Saint Peter's point guard says he wishes he could relive his team's whole 'surreal' NCAA Tournament run

• Saint Peter's point guard Daryl Banks III told Insider that campus life has changed since returning from the NCAA Tournament.
• Banks said the experience and his teammates' fame since their run to the Elite Eight has been "surreal."

Saint Peter's Cinderella run in the NCAA Tournament ended on Sunday, but the Peacocks were already back in the gym Tuesday night for a pick-up run.

"It's fun just to get up and down with each other, just compete against each other," junior point guard Daryl Banks III told Insider. "That's never gonna stop."

It's been a sharp turn for the Peacocks. For three weeks they were the tournament darlings, the first 15-seed to ever advance to the Elite Eight, thrust into the national spotlight.

Their run ended with a thud, as they were stomped out by a bigger, better UNC team in the Elite Eight. They've since returned to Jersey City, New Jersey — where things haven't exactly returned to normal, Banks said.

"Campus life is extremely different now," Banks said. "Everybody knows who we are. They're coming up to us, congratulating us, whether it's faculty, students, different staff members. Just congratulating us, asking for pictures, autographs.

"Even when we're walking on the streets of Jersey City, they're stopping us and honking at us in cars and just really just congratulating us. Just all the attention we're getting is so surreal."

For the first time in March Madness history, players like Banks can now monetize that instant fame, able to profit off of their name, image, and likeness, thanks to loosened restriction by the NCAA. Banks, for one, has joined Dove's "Off Court Champs" campaign. Once anonymous to the larger sports world, Banks said he had a few other offers, as have his teammates.

Junior guard Doug Edert, the Peacocks mustachioed sixth man, has already promoted Buffalo Wild Wings and is enjoying another level of fame in Jersey City.

"Doug's a pretty famous guy right now," Banks said, laughing.

The Peacocks made memories that will last a lifetime

Banks' play was a big part of the Peacocks' run. The 6-foot-3 starting point guard averaged 13.5 points per game, including scoring 27 in their opening-round win over Kentucky. His full-court pressure on opposing guards also helped ignite the Peacocks' swarming defense.

Banks didn't have a standout memory from his team's run, saying he wishes he could relive the whole thing.

"What we did, no one has ever done before," Banks said. "Being able to put Jersey City on the map, just being able to show our different communities and where we come from, the different things that we've done. It really inspired the future generations to come."

He added: "It was an amazing experience."

Prior to the tournament, Joe Sherburne, a member of the 2018 UMBC team that knocked off No. 1 Virginia, becoming the first 16-seed to ever beat a 1-seed, told Insider that he and his former teammates "almost never" talk about their upset victory anymore.

Banks couldn't see that for he and his teammates.

"No, we're for sure gonna be talking about this for years and years ahead," Banks said.

"We've been together for a while. We've been together, worked hard many practices, many days, whatever it was. And just to finally see our dreams come and unfold like this — it's something amazing. It is really a brotherhood over here. We are for sure gonna be talking about this."