The Troy Trojans are making just their third-ever NCAA Tournament appearance this March and their first since 2017.

According to Head Coach Scott Cross, a large portion of the success could be related to an unconventional recruiting strategy.

In an interview, this week ahead of a matchup against the Kentucky Wildcats, Cross revealed the hilarious question he asks all potential recruits: Whether or not they like Waffle House.

“It started off, when the first two recruits I brought on campus were driving down the main street,” Cross told KSR. “I point out Waffle House and ask them if they want to eat there for breakfast. And they’re like ‘Waffle House? Hell no, I don’t want to go to Waffle House.’ I’m like, ‘OK, my bad, we’ll try to eat somewhere else.‘ Long story short, we signed neither one of those guys.”

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Cross continued with an anecdote of another recruit they wound up signing who was a fanatic for the iconic breakfast spot.

“We brought in a guy named Nick Stampley, who’s an OKG — ‘Our Kind of Guy’. He was the third recruit to visit. We’re driving by, we don’t even say anything about Waffle House. He sees it, he’s like ‘Oh Coach, y’all got a Waffle House here? Can we go tomorrow?’ He was our first signee.”

Stampley went on to have a decorated career at Troy, which was enough for Cross to be convinced a dislike for Waffle House may be a potential red flag.

“He was one of the toughest guys we’ve ever coached, and from that point forward, we just kind of off-hand asked (recruits), ‘Do you like Waffle House?’ If the answer is yes we sign them,” said Stampley. “If it’s no we never get them.”

You can watch Cross and the Trojans as they try to pull off the upset against Kentucky on Friday evening at 6:10.