A month into preseason practice, a time when it becomes mundane, Justin Mann gathered his UWF men's basketball team and dared players to dream big.

He pointed to the banner recognizing the 2018 team for reaching the NCAA Division II Men's Tournament. – the only time it occurred in UWF history.

"That is the point (in preseason drills) you have to encourage and get them going," Mann said. "I said, guys we have a chance to do something that only one other team has done here and I would love to have this on the board."

Make room. That lofty achievement now has a match.

In one of the biggest turnarounds for an athletic program in the Argos' decorated history, this team celebrated a Gulf South Conference Tournament championship on March 8 with a win at West Alabama, getting the league's automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament just hours apart.  Their 25-8 record is the second-most wins in school history and the 15-7 GSC record is the second-most league wins.

Consider, UWF won just 16 games combined in the previous two years.

"It's very special," said Argos Associate Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics, Dave Scott. "We have won a lot of championships at UWF and every one of them is special in their own way, but just seeing how these guys have fought hard all year and competed hard all year is special. They played for each other out there, and the institution and the coach. We've come a long way."

As bracket fate would have it, the Argos will rematch against West Alabama on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the quarterfinal round of the NCAA D2 South Regional at Rick Case Arena on the Nova Southeastern campus in Fort Lauderdale. The Argos pulled off a stunning win against the regular-season winners before a sellout crowd at West Alabama's home court.

The top seed in this eight-team regional is No. 1-ranked Nova Southeastern (27-1), the reigning national champions.

For UWF, there can be no overstating this feat. UWF men's basketball only had one winning season in the past eight years. The Argos finished 8-20 last year. In Mann's first season two years ago, he took over one month into the season and the team finished 6-19 the rest of the way.

"It is a great accomplishment for our team, obviously the program and all UWF athletics," Mann said. "I wanted to pave our way for our journey, our destiny and our guys have done that. I am just proud of those guys. I'm proud of the adversity we fought through the year with injuries. I thought the injuries prepared us for guys to have confidence in different roles. And as we got healthy I felt those guys kept those roles and we kept growing together."

One of those injuries was to leading scorer Anthony Iglede, a 6-foot-5 wing player who missed six weeks, but returned for the final two games of the regular season and GSC tournament run. He finished leading all UWF players with a 15.8 points average.

"Getting the right people, the right fit and the right culture," said Mann, reflecting upon what made this achievement possible. "I think that's all part of it."

"I was asked (in preseason) by Will Kennedy (voice of the Argos) 'What's your goal?' To finish in top three in the league. If you finish in top three in our league it gives you a chance to get to the national tournament. I think the returning players bought in and I think everyone else followed suit."

Mann leaned on his faith and support from his wife, Daley, as he began to resurrect the team in the past two years. This was his biggest coaching position, after being head coach of Independence (Kansas) Community College for two years, an assistant coach there for the three previous years, before getting hired at UWF as assistant coach in 2023.

He began connecting with recruits from across the country and several players locally. Mann would often be seen at high school games throughout the Pensacola area as a spectator. He has three players from the Pensacola area – Hutson Rowe (Gulf Breeze), Zac Clarke (Pensacola High) and Christian Valarezo (Milton), and another (Colby McAllister) from Spanish Fort, Alabama.

"I think we've done a good job making inroads locally," Mann said. "We have these basketball tournaments in the summer, and having all these teams come through and seeing the changes in the gym and all the nice things we have done, I think that encourages local high school coaches"

A loss to Union on Feb.19 resulted in a wake up call that reignited determination to win a senior day home finale against Christian Brothers, part of wins in five of the last six games. The Argos opened the GSC tournament with an overtime win against Trevecca Nazarene, then won again at the UWF Field House against Lee in the tournament semifinal, before the upset at West Alabama's home court.

The GSC Tournament had been held in Birmingham at the Pete Hanna Center on Samford University's campus since 2013. This year's event went back to campus sites with West Alabama getting the home court through the tournament.

"I like the experience of being in a big arena, but I do understand the drawbacks of the fans may not travel," Mann said. "I think the home sites add more atmosphere. That place at West Alabama was sold out and it was loud and I think that is what college athletics is all about and our guys really enjoyed themselves. It was a game of runs. It went up and down and up and down. Once we took that lead at 13-minute mark we never looked back. Those guys keep pushing and pushing."

In pushing through in a breakthrough way, UWF has set itself for the future.

"We did it now. And so now we have to maintain it and keep it going," Mann said. "We just have to build off the momentum. And obviously with the climate changes in college sports, you never know what players are going to leave, so you need to find a way to get the right ones when players leave."