Purdue's Matt Haarms is thinking about a man bun. Evidence suggests he really needs one.
The real star of Purdue’s second-round NCAA tournament win over Purdue wasn’t Vince or Carsen Edwards. It wasn’t Isaac Haas – thanks, NCAA. It wasn’t Haas’ backup, either. It was his backup’s hair.
With Haas sidelined by a broken elbow, the world was introduced to 7-foot-3 freshman Matt Haarms, an 18-year-old from the Netherlands who can’t play consecutive possessions of basketball without adjusting his hair.
America finally gets the #HaarmsHair mix it deserves.
#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/XiqecezHMZ
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 18, 2018
Stylin'#MarchMadness pic.twitter.com/CjikXlj7Gk
— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) March 18, 2018
It appears to have become a compulsive habit. The Athletic’s Nicole Auerbach was in Detroit, and was tracking Haarm’s hair adjusting habits. She reported that the lanky Dutchman keeps his locks in line even when he’s on the bench:
You guys may not see it on TV, but Matt Haarms fixes his hair after possessions while on the bench too!!
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) March 18, 2018
Haarms appears to be unwilling to taint his ‘do with any gel or other type of product. Or maybe his gel just isn’t strong enough. Either way, his hair regularly flops down onto his forehead. It rarely, if ever, gets all the way down into his eyes. But it’s clearly at least somewhat bothersome.
So if gel isn’t the solution, what could be?
Harm’s may have picked up a hint from Houston’s Rob Gray on Saturday night against Michigan. Gray has one of the more distinctive hairstyles in college basketball:
Haarms took note, and thinks a man bun might be the solution.
Matt Haarms: “I was watching the Houston game and thought, maybe I should get a man bun.”
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) March 18, 2018
Or, maybe …
Matt Haarms said he thinks he might need to go to an arts and craft store and find actual glue. “Anything to keep my hair up.”
— Nicole Auerbach (@NicoleAuerbach) March 18, 2018
Haarms’ hair, and the lengths he goes to to keep it up, will be one of the stories of the Sweet 16. Purdue takes on Texas Tech on Friday.
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Henry Bushnell covers soccer and college basketball for Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Question? Comment? Email him at henrydbushnell@gmail.com or follow him on Twitter @HenryBushnell.
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