Monthly Archives: March 2010

A memorable one

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Throughout the recently completed season, Chapman junior forward Justin Riley blogged about the Panthers’ historic run. His final entry recounts the Panthers’ tournament experience and offers thoughts on the special bond he had with this year’s teammates.

We thank Justin for his thoughtful, well written entries throughout this season. And he was just as good on the court, picking up All Independent Player of Year honors. He’ll be back for his senior season at Chapman this fall, and we hope he’ll chronicle it for us.

On October 15, a group of guys entered the gym with one thing on their minds: getting the chance to prove himself on the big stage. Practices, games and teammates came and went, but the passion to take Chapman to the postseason for the first time in 26 years burned on.

After concluding the season with a 23-2 record, some positive thoughts filtered through my head:

1. We were ranked in the D3 Hoops Top 25 Poll for all 13 weeks.
2. We had a 17-1 in-region record.
3. We defeated NCAA Division II opponent BYU-Hawaii (ranked 18th at the time).
4. We ended the season on a 13-game winning streak (23.7 scoring margin during streak).

On the other hand, some negative thoughts filtered through as well:

1. Our strength of schedule was weak (no surprise), 392 out of 407.
2. We didn’t have any standout Division III wins, losing to our one real test: Claremont-Mudd-Scripps.
3. We hadn’t played a team with a winning percentage above .500 since December.
4. And of course, Chapman hadn’t made the tourney since moving to Division III in 1994.

Once all of these thoughts made their way in and out, I still wasn’t sure if we were going to make it. As an avid board reader, it looked like we were very likely to get a Pool B bid, but I couldn’t convince myself for certain; setting myself up for heartbreak was a pain I wanted to avoid. On Monday morning, five of us met at a teammate’s house to watch the selection show hoping that we would see our name in the bracket for the first time. The show started…we waited…we waited…and then, history happened.

WE MADE IT!!

If just making it to the tourney wasn’t good enough, finding out we were hosting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps in the first round was the cherry on top. Going in to this game, we knew it was going to be a 40-minute battle. CMS is a well coached, hard nosed team that prides itself on toughness and defense. The practices leading up to the game were very physical and competitive.

At 7:00 PM on March 4, the battle began. The environment was incredible with almost 2000 people in attendance; the Chapman student body covered the entire west side of the gym in white, while roughly 100 CMS students stood across cheering in their respective school colors. CMS jumped out quickly, but we were able to close the gap and fight back-and-forth for the remainder of the first half. Just before halftime, Griffin Ramme hit a buzzer beater three-pointer in the corner to give us a three point advantage going into the locker room.

The second half started similar to the first with CMS jumping out quickly. Once again, we were able to battle back and seize the lead for the final six minutes of the game and capture the victory 58-47. When the buzzer sounded, the gym erupted and the students stormed the court. Words cannot express how I immediately felt, but it was a moment that I will never forget. After the game, the CMS coaching staff and players showed tremendous sportsmanship and wished us well against Whitworth.

The next morning we were up at 4:00 AM to head to the airport to catch a flight to Spokane, Washington. Waking up that early after a physical game didn’t lead to a very comfortable flight, but when we arrived at our hotel, I had no problem taking advantage of the five-hour window to sleep before our evening practice. At practice, we broke down our scouting report and prepared ourselves for another battle Saturday night.

When we arrived to the gym Saturday night, we were very focused and determined to upset Whitworth on their home court. Prior to the game, our coach emphasized that if we came out slow, it would be a long and hard battle back. And that it was. Whitworth came out firing as we found ourselves down 21-6 with 10 minutes to play in the first half. We were able to battle back and close the gap heading into the break trailing 32-26.

The second half mirrored the first as Whitworth expanded the lead to double digits in the opening minutes. We fought hard to close the gap, but were unsuccessful at getting any closer than six points the remainder of the game. Nate Montgomery and Eric Beal did an outstanding job on both ends of the court leading them to a 21-point victory.

Silence filled the locker room as all of us realized that our historic season had come to an end. As players changed and left the locker room, the four guys that started alongside of me every game for the past two seasons—Dan Aguilar, Jared Kaiser, Griffin Ramme and Kyle Wood—sat there in silence. Tears immediately streamed down our eyes as we embraced each other in the locker room for one last time. Though Griffin and I have one more year of eligibility, the camaraderie the five of us shared is something special. I am grateful I had the opportunity to help Chapman make the postseason tournament for the first time in 26 years, but I am more grateful that I was able to share it with this group of guys.

To Dan, Jared and Kyle: thank you for a memorable year.

This is the end

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During the Division III basketball season, I’ve been reading John Feinstein’s The Last Amateurs in which he chronicles a season in Division I’s Patriot League. There are lots of parallels to Division III, especially since many of the Assistant Coaches in the Patriot League are now Division III coaches. The list includes Carl Danzig at Scranton, Jimmy Allen at Averett and Nathan Davis at Randolph-Macon.

Much of the book is about players fighting to prolong their basketball careers. Like nearly all Division III athletes, they are “going pro in something other than sports.” When the final Patriot League team, LaFayette, has its season ended by Temple in the NCAA Tournament, senior Mike Homer says, “I’ll always love this time in my life. I’ll love having been a basketball player. But I’ll be ready to move on. Endings are always sad. But they lead to beginnings.”

For me the enduring images of the 2009-2010 season were those in which players and coaches reached the end of their college career.

Clark senior forward Mark Alexander never missed a game in his college career due to injury. Not over 100 plus games. He was a big reason for the Cougars’ opening round upset of Albright and undoubtedly a major part of their strategy to beat Randolph-Macon. But he hurt his knee badly enough in the opening minute against the Yellow Jackets that he never returned. He spent the game on the bench, icing his knee or leaning on crutches. The Cougars scrapped but came up short against Randolph-Macon, ending their season and Alexander’s career. He put a towel over his head and cried when the final buzzer sounded. I’m not sure if he could’ve played in the next round of the tournament, even if the Cougars advanced. Maybe he spent the whole 39 minutes of action thinking about the end of his career. It still wasn’t enough to staunch the emotion.

Coaches don’t normally have to wrestle with those emotions quite as much. There’s usually next season to think about. But during Marymount’s season, women’s coach Bill Finney announced that he would retire after it was complete. His last game was a close one against Hope in the sectional semifinals. Unlike Alexander, he didn’t have time to think about this being his last game even while it being played.

Finney had a tremendous coaching career, winning over 500 games and impacting countless lives. He has also been a great supporter of this site. I’ve benefited from the insight he’s shared with me directly or through other staff. I wanted to get his insight on what he was thinking, what he was feeling that night. Because Marymount’s semifinal was the first game in a double header, I didn’t get the chance to ask him. Maybe no media did since Marymount didn’t appear to have a writer or radio station at the game. I’m not sure I would’ve had the gumption to ask anyway and intrude on that personal moment.

I did get the chance to talk to D3hoops All American Christina Solari about that moment a couple hours later. Her Illinois Wesleyan Titans played a tremendous game against UW-Stevens Point. The Titans went from nearly surviving and playing Hope in the Elite 8 to being beaten on a shot with 2.2 seconds left. Throw in the timeout the Titans called to set up a final play and that’s not a lot of time to think about your last game. I have no idea what Solari was feeling on the inside when I talked to her afterwards. But I was struck by how at peace she seemed to be when I asked her about this being her last game.

Solari has a medical redshirt that would enable her to play another year. But she didn’t seem inclined to use it. At least not right now. Maybe she’ll decide to come back, like Kean’s Melissa Beyruti did. Kean obliterated most of their opponents this season, seemingly on track for the Final Four. Then Beyruti got hurt in the NJAC tournament championship against William Paterson. Two Saturdays later, Rochester ended Kean’s season with Beyruti playing limited minutes. She finished her career tied for the most games played in women’s Division III basketball history.

This weekend the seniors at Rochester, Hope and Washington U. saw their college basketball careers end at the women’s final four. For Hope who lost in the championship game, the ending was emotional for seniors Jenny Cowen and Philana Greene. Cowen admirably wrestled her emotions to the ground during the post game conference. Without knowing what Greene was really feeling, she seemed at peace with the end of her college basketball career.

Amherst didn’t have any seniors on its roster. After its heartbreaking loss to Washington U in the national semifinals, there was a sense of unfinished business. Coach G.P. Gromacki implied as much by calling the team a “work in progress.” He and his players have done an incredible job already, building that program into a national title contender. There’s only one more step they can take, and that’s winning the national championship. Maybe they’ll get there. They will almost certainly be very good again next year. However next season ends, I hope they can enjoy the journey and don’t feel so much pressure trying to win a national championship that the rest of the season feels like the prelude to two games in March.

Of course, not all endings are sad. Two groups of seniors – one men, one women – get to have a happy endings to their careers. Washington U. graduate student Jaimie McFarlin had a rare opportunity to rewrite the end of her college career. Afterwards she told me that her basketball career still may not be finished. She hopes to play in Europe next year. UW-Stevens Point senior Matt Moses also had a happy ending, one that was a long time in the making.

For lots of players, they’ve reached the end, whether it’s happy, sad or somewhere in between. Wherever life takes those players next, we wish them the best. Thanks for giving us a small window into this part of your lives.

Welcome to Salem

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I just wanted to write to say it’s a heck of a lot nicer here than the last time I was in Salem, Va.

It’s a beautiful day, with the temperature hitting 70, making me wish I had time to go out and play a round of golf. Or that I were capable of playing golf.

Getting ready for Hoopsville tonight, games tomorrow and the All-American announcement on Saturday. Oh, and the All-Star Game and championship game, too.