Well — we did it! What a roller-coaster season for our program, our team and myself. The 2008 NCAA Division III men’s basketball national champions are the Washington University in St. Louis Bears — now that’s got a nice ring to it.

The weekend in Salem was a very memorable one. It was a little different the second time around (after having been there a year ago) because we were a little more immune to the media, the large arena and the atmosphere. Last year we may have been a little in awe of the entire situation before having even played our games. This year it seemed as if the team had a much more businesslike attitude and was able to turn on the focus when we needed to turn it on.

The people of Salem, the NCAA, and the ODAC really run a great show out there. After arriving Wednesday, each team does some community service on Thursday before practices. We visited a V.A. hospital, which was very neat. Immediately following that we went to a luncheon to honor Troy Ruths for his Jostens Award acceptance. It was SO special for our entire team to be at the presentation. Following that we had a few hours of downtime at the hotel before heading back to the Civic Center for practice. We practiced, and then stayed at the Civic Center for the annual banquet that night with all the teams.

The banquet is an opening ceremonies-esque dinner and reception for all the student-athletes. It features a coach and player speaking representing each team in addition to a pretty neat highlight video about each team’s road to the final four — which definitely gets the players ready to compete. The ODAC commissioner, Brad Bankston, gave my blog a nice mention during his speech — so thanks Brad, and thanks for helping put together such a great experience in Salem.

Friday features a little more relaxation and prep for Friday night’s games. After a morning shoot-around, most of us relaxed around the hotel while watching the Division I games. In the hotel they have a “Student-Athlete Lounge” featuring a couple of big screen TVs, unlimited water, Gatorades and snacks, and PS3’s for all the athletes to use during the day. It’s a very nice touch that all the players greatly appreciate.

After all the hoopla, it was finally time to play some basketball. Hope was a very talented team and we knew that coming into the game. Having played them last year, we had a good feel for their style and it definitely benefited us. The first half was pretty back and forth, but in the second half our team put on one of the better shows I’ve ever seen. Scoring 57 points in a half against a very good defensive team was borderline ridiculous. It was the start to our nearly flawless three halves of basketball. Aaron Thompson took over for a big stretch and following his jabs, Troy had three-point play after three-point play to deliver the knockout punch.

Now had I been playing in the semifinal, bed time would’ve been in the immediate future following the game, however, I was a coach, and lucky for me — I was assigned Amherst on the Monday of the prior week as my team to scout going into the weekend, while one of our other assistant coaches took Ursinus. I had watched three of Amherst’s games on DVD in addition to their semifinal game picking up on their sets and play-calls, offensive and defensive tendencies, all in addition to some individual personnel scouting. So instead of going to sleep, I was up until after 2 a.m. in Coach Whittle’s room with my “scouting cap” on.

It was pretty neat that Amherst was the first scouting report I’ve been the one to actually hand-write the plays. It meant a lot the coaches trusted me to carry that load for the national championship game. I now know how truly frustrating it is for a coach to be calling out a play from the bench during a game while yelling and yelling to a player on the floor that a back-door is coming, but he still gets burned for a layup.

Anyway, Saturday night we played by far our best game of the season. We frustrated them with our defense and we hit shot after shot on offense. People can say maybe we got lucky shooting so well in the National Championship game — but the bottom line is we were taking GREAT shots, and that’s all you can ask for. As the final buzzer went off it was complete chaos and as I ran out to center court to celebrate and jump with my teammates my leg definitely did not feel hurt!

I can’t count how many friends, player’s parents, professors, etc., have come up to me and expressed congratulations but carried on to say how “bittersweet” it had to have been for me watching from the bench as opposed to being on the court.

The championship wasn’t bittersweet. It was really sweet.

This championship was the first for the program here and wasn’t won just by the six guys that played more than 10 minutes in Saturday night’s 22-point win. It was won by each one of the players that have been here during Coach Edwards’ 27 years. It was won by every fan that has ever come out to support the program. It was won by all the coaches that have ever put time in to making the program better. It was won by each player’s parents that have trusted to send their kid to the University. It was won by every sports information director we’ve ever had here, from people like Mike Wolf, the school’s first, that left his job at Northwestern for the weekend to come to Salem, to our current SID Chris Mitchell. It was won by people like Justin Carroll, the Dean of Students, Mark Wrighton, the chancellor here at Washington University, and our athletic director John Schael, for all the support they’ve given the program over the years. It was won by the three fan buses of students that traveled 24 hours on the weekend to get to Salem to get to the games.

Maybe I didn’t play minutes in the final game, but I still won that championship — and celebrating that wasn’t bittersweet, it was really sweet.

The after-party was fantastic at the hotel. I enjoyed talking with D3hoops.com posters Walzy31 and Marty Peretz about future business plans. I had a blast talking smack about the green-weenies to Titan Q and talking with Pat Coleman and D-Mac. We got to mingle with a few Ursinus parents and Amherst players and coaches, which added to the experience. But most of all it was just great to sit back with the coaches, my teammates and their families and enjoy what had just happened.

The entire experience was a ton of motivation for next year — to get back there and do it again. My first day freshman year at Wash U we had convocation, a welcoming with everyone in the class of 2009 and their families, in our Fieldhouse. Looking up at the four women’s basketball and eight women’s volleyball national championships, Tyler Nading, who I had known for less than 24 hours, and I made a pact that we’d hang our program’s first banner before we graduated. Well Tyler, we did it… Now let’s make it the first of many.

Take care,
Sean

P.S. Thank you to Pat for giving me the opportunity to blog this season. It has been both therapeutic and enjoyable. As for doing it again next season — a contract extension is still in the works and I’m not allowed to talk about it without my agent’s permission.

First, the good news: surgery last Tuesday went well. They did a scope on my knee to make sure everything looked like they expected (it did, and actually included a tear in my meniscus which shouldn’t really affect anything) then he fixed up the fracture by inserting a plate and four screws (which, no, won’t set off metal detectors at the airport haha).

The next two days were as miserable as any two days I’ve had in a long, long time. The pain was so intense and on top of that the pain medication made my stomach pretty uneasy—it seemed like it’d be a never ending cycle. I can’t really put into words how unbelievable it was having my mom (a former nurse) come down from Chicago to St. Louis to take care of me for the 5-days after the operation. My mom kept on saying how lucky she was for getting to spend such “quality” time with me and how there aren’t any moms that get to spend a week with their college sons during school—and all I kept thinking was that I’d be home for a week for winter break in a month and I would have rather had THAT been the week we spent together!

I’m currently still in a pretty serious leg brace (with absolutely no mobility) and about 15-pounds of wrap around my right leg. I’m in the same leg-dressing I got after the surgery and am EXTREMELY excited for tomorrow when I head to the doctor to hopefully get less-restriction on the brace and wrap that is removable. The removable aspect of the brace and wrap is probably the highlight because I’ll be able to shower for the first time in nine days!!!! You never really stop and appreciate the little things, like showering, but the ridiculous amount of wash cloths I’ve used in the past week makes me look forward to that warm shower tomorrow.

I’m also pretty excited for tonight. Coach Whittle and I are heading over to Fontbonne to scout their game against Webster. We play Fontbonne next week so it’ll be my first true scouting experience as a “coach” as I get to soak in some SLIAC basketball. These two teams are pretty big rivals and are probably the cream of the conference crop so it should be a good one to watch.

Last weekend I looked on as we were able to take down the 24^th Annual Lopata Classic. I was bummed I wasn’t able to partake in the banquet and pre-tournament activities that make the invitational such an upscale and special tournament for the Division III level. Between the special gift (a classy dress watch) and meals I know it’s a tournament visiting teams must enjoy being a part of.

Friday night we enjoyed a nice home crowd on the way to a 94-64 win over Earlham. It’s always fun when 13 people score and the kids that don’t normally get a chance to get on the court get to play with family and friends in the crowd.

Saturday was one of the eeriest games I’ve ever watched. It was relatively close the whole way. I can’t really go through and explain or describe all of it but if you have a chance, check out the last 3-minutes of the second half from the play-by-play in the box score. Between the missed free-throws, steals, big time performance by Kyle McDonald (from Babson… I mean he was ridiculous) and Tyler it was just a weird game. Babson missed a lay-up as time expired and we escaped with the 68-66 victory.

There’s been a lot of talk of how will Wash U be without me (see the poll from last week and the movement of us dropping in the d3hoops.com poll ). To be honest, I don’t think anyone knows and no one will know for a few more weeks- it’s too early to really judge as people are still trying to adapt to new roles on the court and hopefully by the time conference swings around we can have this ship going confidently in the right direction.

That being said, since I’ve been out there has been absolutely no better player in the country than my best buddy Tyler. In the past four games (3-1 without me) he’s averaged 24.8 points per game, shooting 69.0% (40/58) from the field, grabbing 8.5 rebounds a game and having 10 total steals. Hopefully Ty won’t have to keep up those ridiculous numbers for us to get by and the others will start to get comfortable in their new roles but I had to give him some love.

Illinois Wesleyan is coming here on Saturday which should be fun and a good match-up. One of my best friends from high school goes to IWU and lives with a bunch of basketball guys. In the fall I visited him, and got to hang out with Andrew Gilmore, Jordan Morris, Brian Nussbaum, Elias Washington, and others so I look forward to seeing them Saturday and catching up. Last time the “green weenies” (as some people at WU may call them) were down here they were number one in the country with by far the most talented Division III team I’ve ever seen—and, man did they put a good licking on us. That IWU team from two years ago definitely painted us a picture of what it took to be one of the best in the country and I think it helped motivate us to get where we got last year.

Happy Hannukah to all that lit the menorah last night and happy holiday season to everyone else!

Check in next week—Take care,

Sean

p.s. Thanks to all for the cookies, gift baskets, phone calls, e-mails, blog responses, etc… I’m going to try and get back to you all eventually!

p.p.s. I’m REALLY excited to read about that Brandeis-Amherst game on Saturday. While I love the way Andrew Olson and the defending champs play I gotta pull for ‘Deis! UAA Unity!

Dear readers:Wash U guard Sean Wallis provides his latest Insider update. First things first: As a lot people already know and have been speculating, I got injured in our game last Tuesday at Maryville. I currently have a displaced tibial plateau fracture and a partially torn MCL. Winning by 20 points midway through the first half, I drove down the lane and Cam’s [Smith] man stepped over to help onto me. His defender accidentally stepped on my right foot then the rest of his leg crashed into my leg. Since he was on my foot—my leg had no way to give at the contact so it kind of just snapped and I heard a crack.

Luckily my dad was in town for the game and drove me to the emergency room for x-rays. I got looked at right away and got an appointment with our team doctor from Washington University Physicians, Dr. Matt Matava, early Wednesday morning. He’s an orthopedic surgeon and one of the head physicians for the St. Louis Rams and St. Louis Blues, so I’m very lucky that he’ll be working with me. Within an hour of the appointment, he squeezed me in for an MRI and within an hour after that we had the MRI results back.

The injury is going to require surgery by Dr. Matava this Tuesday to put a screw in my leg to fix the fracture. During the surgery there’s no plans to touch up the MCL—as he feels that will heal on its own through rehab by the time the fracture is better. Post surgery, I’m going to have to be on crutches for six-eight weeks most likely since I can’t put any weight on my right leg. After that the rehab will be strenuous for a few months. Doing the math: November + 4 months = March. To say there’s 100% chance I will not play the rest of the season would be a lie, but I’m not approaching the situation with expectations of coming back because it seems pretty unlikely.

Yes it sucks and yes I’m pretty bummed. But I will be miserable if I keep talking about the negatives so as my family says, I’ll tell you how I’m going to attempt to make lemonade from the lemon life has handed me:

-I have the options for this year being a medical redshirt year. The NCAA, I’m assuming, would grant me the redshirt since I played in less than 25% of the season. The issue here is whether or not after next year I would want to graduate with my peers and start “real” life (hopefully living back in Chicago with friends with a real job in the financial world and begin being a quasi-adult) or stay in St. Louis an extra year and pursue higher-education options such as an MBA or a MS in Finance and play basketball here. I’m going to meet with people in our business school (which I’m currently enrolled in as a Finance and Accounting major) to explore my opportunities if I’m looking to stay a fifth year. The good thing is I don’t think I need to decide this any time soon, but knowing the redshirt is an option is definitely nice.

-Next, one thing I’ve always thought about doing when I grow up (am I still allowed to say ‘when I grow up’ if I turned 21 last week?) is being a basketball coach. We’re down an assistant coach from last year so I’ve talked a lot about it with Coach Edwards and [Tim] Whittle with regards to working on scouting reports, sitting with them on the bench and really trying to be another set of eyes with them as opposed to sitting on the end of the bench. I haven’t been able to do as much this first week as I hoped with regards to scouting and preparation but post-surgery I know I can use this opportunity to better our team while determining if pursuing a coaching career is something I may want to do.

-Lastly, I’m thankful that this is an injury that will definitely heal in a reasonable period of time. With a torn ACL or a blown Achilles rehab can take a year and still sometimes people aren’t back to their full initial strength. Since the brunt of my injury is a fracture it seems like soon enough I’ll be back to full strength which is fantastic.

Moving on, with or without me, the team had a big weekend. We opened up Saturday against #5 Augustana. Tyler [Nading] said, “We kind of looked like chickens running around with our heads cut off.” We all knew there’d most likely be a transition period trying to find who was going to fill the point guard void and Augustana didn’t really give us much room to figure it out or seem to care that we were searching for an answer. They played some stifling full court pressure defense en-route to a 17-point halftime lead in which we had 12 turnovers. We did some things to really slow them down in the second half (they shot 29% from the field) while handling their pressure much better and cut the lead to two points with just over 40-seconds left– but they hit free throws to seal the deal and win by six.

We came back Sunday and got a great win against UW-Platteville. Tyler was UNBELIEVABLE. He completely dominated and put our team on his back with a career high 31-points, eight rebounds and school-record seven steals. It wasn’t even like he was on-fire or not missing, he just had a refuse to lose attitude that was contagious and we’re going to need that out of him the rest of the season.

I’ll be back next week with a surgery update and a recap from THE CLASSIEST tournament in the country- the 24^th annual Lopata Classic.

Take care,

Sean

p.s. Since it is Thanksgiving-week and all—and most would guess I’m down in the dumps—here are some things I’m VERY thankful for:

-The Facebook messages and words from players/friends on Calvin, Carnegie Mellon, Illinois Wesleyan, Chicago, Rochester, Emory and both the players and coaches on UW-Platteville, Webster, Augustana, and Lake Forest expressing their distress about my injury

-WU Trainer Rick Larsen for taking care of me at the game and WU Dean of Students Justin Carroll for staying with me in the emergency room and hooking me up with a handicap parking pass on campus

-My sisters Jenna and Amanda (both on Glenbrook North’s 3-1 girls varsity basketball team!) and parents still coming down this weekend to hang out and see me even though I didn’t play

-All my closest buddies, friends, and family from home for their phone calls and texts

-All of the WU athletic family (C-Mitch especially) for support and kind words this week

-A few of my friends writing obnoxious responses to my last blog with regards to my love life, FIFA ‘08, hanging off-speed pitches from sixth grade travel baseball and calling Jon Scheyer for help with women (what a joke that would be—he needs all the help he can get!)

-My teammates and coaches for making me feel like I’m still a part of the team

-And lastly, Tyler for being the greatest roommate and best friend anyone could ever have. At the beginning of this week I was thankful for his ability to finish lay-ups on my full court passes, and now I’m thankful he’s willing to take care of me and help me put on my right sock.