Troy's men's basketball coach has a unique qualifier for players he signs: They must like Waffle House

One NCAA Tournament team might find themselves celebrating at a popular dining establishment if they are able to pull off a dramatic upset.

Prior to No. 14 seed Troy facing No. 3 Kentucky on Friday, Trojans coach Scott Cross revealed that he has a unique recruiting pitch to players that are considering coming to play for him. In an interview with Kentucky Sports Radio, Cross admitted that he asks recruits if they like the restaurant chain Waffle House.

"Started off, the first two recruits we brought on campus, we're driving down the main street, I point out Waffle House, and ask them if they want to eat there for breakfast," Cross said. "They were like 'Waffle House? Hell nah, 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."

After striking out with those two recruits, the Trojans hosted Nick Stampley, who originally played at Eastern Florida State, for an official visit. 

"We're driving by and we don't even say anything about Waffle House," Cross said regarding Stampley. "He sees it and is like, 'Oh Coach, y'all got a Waffle House here? Can we go there tomorrow?' He was our first signee and he was one of the toughest guys we ever coached.

"From that point forward, we offhand ask them, do you like Waffle House? If the answer is yes, we sign them. If it's no, we never get them."

Troy is slated to appear in its third NCAA Tournament in program history later this week. The Trojans had an extremely successful season in which they produced a 23-10 record, and earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the Sun Belt conference tournament.