Student Reporter Goes Viral For Her NCAA Tournament Interview
03/30/2025 10:53 PM
A student reporter at the University of Florida is going viral for her interview following the Sweet 16 on Thursday night.
The No. 1 seed Florida Gators took down the No. 4 seed Maryland Terrapins in the Sweet 16 of the West Region on Thursday evening. The Gators were up big with a couple of minutes to go, so the end of Florida's bench got to see some action.
Florida walk-on Bennett Andersen scored his second field goal of the year during the win. Following the game, he was able to secure one of his first interviews of the year. NCAA Tournament locker rooms are typically open, meaning everyone - from the walk-ons to the star players - can be interviewed by the media, just like in the pros.
ESPN Gainesville's Talia Baia, a student reporter, went viral for her interview with Andersen.
Talia Baia/X
"First of all, congrats on your bucket, that was huge," Baia said. "I just want to know how was the trip here, and how was the energy going into that game?"
Andersen responded: "Trip's been awesome, energy was good."
The interview ended up going viral on social media, not because of the content of the questions or answers, but rather because of how Andersen was looking at Baia.
"I think a young man fell in love," one fan joked.
"He got taller during the interview omg," one fan added.
"Bros better than me, I would've folded," one fan added.
"Bennett has better composure than me but I guess that's why he plays D1," another fan wrote.
"Bennie buckets about to risk it all and go for 50 pts," one fan added.
Caught up with Bennett "Buckets" Anderson after the game on what he looks forward to in the Elite 8!
— Talia Baia (@talia_baia) March 28, 2025
"Hopefully these guys take care of business so I can play again, hopefully I can get another bucket" pic.twitter.com/bo31tHqabg
Florida is off to the Final Four, so perhaps we'll get another interview from these two.
The Gators are scheduled to take on Auburn in the NCAA Tournament Final Four on Saturday evening.
