In 480 B.C. a massive Persian army was headed for Greece.
King Leonidas, of the Greek city-state Sparta, assembled a small contingent of soldiers to face the massive horde of Persian invaders led by Xerxes, and headed for Thermopylae, a key mountain pass that would give Leonidas and his smaller fighting force the land advantage.
The Battle of Thermopylae has been popularized throughout history and has become one of the most important moments that have defined Western civilization.
It was even depicted in the 2006 historical action film, “300.”
One scene from that film shows Leonidas and his men on the road to Thermopylae, where they encounter a group of fellow countrymen who offer to join them in battle.
“We heard Sparta was on the warpath. We’re eager to join forces,” their leader said. “But you bring only this handful of soldiers against Xerxes.”
Upon hearing this, Leonidas points to a man in the new unit and asks, “What is your profession?”
The man responds, “I’m a potter.”
“And you,” Leonidas points to another, “what is your profession?”
The man says, “Sculptor.”
Leonidas nods and points to another man: “And you?”
“A blacksmith.”
Leonidas then roars, “Spartans, what is your profession?”
The men at his back, ready for war, lift their spears into the air and make three battle cries in unison.
“You see old friend, I brought more soldiers than you did,” Leonidas says.
Fast forward to late February 2023– more than two thousand years after the historic battle in faraway Greece.
Xavier University’s men’s basketball team had just completed its practice session just hours before its game against DePaul University.
Head coach Sean Miller had his team gather in the media room, and he shows them that scene from the movie.
“Togetherness,” Miller said when asked why he showed them that scene. “They’re talking about joining forces. Do you want to come and fight with us? And the guy looks at him and says, ‘You only have a couple of soldiers? You’re gonna go against that big army?’
“… The point is, we brought more soldiers than you think. In other words, you have to be united. And in our situation, we have to be. We were today.”
Saturday was the second game in a row in which Xavier was without key players. Down a starter in Zach Freemantle. Down a key backup player in Desmond Claude. Down another backup in Kam Craft.
The Xavier Musketeers were short-handed. That played a role in Wednesday’s last-second loss at Marquette a few days earlier so Coach Miller turned to Greek history to share a valuable lesson with his players, hoping to inspire them.
“Coach was just showing us that we all gotta be on the same path,” Adam Kunkel told The Cincinnati Enquirer. “We all gotta have the same goals. We gotta do the same things. We can’t have one person be doing this, one person be doing that.
“And when we’re all on the same page, it just clicks.”
There’s a reason why Leonidas and his men are remembered today. They fought to the death in the Battle of Thermopylae and held the only road that led through the narrow mountain pass in defense of their country.
To this day, it remains one of the most famous last stands in history.
Xavier used it on Saturday as a reminder of what can be accomplished when a group, no matter its size, is united and believes in the same goal. They beat De Paul– even short handed.
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