A sellout crowd watches Appalachian battle Davidson Jan. 12, 2009 at the Holmes Convocation Center. The Mountaineers will host the Pacific Tigers tonight at 8 p.m. in the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament, marking the mens’ first postseason final four appearance in school history. Tommy Penick | The Appalachian

In college basketball, it is a term that represents the highest level of achievement.

It invokes images of heroes of the past: Alcindor, Jordan, Bird and Johnson, just to name a few.

And though it is not The Final Four, members of Appalachian State’s men’s basketball team are not underestimating the importance of their appearance tonight in the semifinals of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament.

“It’s March 24 now, and any team playing now is good,” head coach Buzz Peterson said Wednesday. “There’s about 30 Division I men’s basketball teams left playing in the country. Everyone playing right now is a darn good basketball team.”

In August, few predicted the Apps would still be playing basketball in late March. After all, Appalachian finished 13-18 last season, and transitions to new coaching staffs rarely go smoothly.

You can count Peterson among the Apps’ preseason doubters.

“No I didn’t,” Peterson said when asked if he thought ASU would still be playing at this point in the year. “I give credit to these guys. They’ve accepted their roles on the team; the chemistry has been good. They’ve paid attention to what we’ve wanted to do and they’ve wanted to be coached.

“I can’t sit here and tell you I expected this. But I knew if they continued to work hard, some good things would happen to them in the end.”

Tonight’s contest marks the last home game for seniors Josh Hunter, Kellen Brand, A.J. Highsmith, Ryann Abraham and Tyler Webb.

Hunter said he cherishes the opportunity to extend his playing career.

“It’s a blessing to be in this situation,” Hunter said. “When we lost to Wofford [in the Southern Conference Tournament], we thought that was pretty much it. So when we got in the [CIT], we were ready to play.”

Before this season, the Mountaineers had not won a postseason game in the history of the men’s basketball program.

Now they have two and are gunning for two more and a trophy.

“As an individual, you always ask yourself ‘what do you want to be remembered for?’” Brand said. “We’ve already done some pretty special things, [but I want] to be able to put the icing on the cake and put a trophy in the trophy case.”

Story: ROB JENKINS, Sports Editor