acre farm, about a three-minute drive south of Watkins.

“Just watching them work on a farm and still do their studies in high school, and get good grades. When we were younger, they would push me to be a better player, and just watching them go through college,” Streit said. “And college sports aren’t easy in general, and just watching them commit to college football and going to their games was amazing.”

His friends and all of his coaches have always provided support.

“I’ll come home and I’ll see all my buddies, and they’ll just treat me like another guy. That’s a big thing I really like,” Streit said. “… They’ve always supported me. They’ve came to my games. They’re always watching my games, always asking about it. I think I get a lot more support than I realized, and that’s just kudos to all them for staying with me, watching me. They could be doing other stuff, but they choose to support me, so it means a lot to me.”

Future plans

Streit’s college basketball days are done, likely having played within his last year of eligibility and not having much interest in playing overseas. He had graduated from NDSU with a degree in Agricultural Economics and is pursuing and will graduate next winter with  a MBA degree from Omaha. He is looking for a job in agriculture.

“I plan on taking the farm over with my brother as of right now,” Streit said, “if it works out.”

Final message

The player from Watkins has a message to all of those young players with a dream to someday play in “March Madness,” to have that moment he had in the tunnel. That message is that it’s possible.

“If you work hard, you dedicate everything you can to, well in my case basketball,” Streit said, “that you can achieve whatever you want. It’s possible.”

He hopes his journey shows that a person can come from a small town and achieve big things.

“Obviously, there’s been great athletes out of the area, but just, I think making the NCAA Tournament was big for me,” Streit said. “And I don’t know much about the community. I don’t know what it really means to them, but hopefully it inspires at least one person, because if you can inspire one person, that’s all that matters.”