Monday, April 20, 2026

Brian's Epilogue: Heaven or Las Vegas

This shot from Selection Sunday was -- unwittingly -- the last quiet court I would see in 2025-26. (Photo:  Brian Wilmer/Daly Dose of Hoops)


You’d think after all these years I’d have learned how to start one of these things.


It was just yesterday – well, okay, over 10 years ago – that I sat there most of the way through my game story while a young writer was struggling to write a lede. I told the writer at the time to set a timer, and if it didn’t come to them by the time that timer went off, to move on.


Now I’m on the other end of it, all these years later and none the wiser.



As if by serendipity, the Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers song “The Best of Everything” shuffled through my headphones as I stared at the blinking cursor. The Southern Accents record is one of the best things ever released, and this unheralded masterpiece comes from that record. Tom said things in this song that summed up the passage of another season – and some of the things within it – better than I.


Yeah, and it’s over before you know it

It all goes by so fast

And the bad nights take forever

And the good nights don’t ever seem to last



Man, if that doesn’t ring truer and truer with every one of these things that passes. Remind me – there’s more on this later.


—


I guess one of the things that makes these yearly brain and heart dumps even tolerable is the throughline that runs through each year. I kept looking for one that went through this season – one of the most disconnected seasons I’ve probably had since the COVID year, though even that had a clearer and happier ending, surprisingly – and after a lot of thought, some long drives that caused the same stress we’ve talked about here before, and just the decompression of months of my life, I think I found one.


I don’t bring a lot of the Blue Ribbon stuff into these pieces, probably because I have to turn really long conversations with 10 coaches into a quick story to get filed before an increasingly unrealistic deadline. I’m going to violate that tradition here, because it sets up the whole point of this rambling screed.


I talked to Liberty coach Ritchie McKay for Blue Ribbon over the summer. Ritchie had a lot of really kind words for me – which I truly appreciated and needed to get me through a summer where I was quite frankly hitting a wall – but also gave me perspective, as Ritchie almost always does.


I talked to Ritchie about what “enough” means for him. This all started from a conversation he had with the media after Liberty lost to Oregon in the NCAA tournament in 2025. The conversation turned to gratitude, as it often does when we speak. What came next spoke to me, especially given that I see his name appear in every coaching search ever.


“There’s a joy that does not compare in being able to get to do what we do,” McKay says. “I love being at Liberty. I’m told that I could be rich (elsewhere). I’m rich in other ways.


“Enough is the witnessing. If we’re at the movie theater or the Broadway play and our guys – I’m not just talking about our players, but our staff, support staff, managers – if I see them functioning in their truest identity, the best version of themselves – I get to be a part of that celebration and stand up and applaud them for the growth track that they are on. That would be enough for me every year. Even though I want to win (each) game, that’s not just what it’s about.”


Ritchie gave me “one to go on” at the end of that conversation. It would be the last one he would give me until February. More on that when we get there.


—


The look back at Blue Ribbon – and the summer itself – was a tough one. I ended up featuring a lot of guys that didn’t work out as planned. Some redshirted. Some left. Some never even got to campus. Such is the way of things when we’re writing looks ahead on teams with half-full rosters. 


Some people got angry about where they were picked to finish, which is fine. I did what I could do, given what we knew about those teams. Some of those people decided to publicly address their grievances after their teams’ seasons ended – again, fine, do whatever you feel you need to do.


It wasn’t all frustrating. Longwood coach Ronnie Thomas called me from Steve Kerr’s office while he was at a Warriors practice to have our summer conversation, and the call kept dropping because of the construction of the building. That was actually somewhat funny, and Ronnie and I joked about the number of times he had to call me back. I had my usual fun conversation with Asheville coach Mike Morrell. I had in-depth conversations with Presbyterian coach Quinton Ferrell and Gardner-Webb coach Jeremy Luther about the state of the game and their places in it.  I got to meet High Point coach Flynn Clayman – well, got to know him better – and have the usual great conversations.


After the run-up – and 15,000 words, give or take – Media Day arrived in October. I dealt with a car issue on the three-hour drive to Johnson City, but got there in one piece. I also ironically closed the season dealing with a car issue, but I digress. The Big South did its usual wonderful job of managing giant groups of people between multiple stations, though there were a few hiccups. I had seven minutes to talk to some coaches and nearly a half-hour to talk to others. My observations shouldn’t be seen as – well, let’s go back to that throughline and call it a lack of gratitude – but after that day, I loaded a bunch of microphones and other stuff into the car and ventured back down the mountain.

 

---

19 days later, my alarm went off at a time that should be illegal. There was a good reason for the alarm, despite my protests at the time. Queens and Winthrop kicked off my season – the season – at 8am on Monday, Nov. 3. This fun burgeoning regional rivalry opened the Field of 68 season-opening event at the Sports and Event Center in downtown Rock Hill, S.C., which is essentially at the edge of Winthrop’s campus.

 

Winthrop won the game, 81-74, to start the season 1-0. We learned a lot of things that day, including that the confidence Eagles coach Mark Prosser had in center Logan Duncomb had before the season was well-founded. Prosser said in the run-up to the season that Duncomb could have a Player of the Year-type season now that he was fully healthy. Duncomb had 12 points and eight boards that morning.


We also learned that Queens would be a factor. I had no doubt they would – I’ve been courtside for the virtual entirety of the home portion of their D1 journey – but a lot more people got to know the Royals. Head coach Grant Leonard – who, like Prosser, shook off far too many questions about what it was like to be awake and playing at that hour – shared this unsurprisingly prescient quote after the game.


“I think an area of growth for us is confidence in the next action after the first action and our pace into it,” Queens coach Grant Leonard said. “(We need to focus on) trusting the screens, the slips, and the reads that we make as we play conceptually. These guys will get better and better, as our teams always do, throughout the year at executing that kind of stuff.”


The Royals absolutely did all that. I won’t tell that story yet, though.


After a trip back home to write and recharge my laptop – there was no power at my seat until midway through the day – while watching Bradley and St. Bonaventure, I headed back over to the arena for a battle between High Point and Furman. I got to catch up with my great friends and compadres Scott Keeler and John Hooper (SoConJohn), which is always a joy. We expected that would be a showdown between eventual NCAA tournament teams – it was – but absolutely did not expect what ensued to close that first day.


High Point delivered an absolute beatdown to the Paladins, blistering Furman for 1.53 points per possession in the first half on the way to a 97-71 victory. The result was so decisive that we never saw Furman coach Bob Richey in the media room after the game. I was one of the only people who hung around to talk to Flynn, and he was obviously excited after his first head coaching win and the ensuing water celebration in the locker room just outside the media room. 


Liberty transfer Owen Aquino had one of what would be many big nights for the Panthers. He made an interesting remark after the game.


“Like (Clayman) says, we don’t practice to win, we practice to dominate,” Aquino said. “That’s what I tried to do tonight. Every guy showed up tonight, and I think that we dominated tonight.”


Clayman made one of his many insightful comments that lined the Panthers’ season.


“It’s been a long offseason,” Clayman said. “Every day is just a grind – getting 11 new players and hiring a lot of new staff members. Obviously, High Point is a great place to be. It’s a place where we can turn this thing over and keep this thing going, but it’s been a lot of preparation. I try to remind these guys every day that we’ve got it good at High Point, but we can’t act like we’ve got it good, or we’ll get beat. Tonight was a good start and we’ve just got to keep our head down and stay focused.”


I’m pretty sure Flynn didn’t know it that night, but those words would again come to the fore a couple months – and two-and-a-half miles – later. We’ll tell that story soon enough.


—

 I saw Queens again not even 48 hours later, as my hometown Lynchburg Hornets visited Curry Arena. Lynchburg is coached by ODAC and Hill City legend Hilliary Scott, and the Hornets gave Queens quite the battle. Leonard commented on the events of the night.


“First of all, a huge hat tip to Lynchburg and Coach (Hilliary) Scott,” Queens coach Grant Leonard said after the game. “I thought their kids played phenomenally and played exceptionally hard. I was impressed with their effort.”

“We got Lynchburg’s best shot. We gave them confidence in the first half, and we ended up in a dog fight that they earned (being) in.”

This was also the first time the world got to learn about star freshman guard Jordan Watford. I knew Watford from his time at South Carolina powerhouse Lancaster (it’s LANK-a-stir, for those uninitiated), where he was prepared – and produced – at a star level. Watford said this after the game:

“I never really had to (defend) guards at the high school level,” Watford said. “It’s an adjustment for me that I’m making, but I feel as the season goes on, I’ll progress in that way. That’s just the main thing I’m focusing on right now.”

Jordan ended up putting up just absolutely stupid, video-game numbers in college play. He was one of the quickest players into the paint and was nearly impossible to defend at the basket. He creates angles that help him draw fouls and is strong enough to finish through contact. His defense also greatly improved all year.

For once, it didn’t end in a loss. Jordan announced after the year that he would be returning to Queens. He could very well end up as ASUN Player of the Year next year. They were few and far between after this season – again, more on this later – but it felt good to get a win for the “little guy.”

—

After Jaden saw Queens at Villanova, I again saw the Royals at home a little over a week later as Sacred Heart visited. Queens recorded a double killshot in the win over the Pioneers – and I also got to introduce a new term to Grant in the presser by citing just that, I think – and showed the college basketball landscape how they had improved defensively.

Forward Carson Schwieger had a big game for the Royals that night, scoring 17 points. Schwieger said this after that game:

“When I got here, they kind of felt me out (in terms of) how I play, and they didn’t try to force me to do anything I wasn’t great at,” Schwieger said. “My role here is very comfortable for me. They’re obviously looking for me to do more, but they allow me to do what I’m good at. It helps when you’re in a place that fits you.” 

Mere months later, Schwieger would fade into the ever-increasing dusty college basketball landscape, announcing he would be transferring.

A few days later, a high-level shot-making clinic broke out in Charlotte, as Queens and UNCG combined  to make a staggering 65 shots in a 101-94 Royals victory in the ASUN/SoCon Challenge. Queens center Avantae Parker broke the shot clock – twice – in the game. He first put the clock to sleep with a dunk that shook the rim for a good minute. Later, he then knocked down a three that prematurely ended the night for the timer.

Parker addressed the situation as he did almost everything else during the season:  with a smile.

“I’ve never broken a goal. Nothing like that,” Parker said with a laugh. “I probably almost got a (technical), too. I was just caught up in the moment. I was really hyped. I shook the rim.”

I rarely get to talk to visiting coaches at Queens, given that we do media at floor level and the visiting teams are on the second floor of the arena. I thought I would miss out on getting to talk to UNCG coach Mike Jones, but Grant told me I should go up there, because Mike would like to see me. I got up there, briefly said hello to Pop (then-UNCG assistant and former Radford forward Randy Phillips) and got to talk to Mike.

For those who don’t know, Mike and I go back a long way. Whether I talked to him after an exhilarating league championship victory on Radford’s home floor, a championship loss on that same floor, a verbal altercation with another coach he laughed off, or under whatever circumstance I ever interviewed him, it’s always been the same. Mike is a wonderful example of faith, talent, leadership, and class.

He was clearly struggling a bit with the way the Spartans had started, given that he had a really young team. The Spartans were turning the corner, though, and they went toe-to-toe with Queens that entire night. That optimism came through in my conversation with him.

“I loved the way we played tonight,” Jones said. “Compared to maybe the last couple of games, you could see the growth tonight. We’ve just got to build on it. We were able to get up there and score a little bit because we shared the basketball. We moved it. We played with pace on the offensive end and got some good stuff. We played the way we wanted to play on offense. Defensively, it’s just a work in progress.”

Mike’s Spartans exited the SoCon tournament a few months later, and UNCG then chose to relieve Mike of his duties afterwards. They then hired former UAB and Stanford coach Jerod Haase, who had a pre-existing relationship with the athletic director. Without opining too much further – this would take the rest of the piece and then some – a damn good coach faded from view. He told friend of the outlet Steven Beck in an interview after the season that he wants to continue coaching, and I hope he gets that chance – preferably somewhere I can somewhat regularly cover his teams. 

___

I then saw Winthrop run away from South Carolina State – who I said at the time and again later was a decent team, as later evidenced by their MEAC tournament run – before embarking on a cold, dreary drive up to Asheville.

I hadn’t yet seen the downtown arena in Asheville – I’m usually elsewhere covering the Big South tournament when the SoCon contests its tournament there – but would get my chance for a Sunday doubleheader. I covered the first game between Asheville and App State, while reporting on the nightcap between The Citadel and Presbyterian.

The game started rather unusually, as Asheville put App State on skates almost immediately. The Bulldogs jumped out to a 19-2 lead and held the Mountaineers to a 1-for-8 start. App State bounced back and a back-and-forth fight ensued. Asheville went on to win the game, but Mike Morrell summed up what the season would become in postgame comments to Brian Hall on WWNC radio.

“We’re just a mess right now, man. I mean, we’ve got guys falling all over the place. I give (forward) David Hermes a lot of credit. We told him a couple days ago he was going to play. He got himself ready and I thought he was the difference, just from a physicality standpoint, so he’s going to keep playing.”

Injuries and adversity would take their toll on Mike’s Bulldogs all season – much more on this later – but things broke their way on that day.

I also got a chance to catch up with DK (App State coach Dustin Kerns) after the game. DK and I have had so many great conversations over the years, including his asking for my address after he took the App State job – admittedly eliciting a somewhat suspicious response from me – only for him to send me a wonderful, personalized letter. I still have that letter framed in my office/studio.

Lest I digress, DK said some really nice stuff after the game, and I always enjoy it when he and I can catch up. He and I would get to catch up again a couple weeks later, but we’ll get to that shortly.

I got the chance to talk at length with one of my favorite SIDs – Presbyterian’s Brent Stastny – around the second game. The Blue Hose throttled The Citadel, limiting them to just 41 points on the day. I always feel as if Brent and I have more in common than most people, as we’ve both been around and seen a lot. I got to know Brent when he was at Charlotte, and I’m glad he’s at PC now. He’s much more in his element in Clinton, and he does a tremendous job running that department. I need to get back down there sometime soon.

—

December started with another Queens game, as Gardner-Webb made the trip up 85 to take on the Royals. Chris Ashby was honored before the game for his 1,000-plus career points, and the Royals took their cue from the senior star and hung 107 on the Runnin’ Bulldogs in a victory. The game was notable for two reasons.

Freshman guard Isaiah Henry had a big night, which drew praise from Grant. The season had not gone as Henry had hoped, but Leonard voiced his support.

“The best part about coaching – you know that you have a team full of guys and everyone can’t get what they want. Everyone sacrifices for each other,” Leonard said. “At first, Isaiah just wasn’t ready. He wasn’t ready to make the right decisions, but we just – and the guys told him – to stay positive and be ready, that his time was coming. Now, the last three games, he’s played really well and solidified himself in our rotation, and he’s going to have a great second half of the year. We all love him and know how good he is. He’s got a lot of talent.”

It was announced shortly after the season that Henry, too, would return next year. I’m selfishly glad Zay stuck with it.

The night was also notable because Zay was given the Buddy the Street Dog statue. Buddy became one of the best stories of the year after Queens started awarding it after wins. Buddy started appearing in all kinds of exotic locations, standing guard from the Royals’ cooler, sitting on the bench, and taking the seat of star Queens SID Austin Slough for a while at Florida Gulf Coast. Buddy even had his own Twitter account by the time the season was over.

G is a marketing genius. He would become famous later in the season for his sweater collection – I didn’t do a story about this because seemingly every other media member in Charlotte and some nationally did so – but I’m honestly somewhat surprised Queens never came up with a Buddy t-shirt. I tend not to buy gear of the teams I cover – for obvious reasons – but I would absolutely buy a Buddy shirt. 

(G, I expect a cut of this when this eventually happens.)

This is Buddy. He's the best boy. (Photo:  Brian Wilmer/Daly Dose of Hoops)

I then ventured to Winthrop to catch the return game between the Eagles and Coastal Carolina. The Chants had already knocked off Winthrop in Conway – I’m still not calling it Myrtle Beach, no matter how much some may want it – and looked to claim the sweep in Rock Hill. The game was a back-and-forth affair befitting of the long-standing rivalry between the in-state foes.

In the end, Coastal’s Josh Beadle was fouled on the Chants’ final try from the field and knocked down all three free throws. The Eagles fouled Coastal after a late turnover, allowing the Chants to close out the game at the line.

Prosser will never be accused of overusing words or sugarcoating responses. His statement summed up the way the game ended.

“We have to finish the game better and it comes down to making plays in those moments,” Winthrop coach Mark Prosser said. “They did, and we didn’t.”

I waited after that game for probably 45 minutes to talk to Coastal coach Justin Gray. Coastal SID Jody Jones was incredibly nice and apologetic about it, but I get it. Justin had to first go do radio, then seemingly shake the hands of and say hello to the entirety of Rock Hill. Justin coached in the Coliseum under Pat Kelsey and went on to Western Carolina – ironically replacing Prosser – before heading to Coastal.

Jody introduced me to Justin, but he greeted me with a familiar smile and a handshake. I got to know Justin a bit during his time at Winthrop and through my Blue Ribbon work when he was at Western Carolina. He was in a jovial mood – understandably – and had some incredibly funny comments, including a random tangent about his wife asking him to wash dishes that I should probably go find and transcribe, but won’t. Instead, I asked him about whether the trend of locker room celebration dances had gotten to him after the game.

“Oh, I was tired and there wasn’t much dancing going on,” Gray said with a laugh after the game. “Just hopping and huffing.”

Justin’s group had a really good season before bowing out of the Sun Belt tournament. Had there been a CBI this year, they likely would have been a good candidate to appear. Beadle’s season, meanwhile…well, let’s just say it unceremoniously and unfortunately ended.

I had a week off before I ventured to Hickory, N.C., on what felt like the coldest and windiest day of my life (exaggeration, sure) to cover App State and High Point at Shuford Arena at Lenoir-Rhyne University. I got to cover the game with our newest writer in the region, Josh Noel. Josh did some really great stuff for us this year – including covering the NCAA regionals in Portland – and I can’t wait to see him take on more next year. Jaden seemed to like the lede from this one, so I’ll just plagiarize myself and share it.

HICKORY, N.C. – App State coach Dustin Kerns summed up Sunday’s game with High Point with a somewhat apropos – if not mildly painful – descriptor.

“One of our themes with our team was that this (game) has got to be a bar fight,” Kerns said.

The first few minutes of the game featured App State bashing a chair or two over High Point’s collective heads, as the Mountaineers jumped out to a 16-2 lead. With 2:36 remaining, the Panthers had the black-and-gold dangling horizontally, ready to fire them into the parking lot like a cut scene from the movie Road House.

High Point guard Conrad Martinez put home a layup to – it seemed, anyway – warm up the buses for a ride back up the cold and windy mountain for App State at that 2:36 mark, putting the Panthers ahead, 68-60. App State wriggled free from the bouncers, though, throwing a flurry of 11 of the next 14 punches to even the score and force one final round.

In that final round, App State again borrowed from film lore and slid High Point down the bar one final time.

Kerns’ Mountaineers scored 15 points in the extra session, closing out a day where a pair of App State scorers logged career-highs and another just missed, delivering an 86-78 decision in Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Shuford Memorial Arena.

High Point tried 44 threes that day – a number I still can’t fathom – and it worked to the Panthers’ detriment while playing almost entirely into DK’s and App State’s collective hands.

“Certainly, with (guard Chase) Johnston and (forward Braden) Hausen, those were two guys that we didn’t want to shoot threes,” Kerns said. “Everybody else, we did not want them to get to the paint. They want to get into the paint and they put themselves in great isolation basketball and rely on their talent – which they’ve got a lot of (talent). If you help, they’re going to kick it to a shooter.”

“We were content with – you can’t take it all way. We were content with trusting our contests on the ball with the other players. If they weren’t getting to the paint, it was hard for them to get fouled. I think they’re really good at drawing (fouls). Certainly with (Hausen and Johnston), we did not want those guys to shoot threes. They only shot 13 combined.”

The pair hit four of those 13 tries (30.8 percent).

DK also had some really nice things to say – publicly this time – when answering one of my questions. He was also really kind to Josh and to the outlet. DK, Brad (Fey), and the rest of the staff are great people and coaches.

Five days later, I worked my last game before Christmas break, heading to High Point to see the Panthers take on my great friend Darris Nichols and La Salle. The game was a tough one, as the Explorers got cuffed around a bit while playing without a number of key players. It was almost more notable for what happened afterwards.

First, I actually got a chance to talk to La Salle SID Max Rottenecker for a bit. Max and Jaden already had a really good relationship from Max’s time at Wagner. Max is incredibly helpful and a consummate pro at what he does, and he made sure I got everything I needed up there – as, always, does Kadie Snipes from the High Point side of things. 

Max and I walked back to wait for Nice to come out of the locker room so I could interview him. Before that happened, Nice’s brother and associate head coach Shane came out to the hall, as did Sweat (James Haring) for a hug and a handshake. I got to know both really well when they were at Radford and love it every time I get a chance to see them. Max reacted hilariously to the interactions, again saying something off-record that I don’t particularly feel like quoting here.

Nice then came out – just feet down the hall from where I’d found him at a low point a couple years prior – and we talked for probably 10 minutes. I think I even made a comment to the effect of, “We’ve got to stop meeting like this” before we proceeded. Nice was understandably frustrated with the way the season had gone, but this felt different than that prior interaction. I’m hoping it turns out that way.

After catching up with the great Nick Lorensen for a chat, I then ventured into the cold, stopping to admire the beautiful Christmas decorations that always adorn High Point’s campus at the holidays. After a brief walk, I headed down the road to Whataburger and set out for the long, tiresome drive home.

—

I got a bit of a shock to the system over the holiday break in probably the worst manner possible.

I logged onto Facebook for probably the first time in 10 months, only to see I had a private message. After reading that private message, I wound up going down a rabbit hole and after a few minutes discovered that my half-brother had passed months earlier. 

You may think your family is dysfunctional. I found out that my half-brother was gone – partially – from his wife (?) via a Facebook DM and looking back through other people’s timelines. I don’t know if they were still together. Hell, it took me 10 months to find out he was gone. I obviously couldn’t do anything about it then.

I should explain things without venturing down yet another rabbit hole, to the extent possible. My half-brother and I had a – let’s just call it complicated relationship. At times, we were best friends, especially when I was a really little kid. At other times, we went years without talking and he vacillated between being really cool and painfully insulting almost at the drop of a hat. 

I spent a lot of time hanging out with his kids when they were younger. I’m not sure whether he kept them away, she kept them away, or they kept themselves away. It doesn’t matter. We were always there for the “big” stuff – his wedding, putting our mom to rest, and all that – and he and I got a chance to talk through some stuff after we sent her home. We didn’t really talk much after that, though, for whatever reason. Again, it doesn’t matter.

I’ve mentioned here many times how I made peace with my mom – my God, it’ll be 20 years in December since her passing – but I don’t know that he ever did. He carried a lot of resentment for the way things turned out. I won’t say he was right or wrong for doing so, because it’s not my place. I always thought of him when I heard Don Henley’s “The Heart of the Matter”.

You better put it all behind you, baby, ‘cause life goes on
You keep carryin’ that anger, it’ll eat you up inside

I know a lot of things ate him up inside. I saw how things went for him and my mom and made conscious choices because I knew I just couldn’t go on that way. 

I didn’t really know how to process that news. I guess I’ve somewhat done so, months on. I wore red the last game before Christmas to honor her. I wore blue and orange – UVa’s colors – in the first game after the break to honor him. I’ll get to that game in a second. Before I do, let’s go back to that Tom Petty song.

So listen honey
Wherever you are tonight
I wish you the best of everything in the world
And honey, I hope you found
Whatever you were looking for

I don’t know what he was looking for in life – and likely never will – but I hope to God he found it.

—

After a deep breath, on to that first game after Christmas.

I drove up to Farmville, Va., to cover Winthrop and Longwood on New Year’s Eve. I had promised my friend Sam Hovan that I would get up there, so I did. I at least had better weather this time. It felt somewhat like hallowed ground in the Joan Perry Brock Center, given that we’d lost John Feinstein after the season prior.

Longwood gave Winthrop the only Big South loss it would have for almost three months that afternoon, knocking off the Eagles, 82-70. Duncomb started his conference Player of the Year campaign that day, scoring 31 points and grabbing 13 caroms. He couldn’t do it alone, though, and Winthrop’s inability to consistently hit shots did them in.

Ronnie confirmed after the game that they were content with Duncomb getting his and trying to limit the other Eagle scorers.

“That guy (Duncomb) can score 30 and (grab) 20 (rebounds), but I don’t know if he’ll beat us unless they’re making threes,” Longwood coach Ronnie Thomas said after the game. “We actually lost (the ability to defend the gaps) a little bit late. I thought he got in (the paint) and we went down there and tried to double when we shouldn’t have, and we gave up two of their (kick-out) threes. I thought we did a good job of making him work for (his point total).”

Prosser – while not directly blaming this – had some words about having to travel to Farmville after having played at Texas Tech the weekend prior.

“I’m really disappointed in the league, that this is the understanding that we represented our school and our league on national television on TNT for two hours on Sunday, and you’d hope that this would not be the first (Big South) game, but of course -- our kids, you know, maybe I don't know. It’s certainly not an excuse, but, you know, maybe that plays into being 5-for-24 from three, just a fatigue level, but it is what it We couldn't change it then. We can't change it now.”

The win was Ronnie’s first as a head coach in the Big South. Star forward Elijah Tucker – who went into the portal after Griff left for UVa but came back because of his relationship with Ronnie – was all smiles after the game.

“I’m proud of Ronnie. Ronnie’s my guy,” Tucker said. “There’s no one I would rather play for. I love Coach Ronnie. He’s the one who got me here. He’s the one who believed in me. I’ll do anything for him.”

We’ll explore that relationship a little more later in the piece. I’ll say that it produced a story that got a ton of buzz, though that’s not why I do this. We’ll get to that down the road.

—

I filed my Inside the Numbers from a Sheetz in Appomattox, Va., then turned the car southwest toward home. I rang in the new year somewhere on US Highway 29 – isn’t that how everyone does it? – and finally crashed later that night.

There was no rest for the weary, though, as I was back at Queens New Year’s night for their ASUN lid-lifter with Eastern Kentucky. The first signs of the chip on Jordan Watford’s shoulder that never got knocked off appeared that night, as he played a key role in the Royals’ 91-89 victory.

“(Leonard) told me straight up that you can’t play if you’re not going to guard,” Watford said. “That’s kind of been the label on me – people have been saying I can’t guard. That’s not the label I want. I want to be able to show I can guard.”

“(That was) unbelievable character from Jordan,” Leonard added. “To take that – to get put on the bench and to respond. In the first half, he was by far the best defensive player (at) pressuring the ball. That’s character, and I appreciate that from Jordan. He’s always had it. Now he’s just got to maintain it.”

Spoiler alert:  He maintained it.

The Royals also maintained that effort. They would not lose for the next six games.

The first of those games was my next game, the following Saturday against Bellarmine. Chris Ashby keyed a…let’s just call it crazy performance in a Queens victory. Ashby knocked down a Division I-best among Queens players from beyond the arc, hitting 11 threes. The Royals also set school records for threes taken (54) and hit (24) in the game. It seemed at times as if Queens may never miss from the arc.

G also showed anyone who’s not been around the program for as long as I have about his serious focus on rebounding. The Royals surrendered just three offensive rebounds. That should have been enough for a big smile in the press conference. Not so much.

“I was pissed about all three,” Leonard said. “I thought we should have had them all. We told them – this is not a joke, I know we were plus-13 on the glass – but before the game, we said we were going to have a party on the glass. We ended up with 13 offensive rebounds to their three – that’s 10 extra possessions.”

“If you’re going to give us 12 more shots and then let us shoot a bunch of threes, we’re going to win. I’m just saying – I appreciate that our guys (repeatedly) went to the glass. They didn’t always get it, but you keep going, you stay consistent, and you wear them down.”

That wasn’t all.

“I was super pissed about the turnovers in the second half, because I didn’t think we should have eight. We were still plus-two in that margin.”

The number still went up by one in the left-hand column.

A few days later, it was back to Winthrop for the Eagles hosting Charleston Southern. The Bucs were — let’s just call them mercurial this season. They started strong, then hit a bit of a wall. This was partially due to injuries and partially due to other factors.

Duncomb drew two fouls in the first two minutes, and it looked as if the Eagles may be done for. Though Charleston Southern seized a nine-point lead in the first half, Winthrop held firm. The Eagles eventually won the game, 81-77, but it was more notable for what took place after the teams left the floor.

I’ll take you “backstage” at the Winthrop Coliseum to help paint the picture. The Eagles leave the floor through a tunnel behind the north basket and turn right toward their locker room. The visitors leave through a tunnel behind their bench and turn left to get to theirs. Both locker rooms are on the same hallway, maybe 30-40 yards apart.

I got back there and turned the corner toward the Charleston Southern locker room to interview CSU coach Saah Nimley, only to be greeted by representatives from both sides screaming at each other. The university police were back there trying to make sure cooler heads prevailed. It was very heated. I made the executive decision to only run part of what Saah said. If he told me tomorrow to run it all, I might. I might not. I’ll just say that both sides have vastly different accounts of what took place, as one might expect. This is how I recapped the fracas in my story:

There appeared to be words exchanged as the teams shook hands, but the real fireworks took place in the hallway. Players and coaches from both sides yelled back and forth down the hall before the two squads were summoned into their respective locker rooms. Nothing physical took place, but the exchange made an impression on Nimley.

“I’m thankful that in conference play you get to play people twice, because of how they acted and what they said,” Nimley said. “I’ll be very excited to get those guys in Charleston.”

There is now a curtain that blocks off the hallway between the two teams. I’m not sure if that will be an effective long-term strategy, but I guess it’s similar to putting a barrier between fighting cats so they can’t see each other in an effort to calm them down. 

CSU also got their “getback” that Saah mentioned on the penultimate day of the college season down there. Duncomb got hurt that night and only played nine minutes, which helped set the stage for the conference tournament. I didn’t cover that game and was instead somewhere else. More on that trip when we get there.

I then “followed” (not really, but the schedule lined up that way) the Eagles to Upstate the following Saturday. I hadn’t been to Spartanburg in a while, and it was good to get back to the Hodge Center. I also got to meet the talented Joe Skinner – finally – as he was on the TV call for the game. I also saw old friend Jordan Ferrell, who was there covering the game for 98.3 FM in the Sparkle City.

Senior guard Kareem Rozier had a big-time game for the Eagles, booking 24 points on the afternoon. It seemed at times as if he couldn’t miss. The hot shooting effort was compounded by effort – or lack thereof, in Upstate’s case, as stated by head coach Marty Richter.

“(The effort gap was) a 19-point difference,” Richter said, regarding the first half Winthrop won, 38-19. “You could see it, then you could feel it. You can’t have that. You can’t have your game dictated on whether you make or miss. That dictates your effort.”

“(Winthrop) played desperate today. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit. You’ve got a choice to make when you put your jersey on. You can play really hard and desperate, or you can play cool. We played cool until the second half, when I put in five guys that I thought were going to play hard. Those five guys played hard. You can’t win at college basketball and play cool. You cannot. You see it every night – the cool team gets beat.”

Upstate showed better response in the second half, but it never mattered. Every time Upstate made a charge, Winthrop answered. The Eagles won, 71-50, leading to this succinct recap from Richter:

“They hit their threes off pick-and-roll,” Richter said. “I don’t think you have to pick your poison. We were going to trap and we were going to rotate and get to a shooter. (Winthrop senior guard) Isaiah Wilson’s hit four threes on the year. One of them was from 50 feet in the last game. You have to make him make it.”

“He’s a 17 percent three-point shooter. He’s a really good player. Let me say that right now. He has life, energy, and leadership. He does a really good job. You’ve got to help off, though. You’ve got to be able to clog it up, which we did. We made it ugly. It’s a double-whammy, because their guards are really good and their big is really good. You have to be able to keep the ball out of the post, because Logan is so good at getting to his left shoulder. I thought (junior center) Coen (Collier) did a terrific job of guarding him.”

“You have to be able to do both. You have to be able to run them off the line and you have to be able to take their post away. You’re not going to be able to do both every second, but what you can’t have is mistakes – the discipline mistakes of straight-line drives to get them going. I thought their pace and speed at the beginning of the game shocked my guys. By shocking my guys, we were then playing catch-up.”

 I got to catch up with Upstate SIDs DeSean Bullock and Ryan Frye for over an hour after the game, talking about everything from the state of the conference to the state of Upstate, marketing, the art of storytelling in college sports quickly becoming lost, and so much more. That was a great talk that, despite being discouraging at times, is one that I’ve gotten to have more and more rarely as the days have passed. 

—

Winthrop welcomed High Point a few days later in the first matchup between the conference heavyweights. There had to have been ghosts – Winthrop with the ghosts of what happened in the championship game the year prior, and High Point of the Houdini acts they had pulled off in recent days to remain undefeated in the league.

Whatever there was, Winthrop exorcised it. Quickly.

The Eagles delivered a 92-75 hammering to the Panthers, leading to a conversation with an almost stunned Flynn in that very same hallway probably a half-hour after the final whistle. He had a lot to say, but arguably not much more impactful than this one thing.

“We’ve been cruising for a bruising, so to speak, and we got one today,” Clayman said.

Clayman also added this now-prescient commentary.

“This has been a growing problem and we’ve kind of escaped,” Clayman said. “(The Charleston Southern game) was the ultimate escape. We didn’t deserve to win that one. This was about as bad of a night as we’ve had. If we have another night like this, I’ll be very concerned. This group has shown an ability to respond.”

“This is kind of a first for us, quite frankly, to get smacked like that. We’re kind of processing it right now. I think we figured some things out in the second half that will maybe be nice to use the next time we see these guys. (Tonight), they just wanted it more than us.”

They showed an ability to respond, alright. That story still remains to be told.

Prosser also offered somewhat prescient commentary.

“People were making out of it – the opponent, whatever it is – if you compete for championships, you win league home games,” Prosser said. “It was a home league game, and it was the next one on the schedule. That was the goal, and that’s what we did.”

“The teams that win conference regular-season championships are the ones that differentiate themselves by winning on the road.”

Since I didn’t cover either of those games, I can say that Winthrop did not differentiate itself by winning on the road, either in that Charleston Southern game or in the loss at High Point that essentially hung another banner for the Panthers. As such, they didn’t win a conference regular-season championship. I mean nothing negative in saying that – just stating fact.

—

I then got to visit somewhere else I’d not seen in a long while, traveling to Asheville to watch Winthrop take on the Bulldogs. I hadn’t visited Kimmel Arena in eight years before that trip, so that was long overdue.

I avoided the snow – I would not be so fortunate later, but more on that shortly – and parked in Lot 11 outside the arena, then made the trek to the loading dock and into the building. I shared a seat with Winthrop broadcasting legend Mike Pacheco and a reviewer from one of my prior haunts, Stadium Journey. 

The game was an absolute rock fight, with Winthrop taking a 33-25 lead to the half. My buddy Jeremy Mosier, who was one of the day’s referees, came over and said something to me at the half that still has me laughing three months later. I obviously won’t share what he said, but it did make me think a little.

After 39-plus minutes – and far more whistles than 39 – Asheville grabbed a late-in-the-shot-clock miss that spun off and raced up the court to try a game-winner. The Bulldogs could not get off a shot, though, as the Eagles knocked the ball loose and held on for a 69-67 victory. Mike had a timeout available, but chose not to use it. I asked him about it after the game – respectfully, of course, because I’m never going to suggest that a coach doesn’t know what he’s doing – and he gave me this answer:

“If we call a timeout there, we’ve got four seconds against a set defense,” Morrell said. “We had five (seconds) when we got it. (Guard) Justin (Wright) kind of hesitated a little bit (on the dribble) for whatever reason. I’m not sure why, but I’ve never called a timeout in that situation.”

“I think we (had) a much better chance to score against a broken floor than trying to draw something up and potentially have to heave something. Hindsight is 20/20, but I was not going to call timeout.”

I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to Mike since Media Day – we couldn’t catch up after the App State game – and I noticed the first signs of his frustration with the way the year was going and the bad luck his team had experienced. Mike is often his own worst critic, whether it be in a self-deprecating manner or a more serious manner, as I saw on this day. Still, he drained every last drop from his team this season and then some, given everything that happened. I’ll talk more about the Bulldogs later, though.

—

It was back to Queens a few days later for a battle between the Royals and North Alabama. It was a strange night, in that Ashby was honored before the game for becoming the school’s all-time three-point shooter and didn’t score at all against the Lions. Queens tallied an absolutely crazy 54 points in the paint and hit 24-of-25 from the stripe on the night after knocking down their first 20.

“When we build the roster, we get guys that can really shoot it,” Leonard said. “Then, we get finishers, and we get some guys that can do both, like (guard Yoav) Berman. For us, having those guys that can really finish at an elite level at the rim like Avantae, Jordan Watford, Mann, and Berman – man, it really puts the defense in a quandary.”

“People think that it’s all the threes we’re hitting that’s winning – we’re actually number one in the league in two-point field goal percentage and we’re crushing people in the paint. I’m just proud of our guys for making the right decisions.”

Queens went to 7-0 in the ASUN with the victory, which – well, a little more on that story.

—

Queens’ next game was at West Georgia. I had planned to visit Liberty that Saturday, but a massive winter storm both moved the Flames’ game to earlier in the day and would have probably made an Amtrak ride up there even unmanageable, given that I would have had to schlep back to the Lynchburg station with the weather deteriorating even further.

I pondered heading over to Carrollton to see the Queens game against the Wolves. That was also nixed because of the weather. It was sleeting between here and there, and I didn’t trust the ability to get over there and back safely. Queens would lose their first ASUN tilt that afternoon, while I was “stuck” with a rare weekend off. I would get to see Queens plenty more as the season continued, and would also get a trip to Georgia. I’ll tell that story in a few words from now.

—

Central Arkansas visited Queens to provide my final byline for January. It wasn’t supposed to be my final byline for January, but more on that later. 

Camren Hunter was darn near impossible to stop for the Bears on the night. The retransfer – is that a word? – from Wisconsin after his transfer there from UCA – hit 12-of-18 shots on the night and really propelled Central Arkansas to a 100-90 victory. The 31 points Hunter booked on the night neared his career-high. As great as that night was for Hunter, he had one more in store for a later battle with the Royals. Stop me if you’ve heard this one before, but we’ll discuss this one later.

Hunter’s commentary after the game included this – I don’t know that it’s a bombshell, really, but an interesting revelation nonetheless.

“The biggest thing is that you walk right past (Queens’) locker room,” Hunter said. “You can hear everything they’re saying. You can feel their whole mood. They felt like they were arrogant and they were better than us.”

“We spent the whole summer grinding, fighting, and banging against each other. We have a bunch of competitive guys on this team. We’re young, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

The Royals’ mid-season skid was at its most notable on this night. Leonard commented on the team’s search for its identity at the time.

“They definitely played hungrier tonight,” Leonard said. “They outrebounded us, they forced more turnovers, and they hit all the big shots in the second half. When you give up 60 points in the second half, you’re probably not going to win very often. It’s our first home loss. We’ve lost two in a row. We’ve got to find our identity.”

They would find that identity at just the right time.

—

I mentioned that this was not supposed to be my final byline for January. I was set to cover the return trip by Asheville to Winthrop, but another winter storm appeared. This one dumped 10-plus inches of snow on my part of South Carolina. The Eagles chose to play the game at the regularly-scheduled time instead of moving it. At the risk of being seen as critical, that decision was a complete miss.

I kept one eye on the game and the other on the traffic cameras around Rock Hill as the snow piled up more and more. I didn’t feel safe making the trip, so I chose not to attend. Winthrop won the game, but not before everyone was unnecessarily put at risk in an area not known for receiving that type of weather. I would surely hope that if a similar situation occurs – knock on wood that it doesn’t – that the Eagle brass would think more of their fans and those trying to drive in the deteriorating conditions and find a better time to play.

It looked like this on Interstate 77 at the Winthrop exit. You don't want to drive in those conditions in South Carolina.

—

I then lifted the lid on February with another trip to Curry Arena to watch Queens host Jacksonville. The Royals rocked the Dolphins early, following an early – and final – lead from the visitors. Jacksonville coach Jordan Mincy immediately pointed out the Queens attack following the game.

“I thought in the first half – just giving a lot of props to Queens – they came out and they punched us right in the mouth,” Mincy said. “They showed a level of physicality on both ends. I was highly impressed with how offensively they just took it to us. I thought our guys really shied away from contact early.”

Queens used the early burst to take a 13-point halftime lead and put away the Dolphins. Queens committed just five miscues on the day, which sat well with G.

“That’s a huge deal (against) them,” Queens coach Grant Leonard said. “Anytime you give them free baskets, it really hurts. I thought we did a good job of minimizing their easy ones. They hit a lot of tough twos, and that’s what we wanted them to do. Twos hurt, but threes kill. I thought we did a great job. They only got off 16 threes, and we really protected the paint.”

Jacksonville did, however, charge back in the second half and put a bit of a scare into Queens. The Royals won, 93-84, but the game was much closer for comfort than the home side would have preferred. Oh, and about that thing a bit ago with Queens regaining its identity…

“Taking care of the ball is a huge thing for us. Winning the offensive rebound battle, which we won. Winning the turnover battle, which we won,” Leonard said. “We got off more threes than they did, even though I thought they did a good job of limiting us. We almost won (at) the free throw line. Those are the four areas we’re trying to win every game.”

It was good to finally meet Jordan. I’ve never had the chance to talk to him after a game in Curry Arena. I also got to very briefly say hello to Tim Peete, whom I’d gotten to know a bit when he coached with Nice at Radford and is now at Jacksonville.

—

Winthrop then hosted Longwood in the return trip from that first Big South game of the season. It was one of the most spirited games of the season, for a couple reasons. First, Winthrop ran its win streak to 10 with a controversial 79-74 result that Eagle assistant coach Sid Crist called a “donnybrook”. It was also notable for – the heck with it, I said it then and will again – the softest technical I saw called all year.

Before I continue on with the rest of that story, let me pause here, because this was arguably more interesting than the actual game itself. Longwood’s Fats Billups was assessed a foul, after which he yelled, “NO!” while smacking the ball between his hands and – this is the most important part – walking away from the official. Billups was then given a technical on top of the foul call. Ronnie told me that he was told his forward yelled an expletive that rhymes with “truck”. He did not – again, Billups was walking away from the official and toward me, so I can vouch for this – but the call was the call. Billups would later draw a second technical after a dust-up with Kody Clouet at the foul line and be ejected from the game.

I went back to that infamous hallway to talk to Ronnie after the game. He explained what he was told – I’m not going to avoid that question, though I might look to rephrase it in a manner that doesn’t come off poorly – and gave this answer:

“(On) the second one, Clouet bumped him and he bumped him back with a forearm, so it should have been a double technical. The first one is the one I probably have a bit more of an issue with,” Longwood coach Ronnie Thomas said after the game. Thomas was told that Billups had said an expletive out loud – not toward an official, but randomly – which led to the first technical.

“That was just a little frustrating that early in the game, and that’s just  – it’s hard to stomach. I think you can just talk to the young man. He could have just talked to him. We lose Fats, who was 2-for-4 in the first half and playing well. A guy like Fats, he thrives in a game like this. To have him – again, we lose him off the first call – that’s just a really, really bad call by (referee) Bobby (Lineberger). It was an awful call for him to make that call. With the type of game it became and the type of game this always is – that was a really early tech, and that affected the game.”

I came back out to my courtside seat both thankful for my relationship with Ronnie that got me an answer and frantically searching my phone to text Sam. I didn’t want him to be blindsided when the comments ran, and I also wanted to prepare him for any conversation he may have with Ronnie for the writeup for their site. Everything worked out, and I would have gladly chosen not to run anything I was asked not to run, despite Ronnie’s comment that I could print what he said.

Back to the game.

The sides combined to shoot 75 free throws, which is just…that kind of game is tough to watch. I know officials want to officiate things differently in conference play, but the game just had no flow whatsoever. Even Clouet had a comment after the game about the way the whistles blew.

“I don’t want to get in trouble, but it was kind of like a football game out there,” Clouet said. “It was physical. That’s how they play. We just stuck with it, took punches, took hits, and found a way to win.”

Winthrop got its getback for the loss two months prior in Farmville, and the Eagles’ streak of not having lost in 2026 continued – for a while.

—

It was back to Charlotte next for a top-of-the-table battle between the Royals and Austin Peay. Collin Parker set a career-high for the Govs and sank 14-of-17 from the line to buoy his 39-point total in a 95-87 Govs win. Parker went baseline with ease and seemed as if he was unstoppable. The 6-foot-8 forward also circled home 3-of-5 from distance in the win.

Parker and Rashaud Marshall combined for 60 of the Govs’ 95. Watford scored 26 for the Royals, but it was not enough on that night.

“We knew it would be a hard-fought game,” Austin Peay head coach Corey Gipson said after the game. “We knew we had to be the more physical team. And we were.”

That would not be the case a month later.

My next game would be right back on that same deck a few days later. Lipscomb visited Charlotte, bringing along two old friends. I got to see former High Point coach Scott Cherry, who said, “hey” in a manner only Scott can. I hadn’t seen Scott in a few years, and it was good to see a familiar face. There’s a picture floating out there of me sitting on press row at Winthrop working on something while his son was perched on the table a few feet away.

I also got to see Vic Sfera, who went to Lipscomb this year to join Kevin Carroll’s staff. I saw Vic so often at Charlotte and Liberty when he was there. I miss those pregame catch-up sessions. We talked in the hall outside Lipscomb’s locker room for a bit while I waited to talk to Kevin. Things are different than what Vic’s used to over in Nashville, but he seemed to be enjoying himself.

Queens spent most of the first half hitting over 70 percent of its shots, taking a 52-38 halftime lead. It was not lost on Kevin what the Royals did to his side in the first half.

“I think you have to give a lot of credit to them,” Lipscomb coach Kevin Carroll said after the game. “Their ability to switch one through five takes away a lot of the advantages that we often are able to create. Offensively, I thought we had no answer for them in the first half. They were just scoring at will. They shot like 74 percent or something in the first half. They had really good schemes.”

“I thought we were not as physical as we needed to be on the ball and that created a lot of advantages for them. To their credit, they made the most of them.”

Lipscomb charged back in the second half, putting a bit of fear into the Royals before Queens skidded across the finish line with an 87-81 decision.

“I was very happy with the fight (we showed),” Carroll said. “The problem is that you can’t be chasing those points like we did. In the beginning, we missed some shots around the paint that fueled their transition offense. They had 14 points in transition in the first half and zero in the second. Some of that was due to their having the ability to alter shots around the rim. Some of that had to do with our shooting it, falling down, and creating five-on-fours on the other end.”

“When you get down 21, you’re scrambling. I think they kind of fell asleep a little bit. I don’t think the score is indicative of how well they played and how poorly they made us play.”

That night ended with a pretty cool moment.

Lipscomb forward Or Ashkenazi and Berman went to the floor to catch up with each other and say hello before posing for a picture. Both players are from Israel, so this was a notable occasion. When I came back downstairs from talking to Kevin, the two were still on the floor talking and shared a handshake and shoulder hug before going their separate ways. I took what felt like my 481st quiet court photo of the year – I had someone say something to me this year about the quiet court photos that was extremely nice, but there is no way I’m buying it – and shuffled up the steps and out the side door into the Charlotte night to head home.

—

Up next was the rematch between Winthrop and Upstate, only this time in Rock Hill. The game had quite the different feel from the first matchup in Spartanburg. About the only thing that resembled the opening matchup was Winthrop’s score; after scoring 71 in the first outing, they scored 68 in February. The Eagles won this second outing by four.

Duncomb had some rather pointed words after the game.

“It was physical, but you’ve got to expect that,” Duncomb said. “I thought we knew coming in that they were going to be physical, and I thought we didn’t respond the best way. I’m not sure what we did wrong. I’d have to go watch the film and watch the game back, but it just wasn’t clicking.”

“That was the wrong response for today, before High Point (Saturday afternoon).”

If only Duncomb had known how prescient those words would be.

I ventured back to that same hallway we’ve already mentioned several times and waited to talk to Marty. I ended up talking to him while he sat on the training table – he wasn’t hurt, but it was a quiet place to talk. I always enjoy talking ball with Marty, though he’ll occasionally pepper me with questions I’m not expecting. This isn’t a bad thing, to be clear – I’m just often not thinking about that kind of stuff.

Marty wasted no time explaining how he felt the second game went differently than the first.

“The difference is we competed,” Richter said. "In Spartanburg, we only competed for 20 minutes. Tonight we played hard enough. We didn't play smart enough all game long, but we played hard enough. It's an old saying -- you've got to play together, you've got to play smart, and you've got to play hard. We played together. We played hard, but we didn't play smart for the 40. We played smart for about probably 25 minutes of the game, and (the other) 15 of them -- against a good team like them, they beat you.”

Richter continued his thoughts.

“I thought they were really good shots,” Richter said of his team’s shooting. “The way they play defense, they’re hard raking in the nail. Now you’re kicking it to open guys.”

“If (guard) Karmani Gregory goes 3-of-11 and gets 11 threes like that up again, he’s going to go 6-of-11 the next time you play him. Then, (guard) Carmelo (Adkins) goes 3-of-13. If he gets those 13 looks again, he’s going to make them. There was a stretch where we were down 55-50 and Karmani had one that just missed. Great look. Then the next possession, it was Carmelo – or vice versa. We missed back-to-back. That’s part of it. I liked our looks tonight.”

Like so much in this increasingly God-forsaken game, those words would soon turn to dust. Shortly after the season, Adkins announced his entry into the transfer portal. Gregory followed soon after. Forward Jafeth Martinez and guard Tyler Smith joined them. Heaven knows how many more may also go chasing – whatever it is they want to chase after the portal is officially open. If anyone is used to a roster continually in flux, it’s Marty, given his background coaching in JUCO. 

Just because he’s used to it, though, doesn’t mean that’s how it should be.

—

I again went to Queens for their Senior Day festivities, as they battled West Georgia in the rematch from January. I was asked several times why I didn’t go to High Point for the rematch between the Panthers and Winthrop. I guess I should explain those reasons.

First, Josh was there reporting on the day’s events. We could’ve had two reporters there, but the riser on press row gets a bit crowded – especially for a tall chap like myself who has to take an unconventional angle to get into and out of the chair to avoid sending the entire table crashing onto the floor below. With that said, I’m always appreciative to get up there. Kadie is always exceedingly kind to us ink-stained wretches on press row, and I often get to see friends when I travel there.

Additionally, I felt somewhat called to Queens’ story. I’ve admittedly been called to it since I saw their exhilarating victory to open their time in Division I. This was the final time – playing, at least – for Queens legend Chris Ashby, guard Nasir Mann, and forward Gus Larson, among others. Some of the things they said in the postgame press availability hit hard. I’ll recap those things later.

Queens got a 91-84 win over West Georgia to set themselves up for a top-three finish in the league, though the game felt a little less consequential than it truly was. Instead, I couldn’t shake the feeling that this was the end of a key chapter in Queens history. The game was great, to be sure – it was a punch-trading affair for much of the day, as neither side could manage the separation it sought. When West Georgia took the lead early, Queens responded. When Queens tried to pull away, West Georgia yanked them back into line.

The Royals finally landed the knockout blow, thanks to Mann. He was almost singlehandedly responsible for a sequence that put the game to bed. Here’s how I recapped it:

Josh Smith canned a jumper just inside five-and-a-half minutes remaining to bring West Georgia back within seven. Mann then landed a 1-2 combo that staggered the Wolves and almost put them down for the count.

Mann drove the lane with just fewer than five minutes remaining and put home a bucket through contact, putting the Royals ahead nine at 79-70. Though the free throw attempt was errant, Queens snared the board and fired to Mann on the left side of the perimeter. Mann splashed a lightly-contested triple and let out a yell as Queens seized a 12-point lead.

“In the heat of the moment, we’re really just trying to win,” Mann said of the sequence. “Every game is important, but this one just felt a little more special. My whole family’s here. It’s my last time being on the court with these guys here at Curry Arena. To hit that shot is really a dream come true, just to finish the way we just did.”

Leonard also felt the gravity of the sequence.

“It was huge. I thought that kind of like – it wasn’t the nail in the coffin, but it definitely put the top on it,” he said. “Nas has made those types of plays all year and I expect nothing less. I know Nas is going to come up with the ball when it counts and he does.”

The three seniors – all with very different stories – exited the floor victorious for the final time at Curry Arena. All three then came to do media with us, and I hope you’ll indulge me if I choose not to focus much on the actual game itself, Those seniors’ journeys were far more compelling.

Ashby was up first. Chris is a quiet sort and has been since he got to Queens. He’s always great to talk to, and Grant acknowledged to me how far he had come with finding his voice. Chris really is the first chapter of that Queens story – he chose to stay in the blue and white, despite many chances to go elsewhere for other opportunities.

“(Queens) just means a lot to me,” Ashby said. “Coming out of junior college, I didn’t really have a lot of coaches believing in me. Queens and Coach Grant were the only ones that did. I really appreciate them for that.”

“Not a lot of guys can say they have a home. I’m very appreciative for the coaching staff. I’ve made a lot of friends here in Charlotte, and my teammates…I love them.”

Larson had a joke for me about his writing skills when I asked what the Queens chapter of his book would say. After the joke, Gus seemed to take a moment to ponder the question. The 6-foot-10 big man had journeyed from Penn to Cal and then to Queens during his collegiate career.

“Queens has been a bit of a resolution,” Larson said. “There have been a lot of ups and downs with basketball. If you look at my resume, I’ve been a little bit all over the place, so I admire guys like Chris, who have been here all four years.”

“Queens has been a place that has just kind of put it all at ease. It has allowed me to really find a love and a passion for the game of basketball.”

Mann had a similar message. He found love again both on and off the court in Charlotte.

“To me, Queens is just the place where I found my love for the game again,” Mann said. “I was falling out of love with it. I just didn’t enjoy it anymore. I really didn’t want to play anymore. I came here and met some great guys last year and this year. It’s probably the most fun I’ve ever had in basketball, period.”

“I’m just so happy. I love these guys. I’m sad, but I’m not going to shed a tear. Trust me, I’m a little emotional right now.”

And then there’s G. He’s a bit of a lifer at Queens, especially by today’s terms. He’s spent about 30 percent of his life on this campus. This group clearly left its imprint on him, though.

“I know that we’re supposed to say we want to win games, but really, we’re supposed to build community through basketball, and to do that, you’ve got to build an environment guys want to be in,” he said. “I really believe if you do it the right way, if you build it the right way through teaching and positivity – the mission is to serve them, not (to have) them serve us. Our school mission is not to be served, but to serve. It’s been my pleasure to serve these guys.”

“It really is a huge deal that not only did they find their love for basketball here, but I really believe that when they have kids and they’re going to show their kids where they played, it’s going to be here. That makes me proud that we did it right and that Queens did it right. It’s not just basketball, it’s the whole community. I’m just super proud of what these guys have accomplished and what they’ve been able to do.”

I came back to the court, packed up my stuff, and headed upstairs to get a couple quiet court photos from vantage points I’d not featured in my four years there before venturing out to the parking garage to head home. I thought those would be my final quiet court shots of the year from Curry Arena. I was wrong.

—

Five days later, I finally got my chance to see Liberty. The weather had already made me miss seeing the Flames twice. It almost happened a third time. Let me explain.

I left here about noon. The trip should have taken about four hours. I would have been able to get to Kennesaw State before Atlanta rush hour, stop at Raising Cane’s for some chicken fingers, and get to the arena in plenty of time for the game. About that…

I had my first hiccup around Greenville, S.C., where traffic was bottlenecked for some inexplicable reason getting through town. This added about a half-hour or so to my trip. I then got to metro Atlanta as the afternoon rush was starting. This was enough of a problem, but then the skies opened and it rained so hard I could barely see. When you’re on 285 around Atlanta and see a travel time of 56 minutes to your exit – it’s normally 15 or so – and Waze thinks that the best way to navigate you through traffic is to have you get off at every single exit and get back on 285…well, yeah, that’s not optimal.

I finally got into the building, got my credential, and got seated about 6:35 for a 7:00 start. Given that I prefer to arrive somewhere closer to an hour before the game, I was more than a little stressed.

Kennesaw applied pressure to the Flames early and often. The Owls were in the middle of an absolute heater that they rode all the way to the CUSA title in Huntsville a couple weeks later. I remarked that night that Kennesaw looked as good as just about anyone I had seen all year. Owl guard RJ Johnson was absolutely dominant in his role stepping in for the suspended Simeon Cottle, and he keyed much of the home side’s effort on the night. Ritchie noted as much after the game.

“He’s done a great job filling in for (suspended) Simeon Cottle, and (Kennesaw State) coach (Antoine) Pettway has empowered him,” Liberty coach Ritchie McKay said. “He’s playing like an all-league player.”

“He’s a tough matchup. He was recruited at the high-major level. There’s a lot of those guys in this league. Defensively, we let him get loose because we had a couple miscommunications on his actions. That’s something we will make sure we do a better job of next time, because that obviously hurt us.”

I should pause for a second to explain how all that went down. Whenever I visit Liberty, we get Ritchie in the media room downstairs in Liberty Arena. It’s really easy, as Liberty SID Bill Smith makes it about as seamless as possible. Things are a little different on the road, however. Ritchie does his postgame hits courtside with Liberty radio voice Alan York, while our friends Jon Manson, Ed Lane, and Bryson Gordon are back in Lynchburg over Microsoft Teams. 

Bill set me up with an extra headset to listen in to AY and Ritchie – along with asking a couple questions of my own and Ritchie playfully chiding AY for his introduction of me. AY said he had just met me, but he and I talked several times when Liberty was still in the Big South and he was still doing radio with Naz (Paul Nazigian, who now does TV with the great Matt Warner). It’s been a while since that happened, though, so I’ll let it slide.

I got a chance to talk to Ritchie after the interview, and I always enjoy whatever time we have to catch up. He seemed somewhat confused that I drove all that way to cover Liberty, but seemed to understand a bit more once I explained the various weather snafus. The talk was somewhat shortened by Ritchie’s obvious annoyance over how the game went.

Oh, right – back to that.

Kennesaw pretty much controlled the game from stem to stern. The Owls knocked down 11 triples, forced 12 Liberty turnovers, and pretty much kept Flames star Zach Cleveland out of the game, notching a 74-65 victory. I told pretty much anyone who would listen after the game that Kennesaw was a problem, and they were. If you’ve read this feature in past years, you’ll surely remember the words of Kyle Whelliston, the inspirational voice for so many of us who do this.

“It always ends in a loss.”

It ended in a loss for Kennesaw a few days later, as they fell by nine to Gonzaga as a 14-seed in the NCAA tournament. Johnson would parlay his strong play in Cottle’s stead into his intent to enter the portal a few days later. Forward Frankquon Sherman would soon follow.

It also ended in a loss for Liberty. Despite my conversation with Bill after the game in Kennesaw about hoping they would get assigned to the Greenville pod in the NCAA, the Flames ended up in the NIT. They got a victory at George Mason – after which one of the media members called star guard Brett Decker “Darius”, which seemed to flummox Ritchie – before heading to Reno to take on Nevada. The Wolf Pack ended Liberty’s season in the second round. 

Shortly thereafter, it was announced that Decker was signing with an agency. All of us who are connected to Liberty – to be fair, Ed probably had it first – saw the writing on the wall that he would soon be taking his leave from Lynchburg. A few days later, that’s exactly what happened.

Of course, as soon as his announcement came out, all the vulture fans from the bigger schools hit the Twitter comments to lay claim to Decker for their institutions. At least that doesn’t now happen 2,000 times a season with all the people hitting the portal.

I’ll simply reiterate what I said in our outlet’s group chat when I shared the transfer announcement.

“I hate it here.”

—

After quickly filing my story – well, as quickly as possible, anyway – I battled even more rain and set off for a busy couple days. I had a friend offer me a place to stay – I thanked them then and will again thank them here – but I needed to get back home. Thirty-six hours passed before I was back at Winthrop for the Eagles’ Senior Day festivities.

This was my first chance to see Presbyterian since that day in Asheville I mentioned far, far above. The Blue Hose were on the cusp of many of the goals Q told me his team had over the summer. Winthrop, meanwhile, had already locked up the second spot in the Big South tournament – this despite falling at Charleston Southern on that same rainy Thursday on which I made the ill-fated decision to head to Kennesaw. 

That night ended up being even more ill-fated for the Eagles, though. The Senior Day festivities were punctuated by Duncomb coming to center-court to collect his jersey and pose for photos while having his leg propped on a scooter. I don’t think anyone expected him to play, given Winthrop’s relative immobility in the standings. To see him on a scooter, though…well, that was a bit shocking.

The Eagle guards stepped up in the absence of their star in the post. Winthrop got 47 points from three of their guards that day, turning away Presbyterian, 74-70. Looking at the numbers would tell one story. Seeing the second half would tell quite another.

“The story of the game for us was really the start and the first half, I thought,” Presbyterian coach Quinton Ferrell said after the game. “The way we guarded in the second half was – outside of fouling – they couldn’t score in the half court against us. I think we held them to 32 percent in the second half.”

Kody Clouet was – as he was much of the season – the key for Winthrop. As great as Duncomb was – and he absolutely was – Kody made some of the Eagles’ biggest shots of the year, logged some of the biggest defensive stops of the year, and was one of the most vital players in the league. He didn’t get the recognition Duncomb did, but what he did was not unnoticed. I don’t know if Mark realized before the year what he had, but that team absolutely would not have been where it was without him.

Kody said this after the game:

“We’re just so together. I don’t think I’ve been a part of a team that – 10 seniors coming in, we only had five guys returning from last year – we’ve gelled from the beginning. We’re just all playing for each other and not for anything else other than that.”

Those comments would make themselves really visible many miles away and in front of far many more people and cameras. We’ll tell that story a little more down the road.

The final day of my regular season was somewhere I’d not been in many years, combined with seeing a familiar face. I ventured to Belk Arena at Davidson, which I hadn’t visited since the days when Josh and I were basically holding it down at College Hoops Digest (RIP). After a 20-minute walk in 80-degree weather – I probably better not comment any further on that – I finally took up my seat across from the La Salle bench. I probably (semi) planned this with Max back in December, but if it takes me 10,000 words to get there in writing this, imagine how it felt in my brain between December and March.

I had Shane, Sweat, and Nick come over before the game and say hello, which was really cool. I really value those dudes, whether they value me or not. After those conversations, I dug into the bottom of the citrus references barrel (yes, that gimmick is still – somehow – alive) and settled in for the Explorers’ contest with Davidson. The already-decimated team I saw in December was even more so by March, with almost more guys in warmups and not on the trip than those available for Nice in that game. Even still, the Explorers broke out to a 10-point lead early and only lost by seven.

“We continued to fight. The energy is great,” Nichols said after the game. “We’ve played hard all year. Sometimes, playing hard just isn’t enough.”

“I thought we made a lot of scouting report errors, (like) letting (guard Josh) Scovens get to his right hand, not getting out to shooters a few times, and not fouling when we’re supposed to foul. It’s just part of the game. You’ve got to be able to play hard and execute the gameplan.”

Wing Rob Dockery guided the Explorers’ ship that day, almost taking La Salle on his shoulders for large swaths of the game. There was some brief panic, then, a few days later, as Dockery’s intent to enter the portal was made public. That entry was retracted a few days later, which is a huge boost for Nice and what they’re looking to do in Philadelphia.

Nice mentioned after the game that La Salle still had a lot to play for. I could tell in my conversation with him that the season had worn on him. There was gray in his beard for the first time that I could recall. He sounded tired. His body language was different. Our conversation was still as great as always, but the stress was clear. The first season clearly went far afield of where he hoped and planned.

There was also a sense of that time I found him struggling after the game at High Point, too. The next year, Nice got some of his key pieces back at Radford, formed a new nucleus with new stars, and had a tremendous season. It ended in a loss a few days later for La Salle, as the Explorers fell in the A-10 tournament. There was a bit of a win amongst it all, though, as Nice got Rob and some other key pieces back for next season.

It’s not going to be easy. Nice knows that. I think everyone within the program knows that. Believe me when I tell you, though, that there is absolutely no way I would bet against him, Shane, or anyone in that group. I’ve rarely seen people better at turning setbacks into comebacks – to borrow a Jayson Gee term – than Nice.

I talked some more with Nick and Max – I still shake my head and laugh at how Max greeted me that day – and packed my stuff, then took my final quiet court picture of the regular season. I took a walk down an almost completely silent hallway – try those sometime; they’re incredibly therapeutic – and closed the literal and figurative door on regular season number whatever this was.

—

Following a two-day “break,” if you can call it that, I again ventured up the mountain. Full of chicken parm from a quick stop off the interstate – yes, that’s a thing that happened, and no, I won’t tell you from where I got it – it was time for the Big South tournament. I have plenty of thoughts about the tournament itself, and I’ll try to intersperse them for a bit before I go into much more during the summary.

I went through security scan number one of however many to venture toward my seat for the play-in game between Gardner-Webb and Upstate. I was greeted by Mark Simpson, the communications director for the league. Mark and I go back just an unfathomable amount of time – it seems like it was just yesterday when I was shaking his hand and he was showing me around the setup for the tournament at Coastal Carolina in 2013 – and he again directed me to my seat. 

Before the game got underway, I was given a bag of marshmallows, which has to be the longest-running inside joke ever between a writer and anyone. In case you’re unaware of its origin, I made a joke long ago – who the hell even knows or cares when it was, at this point – about people showing up at the tournament and pelting me with marshmallows. Now, I get a bag of marshmallows every year, even if Mark or Jordan (Parry, from the league) has to send someone out to get them.

I irrationally look forward to those marshmallows every year. They take me back to better times. Maybe I’ll throw them at Ellen next year. I owe her one. More on that later.

However, as you know, it always ends in a loss. Maybe there’s a different way to phrase that. I’ll expound on that when we get on in the weekend.

It first ended in a loss for Upstate. The eighth-seeded Spartans fell to ninth-seeded Gardner-Webb, 65-64, to go 2-0 in play-in games against Marty Richter’s Upstate team. I don’t know if anyone is ever going to duplicate that stat.

A quick aside:  This was a tough season for both Jeremy and Marty, for different reasons. Jeremy’s Runnin’ Bulldogs had beaten one Division I opponent coming into the game. They left it still having beaten one Division I opponent, which was the same one they had defeated earlier in the year. Like I mentioned before, Jeremy and I go back about as far as anyone in the league. He was struggling over the summer, and we talked for a long time about it. I appreciate Jeremy and our conversations.

Marty was also struggling, because he kept seeing the signs of his team turning the corner. The results were inarguable, despite what happened that night. The Spartans markedly improved from Marty’s first year, but were still unable to crack the quarterfinals. There was no arguing that Marty was in much better spirits this year – not that he’s ever really in bad spirits – and his team was a tough out just about every night.

Unfortunately, all of the stuff I’m growing more to hate, including the lack of money, the portal, and all the other nonsense reared their ugly heads. Back to that night, though.

I don’t think a lot of the people in the room that night – aside from maybe Jake Conley, who writes for us and spends even more time around that program than do I – expected Jeremy’s commentary from the dais.

“It’s been a rewarding year. It’s been a frustrating year,” Gardner-Webb coach Jeremy Luther said after the game. “So many people – all the reporters and people around campus and around town, they all want to tiptoe up to me and ask, ‘How are you doing, Coach?’ Why are you doing that?”

“I’ve had a great – probably one of the most rewarding coaching years in my 28 years, because we’ve got a great group of kids, and they show up every single day, despite the record. They fight. They practice. There’s no reason to practice as hard as they’re practicing every day when you have the record we have.”

The comments didn’t surprise me, knowing Jeremy as I do. 

Freshman guard Jamias Ferere, who Jeremy told me over the summer had a chance to be really special, absolutely was on that night. Ferere stuck the game-winning free throws that got his team the win. He also made a public comment about his exclusion from the All-Freshman Team after the presser. I would have raised my hand and said, “my bad” had I left him off the list. I didn’t get that chance, though. More later.

Marty flashed his usual smile and was his normal talkative self while being gracious in defeat. I think he can tell the tide is turning, even if slowly. Marty is patient and confident – he even told me he was built for this job on several occasions – so he’ll be fine. He’s used to flipping a roster every year, given his JUCO roots. He’ll likely have to do that again in ‘26-’27, too, as most of his regulars are gone to either graduation or the portal.

As for Jeremy, I don’t know whether he was happier that his team won that night, or that he was getting to drive back to North Carolina the next day to watch his son play in the state tournament before coming back to Johnson City to practice and put together a gameplan.

—

I slept a ridiculous amount of time on that off day, because I desperately needed it. I rarely notice my current “status” until I have one of those crashouts and wake up hours later with only a vague clue of where I am. Someone said to me at the end of the season that they knew doing this took a mental and emotional toll on me, and yes, yes it does.

Following time well wasted on that Thursday, Friday arrived. I wandered into the building, passed yet another security scan despite getting complimented on my clear backpack – largely to avoid said security scans – and shuffled in to see a bunch of familiar faces. I was greeted by Josh, Jake, Steven Beck from TeedOff Sports, my seatmates Brent from McKinney’s Mid-Major Hoops and Russell Wood from Big South Hoops Hub, and plenty more. I made another dumb citrus reference, and High Point and Gardner-Webb started the afternoon session.

It ended in a loss for Gardner-Webb. The 81-59 High Point victory was hardly a surprise to anyone in the building, but Jeremy walked in with his head high. He made a strong statement, from which I will borrow a bit as it appeared in Jake’s gamer.

“Everybody who just focuses on wins and losses is the real loser,” Luther said. “This season has been about so much more. We have grown as a team. We have gotten better, particularly the second half of the season. I have said this before, and people don’t believe me, that this has been one of the most rewarding years of my coaching career. There has been no pointing fingers, no fighting. We actually had a dance-off at the hotel last night. I lost. You don’t normally see that kind of spirit on a team that has four wins.”

Then, he said this:

“We just have to convince everyone to come back. We had the freshman of the year (Spence Sims) and should have had another on the all-freshman team. Then you have Jacob Hudson and (Jacob) Hogarth, who are sophomores. We could have a really good group next season and compete for a title in the next year or two. If I didn’t think we could, I would tell you. I shoot straight from the hip.”

Soon after the season, both Hogarth and Hudson vanished into the portal. Damn it.

Let’s end on a make, though.

Jeremy’s son’s team won its game that Thursday.

—

I got back to my seat just in time for Charleston Southern and Winthrop to play in the next game. There were murmurs, whispers, and fingers pointing as the teams took the court. Not only was Duncomb off the scooter, he was in uniform and available to play, just days after a severe foot injury. The injury followed him all weekend, but his effort almost singlehandedly hung a banner in the Winthrop Coliseum. Of course, that effort almost lasted just 40 minutes.

To cut a long story short – because I’ve obviously proven myself capable of that throughout this screed – Winthrop trailed, 81-74, with 28 seconds to go. The craziest sequence I can recall – maybe ever – then unfolded. The Eagles closed the game on a 12-0 burst over those 28 seconds to win, 86-81.

Maybe 15 minutes after the trendy upset pick in the tournament held what seemed to be an insurmountable lead, it ended in a loss for Charleston Southern.

Saah commented after the game about Duncomb and his performance.

“Our game plan stayed the same,” Charleston Southern coach Saah Nimley said. “We had a game plan for when he was on the court and a game plan for when he was off the court. We just stuck true to that today. He’s a good player. He’s hard to deal with in the middle of the floor, because you can’t send a double-team.”


“He was able to get some things. They posted him up in the middle over and over because they knew we were going to bring that double. Good coaching by them and a really good player. I thought we executed (the plan) great, to be honest with you. They shot 38 percent from the field and 24 percent from three. I thought we had a heck of a game defensively, but they got 15 offensive rebounds and shot 30 free throws.”

Duncomb entered the press room on that same scooter, as he did pretty much all weekend. He had a bag of ice on his foot. My feet were sore from just existing. He scored 20 and grabbed 11 boards in 15 minutes. We are not the same.

I didn’t get a chance to talk to CSU athletic director Jeff Barber after the presser like I usually do. I hated that. Jeff has been ceaselessly kind to me since he was at Liberty, and our conversations are always wonderful. It also ended in a loss for CSU off the floor, as stars A’Lahn Sumler and Brycen Blaine entered the portal, along with several others. At least guard Jake Taylor announced he would be returning after a really solid freshman season, so there’s that.

I used the “dinner” break to reload on either Dr. Pepper Zero or Diet Dew – I’d long lost track by then – and catch up with my good friends Rick Watson and Cole Wilder from Radford radio. I didn’t get to see Rick during the season, since one of the only games I missed at Winthrop was when Radford played there. Rick and I are great friends with a ton of stories – ask me about the time he and I shared a seating section up at High Point once, but not here – and it was just good to see both him and Cole. I then decided to leave them alone so they could eat and get set up and pulled the rip cord on what would be a pretty wild night.

—

Longwood and Asheville took the deck for the first game of what would be a frenetic night session, and the haymakers – figuratively – started almost immediately. I was admittedly watching this one a little more closely than usual between conversations, so I’ll just mention a couple things after I tell you this.

It ended in a loss for Longwood that night, as Asheville won, 85-82. Those two things, though…

Jacoi Hutchinson was assessed a technical foul on a loose ball that changed the tone of the game. That call – and interestingly enough, Lee Cassell was officiating that game before eventually moving on to the Final Four – started a lot of conversation. Had I been where I was the year prior, I would’ve had almost a front-row seat to what happened. As it was, they moved us to the second row, so I was further back and elevated off the floor, so I had no real context.

I immediately told Sam after the game that I was going to ask Ronnie about that call. Sam told me a rather funny story about that later, but I won’t share what was said there. I will say that I looked back over my shoulder in the press room and saw Big South Commissioner Sherika Montgomery back there, so that may or may not have altered my strategy.  I also did ask moderator extraordinaire Stephen Dolan on the way in if I could have the first question. He was kind enough to allow that.

I was good, though. I only asked Ronnie what explanation he was provided about the technical. I’m not setting my guy up to get blown up.

And then there’s the other thing.

I made Ronnie cry by asking him about the season. I then made forward Elijah Tucker cry while talking about Ronnie. Neither was intentional, I promise.

I hated the way things ended for Elijah. He went down in what looked like a horrifying injury during the game, but he eventually made his way back to the floor. He stood behind the bench for much of the rest of the game, unable to get in and help his team.

I didn’t want to write a game story about that game. I’ve known Ronnie forever. (Note that I said that. I’ll say it again in a few hours.) Maybe it’s that I’m really connected to Longwood. Maybe it’s that I’m a bad writer and should focus more on the actual sportsball than the stories of the people playing. Whatever reason you ascribe to it, I settled on this path.

I knew going in how much Elijah and Ronnie love each other. He told me the story at Media Day. He told me the story again after Longwood beat Winthrop in Farmville. I also knew that when Elijah got hurt in the Big South tournament in High Point a couple years ago, Ronnie stayed with Elijah in the hospital until he had to leave to coach in the title game. I wanted everybody else to know that story, too.

I’ll plagiarize myself a bit from that story.

“(Longwood) has meant a lot to me,” Tucker said. “Longwood changed me in a lot of ways – especially Ronnie. He cares a lot about his players.”

Tucker then paused to collect himself.

“I remember two years ago, I got hurt at the Big South tournament. He’s the one – he and our athletic trainer – who stayed with me that whole night in that hospital. He never left my side until that next morning when he had to go for that championship game.”

“Honestly, words can’t explain it. He just means a whole lot. He’s the reason I came back. He’s the reason I wanted to bring a championship to Longwood. Even though we didn’t do that, it’s still the best decision I’ve ever made. I wouldn’t change that for anything. I would always come back to Longwood.”

Thomas took in every word. He stared ahead as tears left his eyes, seemingly both taking in the verbal flowers from his star and trying to compose himself.

I asked Ronnie what his first year taught him. I’ll again plagiarize myself.

“I don’t know if (my first year) taught me as much as it just finally gave me a platform to love and give these guys a lot of care,” Thomas said. “(Tucker) and (guard Emanuel Richards) I’ve been with for three years. I recruited them both. Just to be on a platform and put them both in a program that – (they know) how much I love them every day and care for them. Even in the wins and losses – sometimes I want to wring their neck, if I’m being honest. (I learned) to understand – to be the same person, because then I can challenge them to be the same person. (I just appreciate) having the platform to be that example for them.”

Thomas continued, mentioning Tucker’s final game in the process.

“The hardest things are the losses,” Thomas said. “It’s not because of how competitive I am or what I want. It’s more so because I just want it for them. I don’t want (Tucker) to go out the way it went.”

I’ll pause here to say this.

There are occasionally moments in doing this that rattle me, even now. Jimmy Gavin in Buies Creek (the real ones remember that tournament). Cortez Mitchell and Barclay Radebaugh in Asheville (the great Daren Stolzfus remembers that one, though there’s no way he’s reading this). This one. I’m not being hyperbolic when I tell you I was shook. Ronnie broke down. Elijah broke down. I got a little choked up myself.

Elijah issued as passionate a closing statement as I’ve heard in a while.

“I just appreciate (Thomas) bringing me here and keeping me along with the team,” Tucker said. “Longwood has a great future ahead of them with a coach like Ronnie. He does it all. He cares about his players. He does everything he can. This won’t be the last of Longwood bringing a championship to the Big South. They’re going to get it.”

[…]

“I just say (to) trust the process. Coach Ronnie Thomas is the guy. He’s going to get it done.”

After all that, Elijah entered the portal. At the risk of repeating myself, damn it. I’m hoping it’s only to see if he can get a waiver for another year.

There have been a lot of running jokes about my relationship with Longwood. I’m guessing there will be a few more after having written that.

I walked out of the media room, heaved a big sigh as Ronnie headed back down the hallway to the Longwood locker room, then turned right and walked through the doors back onto the floor. 

In a day that felt as if it had taken 14 years, there was still one more game.

Jake wrote the game story for Presbyterian-Radford, so I provided the in-game updates, wrote the aforementioned Longwood feature, and carried on several conversations. This game was my first chance to see Radford all year, and Zach Chu’s team made for a really fun nightcap to that Friday. The Highlanders and Blue Hose settled into what looked as if it may get out of hand early in the second half. Radford grabbed a 39-28 lead, and I was on fumes at that point. Given that multiple people told me I looked exhausted, it was time for a quick drink (non-alcoholic, of course) to rally.

Presbyterian whittled down the lead with the speed of Jaden finally getting south of the Mason-Dixon Line for a game and gradually tied it at 63. Radford led by six with 30 seconds left, then five with 18 seconds left. The Blue Hose were essentially down to one final crack at it. Carl Parrish pulled up from 45 feet and banked home a three to send the game to overtime.

A quick aside here:  I have probably 200 videos on my phone from this basketball season where I was just rolling just in case. I never really expect to catch anything. Somehow, I got a pretty good look at Parrish’s shot. I even got my dumb self reflexively screaming in shock as the shot went down. Presbyterian went on to win the game, 91-85, in OT.

The Blue Hose have three wins in the Big South tournament. I covered the first one back in 2016. Presbyterian won on a final shot – ironically against Radford – in an afternoon tilt in Buies Creek. I remember going into the media room to talk to legendary Presbyterian coach Gregg Nibert after that game. Coach Nibert almost cried that day. He built Presbyterian all the way up to the Division I level and got to guide them to their first Division I postseason win. I will tell you that there are few better coaches than Gregg Nibert. There may be no better humans than he and his wife. I’m told he still tells people to tell me hello from time to time, which is quite the honor.

I was also happy for Q. He’s been through a lot at PC and they struggled early in his tenure. He’s battled through it all, though, and turned out a ton of great people and great players. He’s taken them to multiple postseason bids, and almost assuredly would have again this year, had they not canceled the CBI. I know he wanted that 15th win, which they got. I know he also wanted that tournament win, which they got. He didn’t take time to reflect much on either accomplishment that night. Maybe I’ll get a chance to talk to him about it later in the summer.

I then walked out to an almost-empty arena, had a few more quick conversations, got my quiet court photo (and yes, I caught grief about it), and ventured out into the dark east Tennessee night to go grab a few hours of precious sleep somewhere.

—

The next morning arrived in what felt like seconds. I ventured back through the security scan and out to the floor, where I soon discovered that my feature about Ronnie, Elijah, and Longwood had blown up. I’m glad it had – more people need to know that story. I would soon see Sam, as well. He gave me an update on Elijah and we talked about the story and some other things. 

Semifinal Saturday awaited, and High Point and Asheville started the festivities. Josh was on the wheels of steel for the gamer, so I handled the in-game updates and the duties of watching both coaches during the game. I’ve made clear that I tend to study the coaches more intently than I probably should. The perks, curses, or whatever word you wish to apply of being a coach’s son, I guess.

Josh pointed out in his story that High Point trailed at the half for the first time since January 23. Asheville hit High Point in the mouth and played them about as well as anyone had since that Winthrop game. The difference – and I will maintain this until I lose my voice – that the Winthrop game changed that High Point team. The Panthers had a clearly different edge after that night. Additionally, Cam Fletcher was just a different player after returning from his absence. More on him later, though.

High Point escaped, 75-71. I’m using that word because it’s what happened. No disrespect to Flynn or the Panthers. Asheville went in shorthanded and gave an elite team everything it wanted. 

After we talked to Flynn and the High Point crew, Mike came in. 

A quick aside:  Mike and I go back about as far as anybody in this league aside from Jeremy. I think part of why Media Day is run as it is now is because Mike and I used to talk for 40 minutes at Media Day, causing him to be late to other media stuff. I spent a ton of time talking to him after his first season, when he went 4-27. I remember his mentioning that i properly pronounced his point guard’s name (DeVon Baker), unlike almost anyone else.

I also notice – and call Mike on his likely BS – that he always tells players when they sit down to talk to me that they’re going to really enjoy the conversation. I am flattered by that, and I realize Mike is not one who is overly capable of blowing sunshine up anyone’s…skirt. Yeah, that’s the word we’ll use. I feel connected to Mike, because I think we’re both similar dudes. I also always find myself being enriched every time I talk to him. He’s becoming a bit more philosophical in his advancing age. 

Yes, I’m going to catch endless hell for saying that. Moving on.

I don’t really know what I planned to write when I walked in that room. I should probably be better at planning out stories, but I’d rather let the story tell itself. On that day, Mike and Toyaz Solomon led me in the right direction.

Toyaz is such a good dude. I wish more people had the chance to know him. He’s eloquent, was clearly raised well – Mike repeatedly pointed this out – and raised his game to an elite level in his time at Asheville. I got to know him at Media Day and was instantly impressed.

Toyaz said this about Mike when I asked about his coaching.

“(His coaching) has shaped me into what I am today,” Solomon said. “I’m not perfect, but Coach Morrell always helps me respond and move on to the next thing without getting down on one thing.”

“He gets on me a lot, but I kind of need it. He’s kind of like a father figure in my life. I’ve got my mom, but he’s been a father figure for the last few years, and I just appreciate it.”

Mike then talked about his relationship with Toyaz. He compared the relationship to that with former star Drew Pember.

“The best thing about Toyaz Solomon is (his mom),” Morrell said. “She says I get to coach him however I want to. That’s our relationship. He wants to make money playing basketball, and when he doesn’t live up to that, he gets told. Most of the time, he responds. There were parts of this year where he didn’t respond, and he knows that.”

“Toyaz is at his best when he’s joyful. We’ve got this thing where, in a game, if he wants me to shut up, he can tell me that. He’s got to (give me a thumbs up). That’s his mother. His mother allows me to coach him that way. So did Tajion Jones’ mom. So did Drew Pember’s mom and dad. So does Justin Wright’s mom and Kam Taylor’s mom and dad, too.”

He’s correct. Every single time I ever saw an Asheville game while Drew was there, I saw his parents. That’s one case, but not the only case. Again, Mike is absolutely not one to blow sunshine.

Also, to know Mike is to know how he connects with his point guards. From Baker to Trent Stephney to Caleb Burgess to Justin Wright and every one in between, Mike relies on his point guard to carry a heavy load on his teams. I also had to ask him about the connection with J-Wright.

“We’re kind of built the same way,” Morrell said. “We come from single-parent homes. You fight for what you want. If you don’t, you don’t get it. That’s how he plays. That’s how he lets me coach him. I like guys like that. They don’t want to be pampered. They don’t want to be patted on the ass all the time.”

“He didn’t come for money. He came because he wanted to win. That’s a big difference, especially today.”

The “patting” comment brought to mind a comment Mike made to me at the end of a marathon call he and I had for a Blue Ribbon conversation. We were past the two-hour mark, and as we were ending the call, he said something that still cracks me up to this day. No, I’m not repeating it.

Mike got a little misty during the presser. The eyes got a little red. He can deny it, but I saw what I saw. He walked off the dais, I shook his hand and thanked him, and he disappeared down that same hallway.

I don’t remember whether it was immediately thereafter – it probably was – but I walked up onto the riser, or as I may have called it once or twice, the kids’ table, and was immediately greeted this way.

“So I heard you made Morrell cry…”

Yep, I’m a jerk. He’ll never admit it if I did make him cry.

The story blew up – again. Asheville’s accounts all shared it. People affiliated with Asheville shared it. People I’d never talked to shared it. This is why I do what I do – not for clicks or any of that stuff, but for people to get to know these stories. If the stories ever go away, I’ll stop doing this. More – much more – on this later.

The postscript:  I woke up the next morning to a text from Mike. It made my weekend. I won’t share what he said, but I really needed to hear it. That was a momentum boost that got me through until I started driving the next day. We all know what happens when I’m on long drives.

—

Winthrop and PC then closed out Semifinal Saturday with yet another of the classic battles between Pross and Q’s teams. I’m never surprised by anything when these two face off. I’m not saying that laced with hyperbole.

Josh had the gamer on this one as I focused on writing the Asheville feature. I probably should have written a feature on PC that day, but I had already somewhat planted the seeds earlier when Presbyterian closed its season at Winthrop. I’ll make a few comments here about that situation, while noting Winthrop’s 75-71 win. There’s lots more to be said about Winthrop – some of which I’ve already covered in the season wrap, and even more I’ll cover here.

Q is among an ever-smaller group of Division I coaches who do this because they believe in the mission. He could be anywhere else just collecting a check and doing whatever the head coach told him to do. He believes in people, he believes in the game, and he believes in growing both. One of my fondest memories of talking to Q came at the Templeton Center a couple years ago after his team played High Point. We were just sitting in the courtside seats in a mostly-quiet arena, talking about the game and other things while he watched his son playing on the court. That’s who Q is. He’s a leader, he’s a teacher, and he’s a believer in others. I’m proud to know him and privileged to have had the conversations we’ve had.

As PC exited the tournament, so too did Josh Pickett. Pickett draw plaudits from Q throughout the year and in the tournament, but chose to continue his journey elsewhere. Parrish also chose to exit the program, which admittedly hurts. Q will bring in more kids who believe in the mission as he does and see the special place Presbyterian is. With that being said – sorry, had to – this kind of stuff is more and more a punch to the gut, kick in the balls, or whatever other metaphor you want to use with every passing announcement that someone’s leaving. There’s more to be said about that, and you probably won’t like it.

—

I woke up Sunday, threw my stuff in the car, departed the parts unknown where I’d laid my head the night before, and headed to Freedom Hall one last time for a scene that felt all too familiar. It was yet another windy day that featured a High Point-Winthrop championship, just like the year before. I walked through the same security scan I’d come to …know. We’ll say know. 

Part of me wants to recap this game, while the other part realizes I wrote multiple stories after it finished – one from the High Point side, and one from the Winthrop side. We’d lost Josh and Jake by this point, so it was back to yours truly on the wheels of steel. The game was not all that close, as High Point won by 15 and the lead only changed five times. I’ll give a few thoughts on what took place.

  • Flynn can coach. This shouldn’t be surprising to anyone – especially considering I praised the hire when Alan brought him over and praised it again when Nido gave him the gig after Alan left. It would have been really easy for the Panthers to have let that one loss at Winthrop turn into two. After that game, Flynn was annoyed – understandably – with how his team played, but he was calm and had a plan. That plan clearly came to fruition, as the program both hung another banner and took a clear iterative step. More on that a bit later. Also, yes, High Point has more money than anyone in the league by a significant margin, but the way Flynn got all those guys to play together deserves all the credit in the world.

  • Mark can also coach. Every time I’ve talked to Mark since he got to Winthrop the first time, he’s emphasized how people in Rock Hill get a little annoyed when the Eagles don’t hang banners, but they’ve won 102 games in five seasons. They’ve lost three championship games in five seasons, but Kels also lost three championship games. Pross was in the mix for the Georgia State job that eventually went to Jon Cremins, and the fact that he was looking despite that level of success should be an indication to those responsible that they should invest more in the program. Time will tell.

  • A lot of people said to me throughout the year that High Point wasn’t as talented as they were the year prior. Maybe they were, maybe they weren’t, but I’ll tell you this – they played with a lot more of an edge this season. Rob Martin was an absolutely elite-level point guard. He drove that entire team. You all came to know that if you watched them in the tournament, though.

I skipped the celebration on the floor this year. That’s the first time I’ve done so in quite a while. They were super intentional about making announcements to the media that they had to stay back behind the ropes, so it wasn’t even worth it. I just borrowed the photos the league published. I also wanted to make sure to be in for the Winthrop presser. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Mark was annoyed with me – he both mentioned the way they were picked to finish and didn’t acknowledge me after the conversation – but I’m hoping that’s an incorrect read.

After talking to High Point and shooting the breeze with Stephen and Mark (Bryant), a bit, I left the press room for the final time and went back to the floor. As I got back upstairs, Ellen made me take a photo with her. I’ll say that I had a lot of people ask me for photos this year. I hate taking pictures of myself. I can’t stand it. She got Maddy from Van Wagner to break loose from what was going on out on the floor to take the photo.

I have the picture. No, I’m not sharing it. Ellen is lucky I think as highly of her as I do. Seriously, she’s the best – even if she makes me do stuff like doxxing myself via photography.

I then went back to my seat and immediately started watching the Queens-Central Arkansas ASUN championship game on my phone. The reason for my doing that should be rather evident, but I drew a crowd as the game started getting wild. The game eventually went to overtime, and I made the executive decision to say my “see you later”s (I don’t say “goodbye” – long story that I won’t explain here), get my final quiet court photo from Johnson City, and hit the road.


I can tell that I’m a true sicko, because I flipped on the UCA radio stream on my phone for the drive. I stopped off at the rest area/North Carolina welcome center right as Queens won the championship. I needed to change into my normal non-game uniform (t-shirt, fleece pants, sneakers, hat), grab a quick drink, and get back on the road. 

As I was basically tumbling down the mountains for the next couple hours, I had some time to think. If you’re a regular reader of this feature, you’ll know that a) I do a lot of my thinking on these drives and b) nothing good ever comes of it. Both things were true here.

—

And now, a brain dump of that drive. If you aren’t interested in my thought process or ramblings, skip ahead. I won’t judge. Much.

I’ve always been a firm believer in the concept that you get what you give. That’s not just a cool New Radicals song from (inaudible due to passing cars) years ago. This is the first year in a long while – if not ever – that I didn’t feel as if that ratio worked out in my favor. I’m not sure if it’s the increasingly transactional nature of college basketball or what, but I felt it more this year. 

It wasn’t always that way – Brett at Winthrop is always so awesome to me, as is Austin at Queens, which helps with their being my two primary “offices” – but I felt it this year. I’ll partially explain.

For a lot of reasons, I felt more like a glorified PR person than a writer. I can’t quite put my finger on why, but it was how I felt. I was told that Rick made some comments about the fact that media were not invited to vote for awards this year and was asked for my thoughts. Again with the part of me thing – I didn’t have a vote for the first few years I covered this league until the legendary Marc Rabb made a comment about how I should have a vote, so I’ve been without a vote before. On the other hand, I heard a lot of commentary from fans and such about the results of the voting, and I had no part in it. Also, there were multiple “co-” results before award choices, which is just – hell, I’ll say it – dumb. I don’t want to sound ungrateful or hateful or anything, but yeah.

It wasn’t that people were overly rude or adversarial. It was more of the kind of transactional nature of college sports that seems to be bleeding into other aspects. I may be an introvert, but I’m not into this whole idea of feeling as if I’m only important until the next person who gets more clicks or brings in more dollars comes along. The crack after the championship game of “don’t think we forgot that” about Winthrop being picked fifth before a season in which nearly the entire team was new and we knew very little about them didn’t help matters.

Maybe it’s just me.

—

Anyone who tells you “college sports is fine” is either fiddling while Rome burns, really stupid, easily duped, or is benefitting from it not being fine. Fans can’t get connected to anyone without their leaving almost immediately to go chase the next bag elsewhere. There are collegiate athletes who play at five different schools in five different years. Guys are saying they’re going to stay at their schools, then magically “appearing” in the portal and magically having a visit set up with a school almost immediately, because we’re supposed to believe that this all just organically happened and no one is tampering, ever.

We’re passing laws in states to keep journalists like me shielded from seeing how much college athletes are making. We’re just building brands, and eventually, only the big corporations – because, let’s face it, that’s what they are now – win. Pardon the comparison here, but players are now just bags of meat in brand uniforms. Players announce they’re entering into the portal, and immediately fans of 30 of these brands flock to the Twitter replies to try to convince that player to come be a one-year mercenary for their brand. Everyone thinks this is fine.

Also, don’t point me at television ratings and try to tell me that’s an indicator. People are watching because they’re betting on the games, because we’ve gotten in bed with that, too. Between the unwatchable pre-game/halftime “content” during the tournament and gaslighters out here either trying to tell you – with a straight face – that a lack of Cinderellas makes for a better product or that a ninth-seeded Iowa or eleventh-seeded Texas are Cinderellas aren’t helping. They’re pissing on your leg and telling you it’s raining.

“You’re just mad that players are finally getting paid,” they bellow. Hardly. As we do with every thing, we overcorrected, and now we have a cottage industry of opportunists (no, not all of them, lest anyone suggest that) trying to make a quick buck off this – let’s call it what it is – unrestricted free agency that even pros don’t enjoy, whether they be writing about them, arranging their pay-for-play (it’s not NIL, so stop that nonsense, too), or whatever.

Now we’re almost assuredly going to expand the tournament to 76 teams under even more gaslighting that this will create “access” for mid-majors, knowing damn well it’s going to make sure that none of the 14-loss brands ever get left out of the sweet, sweet pot of money again and the mid-majors can just go fend for themselves. Those schools are good enough to develop the players that the brands will eventually poach after they had no interest in the player before they were developed, and screw you if you don’t like it. You can just go bring in another group of dudes, develop them, and let the Power schools reap the benefits of your work.

I could write another 10,000 words about this, but will spare you. I’ll also spare you the rest of the stuff that went through my head on this trip. 

—

A week later, I was back at Queens. I thought for sure I wouldn’t see Curry Arena again until November, but there was a great reason to be back in Myers Park. The Royals had a Selection Sunday party, and they pulled out all the stops. The university’s name was in lights in the front lobby – this should be a permanent fixture for games, if you ask me – and fans were greeted with free t-shirts and other stuff. The ASUN trophy was on display on the floor, draped in the championship net. It will soon take up residence in the trophy case upstairs.

G spoke to the crowd before the selection show went live. There was a DJ and an emcee. The fans were hyped. There was a mild gasp in the air when Duke’s name was announced, as the crowd thought there was a possibility of Queens going to Greenville and playing Duke, then a small exhale as Siena was instead announced. More on that game later.

Shortly thereafter, Purdue appeared on the screen, followed by a mention of the Boilermakers’ opponent making their first appearance in the tournament. The crowd – and the Royals team – went nuts almost before Queens even appeared on the bracket. Hugs, handshakes, and self-created videos ensued. Then, just like that, it was gone. The students made their way up the bleachers. The cameras were dismounted. The chairs left the floor. 

I stood there watching some of the selection show with G. We talked about Queens’ matchup, some of the other games, and his group’s tournament outlook. I told him I liked the matchup – given the available options – and he did, too. They were not just happy to be in the tournament. I wouldn’t have expected them to approach this any other way. 

I also had the chance that day to see a lot of people I knew for the first time in a while. I saw the awesome Reggie Walker, who does such a good job on Winthrop, High Point, Queens, and other broadcasts. He cracked me up with something he said – and an instruction he gave me – that I won’t repeat. I also saw my guy, Alex Zietlow. I haven’t seen Alex in forever. He’s my former boss, my former podcast co-host, and my former fellow rafters dweller at Winthrop. He’s since gone on to become a standout at the Charlotte Observer, covering the Panthers, NASCAR, and other major stories in Metrolina. I’m proud as hell of what he’s become, and clearly had no part in his stardom.

I rode the elevator upstairs with G and the media contingent to do the individual media availability after the selection show. There was a funny moment in the hallway as we waited for someone with a key to show up to open the room we were using for the occasion. I cracked some joke to G about how he should have the key to everything in the building, to which he responded that he had been at Queens 13 years and didn’t even have a key to his office. I now need to get up to G’s office sometime to see if he has one of those big ceremonial keys like mayors give out to cities.

As we were all setting up tripods, microphones, and whatever else, G said something that caught me by surprise. He said something to the effect of, “Four years ago, it was just me and Brian here.” Almost all of the media in the room turned and stared at me, like, “Who the hell is this guy?” before going on with the session. It was admittedly a little weird, but it did remind me that I’ve had the privilege of telling that story for four years – along with a couple trips there when Queens was still Division II – even if I was the only one there to tell it some nights.

We then packed our stuff and headed back down to the floor. As we exited the elevator, we saw assistant coach Bobby Horodyski headed upstairs with Buddy. Though there seemed to be a little bit of sadness that Buddy was exiting the floor, this was the last time I’d get to see Bobby. He departed after the season to take a job at Western Michigan. I’ll miss him. He’s a good coach and a great dude.

I hung around on the floor for a bit, just to catch my breath and take in everything one last time. I also had to make sure I’d gotten everything packed. G walked by to go do TV interviews and stopped to shake my hand and thank me. He left me with a comment to the effect of:

“You better include this in your year-end thing.”

Don’t worry about that, G. I’ve got you.

I then got a couple more quiet court shots for the road, then quietly slipped down the stairs and out the door to drive home.

—

Five days later, it was time to go to Greenville to cover regional number…seven? eight? I’ve honestly lost track at this point. I was going to cover Duke-Siena and Illinois-Penn, as we regularly cover both the Saints and Quakers. I left here on a gorgeous, sunny morning and set out for Bon Secours Wellness Arena. About halfway there – right where the gigantic fireworks shop is on the right side of I-85 just into South Carolina, if you know the area – my car started running really rough. It felt as if it wouldn’t accelerate without hesitating, followed by a light on my dashboard.

I stopped off at the Love’s travel plaza and unscrewed the gas cap, then put it back on. I’m no mechanic. I then had to make the decision on whether to continue and take the risk of my car crapping out far away from home or trying to go back home. I texted Jaden from the parking lot – I won’t repeat what I said – and begrudgingly hit the road back home in the hopes that I’d make it back there without an issue. I stopped back by the house, dropped off my stuff, took my car to the dealership, and got a ride back home just in time to remotely cover Duke and Siena.

I despise covering games remotely. I almost never do it. In this case, though, I was left with no choice. So if you didn’t know that day that was the case, now you do.

I spent that afternoon session both covering Duke-Siena and High Point’s game with Wisconsin. Since I wasn’t covering High Point, I felt comfortable rooting for the Panthers. I probably would have done things exactly this way had I actually been in the building in Greenville, with March Madness live on the screen in front of me and the game on the deck a few feet away. I thought the Duke game would be a little more out of hand to allow me to focus more on High Point.

Oops.

High Point won, which was awesome for the Big South and for the guys I knew so well and had covered multiple times during the year. I was really fired up for Flynn, and I laughed a bit as he mean-mugged and used the post-game interview to campaign for more opportunities for mid-majors to play better games. I was also glad that Rob Martin and Chase Johnston got their national moments, as well. 

I had to quickly pivot from the high of that game – pardon the pun – to the end of Duke-Siena. As you know by now, Duke managed to fend off an incredible charge from Gerry McNamara’s Saints. I wrote a story on Siena and its Herculean effort against the Blue Devils after that game, but I took a rather different tone from the postgame presser. I texted Jaden and Josh in our group shortly thereafter and told them McNamara was leaving. He didn’t specifically say anything to that effect in the presser, but I noted that he spoke of his team in past tense quite a bit.

Days later, he was gone. McNamara went back home to Syracuse, taking star Gavin Doty with him to the Orange. Doty is an ACC-caliber player. If there were any doubt, he eliminated that with his play against Duke.

After I wrote the story, I got another ride to the dealership to pick up my car. There was an issue with my fuel injector that got fixed, and it was there that I learned about “hobble mode”. Apparently, my car has a feature that allows it to operate under a reduced power state to allow you to get the car somewhere to get it fixed. Sweet. I got my keys and headed home. There was still one more story to tell.

I got home and posted back up with some more basketball, watching the evening session. Penn and Illinois closed the night for me in a game that was in doubt for all of maybe 25 seconds. This year’s Illinois team was just a wagon, though. The Illini made it all the way to Indianapolis, where Jaden would cover them in a Final Four loss to UConn. The bigger thing was getting to cover Penn, who had a rather magical first season under legendary coach and Quaker alum Fran McCaffery. 

Penn star Mike Zanoni, who got to play about two hours from his Charlotte home, had some really cool and self-reflective stuff to say after the game, which I wrote about in my story.

“Since (I was) a kid, I’ve always dreamed of this,” Zanoni said of his NCAA experience. “To go out there and do it was really fun, especially with Penn across my chest – that’s a dream come true. It’s a dream school for me. Just to play with my brothers out there and hit some shots was a really cool feeling. I know my younger self is super happy.”

McCaffery also seemed energized and found true purpose in returning home.

“Unless you grew up in Philadelphia and spent every Saturday night at The Palestra pretty much all your childhood years, you probably wouldn’t completely understand it,” McCaffery said. “(I was) dreaming of one day wearing the jersey of a Big 5 team. I knew the power of the academic profile at the University of Pennsylvania, and that became my number-one choice.”

“My alma mater said, ‘Okay, this is our guy.’ I know how important the basketball program is to the university. Yeah, we’re part of something bigger – the university and the athletic department. Penn basketball and the tradition is something that a lot of people take great pride in, and they put me in charge. I couldn’t be more thankful. It’s truly a blessing to be at my alma mater, to be home, and then to have a group like I have and the support from our administration that I have. You can’t do it alone.”

This story – and Siena’s – are the types of stories we should be telling and championing in our game. They were the reason we all fell in love with college basketball. The powers – or, should I say, Powers – that be want to make them disappear, though, in the pursuit of greed and more dollars for their leagues. First the removal of (most) auto-bids to the NIT, then the expansion of the NCAA to put in more middling Power teams, then it becomes all “brands”. Not everyone can be the Dodgers or Yankees. I’ve covered huge brands. I built a national ACC podcast from nothing and hosted it. Anyway…

I closed the postgame press conference a little after midnight, then got my story filed at something like 1:30 in the morning. That ended up being the final story I told before this one. Not with a bang, but a check engine light.

—

The next day, I hopped on with two buddies of mine whose work I appreciate, Jackson Collier and Dan Fair of Hawgbeat to talk about the High Point-Arkansas matchup. I broke my usual rule of not appearing on video – again, not a fan of doxxing myself – but I did at least a) throw together a background to hide my palatial studio in an undisclosed location and b) hit almost all of the key storyline points of that game. More on that in a second.

It ended in a loss later that day for Queens. The Royals fell to Purdue in St. Louis, but it almost didn’t feel like a loss. The nation got to hear the stories of Buddy, Myers Park, G’s sweaters, and all the stuff I’d gotten to know in my time on the Royals’ beat. They saw Nas, Jordan, Tae, and all the guys I’d shared some chairs and a table with 50 feet off the court in Curry Arena so many times before. Maybe there was some strange bit of serendipity that 133 days after I started the season with Winthrop, Queens, and High Point, I had ended the season with the last teams I saw – in person, anyway – being Winthrop, High Point, and Queens. It was a tidy end to a season that felt so disconnected without a throughline for most of it.

Whatever. I’ll count it.

It would end in a loss the next day for High Point, but not before the Panthers gave Arkansas everything it could possibly want, and then some. Flynn’s group got several different scenes in One Shining Moment and, like Queens, everybody got a great taste of the story that Josh and I already knew. Someone asked me during the HPU run if I thought they had something sustainable or would end up like the Winthrop run in the mid-2000s where Winthrop beat Notre Dame and then kind of fell off for a bit. In today’s game, with today’s resources, I think they can sustain it.

—

And now – much to your delight – it’s time to bring this annual brain and heart dump to a close. As I’m filing this, Jaden’s is already posted. His was half as long as mine. Fudge.

I need to start by first thanking my best friends in this business, the SIDs. They always get me where I need to be, feed me cool stats, and put up with my foolishness. My thanks and appreciation to you all. Let’s try to get through this without inadvertently missing a name.

To Austin Slough (Queens), Brett Redden (Winthrop), Jordan Caskey (Furman), Bill Smith (Liberty), Sam Hovan (Longwood), Brent Stastny (Presbyterian), Ryan Frye and DeSean Bullock (Upstate), the great Kassi Butcher (Asheville), Kadie Snipes (High Point), Chase Beckham (Charleston Southern), Matt Farris and Michael Covil (Gardner-Webb), Jacob Plecker (App State), Mark Wasik (Kennesaw State), Jody Jones (Coastal Carolina), Greg Wolfe (Radford – I didn’t even get much of a chance to talk to Greg this year, since Matt was doing basketball during the summer before he left), Sam Hyman (Davidson), and – last, but absolutely not least – Max Rottenecker (La Salle), THANK YOU. I appreciate the conversation, the jokes, the “off-the-record” stuff, and most importantly, the kindness. I’m always thankful that you open your houses to me.

I would thank the regular press row denizens like Jaden did, but they’re fewer and further between down here. I’ll just mention the ones I regularly see. There’s Nick Klos and my guy Walker Mehl from Queens TV, along with Royals sideline reporter Hannah Bradey. It’s always fun when those three crash our post-game pressers with G and save him from hearing my repeated questions. I spent a lot more time this year talking to Mike Pacheco of Winthrop radio and TV than I even did before, which was awesome. We even got to share a table at Asheville. There’s the rest of the usual suspects at Winthrop, including Mojo, Travis, and the table crew, along with MJ, Ferg, Reggie, and Coach Bramlett on radio and TV there, not to mention my buddy Mike Gleason. Mike and I kept each other company during Winthrop games, and I loved absolutely every second of it. I also need to thank AY for having me on Liberty radio, and it was good to see him again, even if he didn’t remember me. I think I mentioned all the other “regulars” elsewhere in this piece, but please feel free to roast me if I inadvertently missed you.

There’s also our scrappy and ever-growing crew here at DDoH. Josh was literally the only one on staff I saw before the tournament this year, and we got to hang out multiple times. He’s been a great addition, and I look forward to seeing him venture to even more places next year. Jaden and I talked even more this year than usual, though he couldn’t lower himself to come spend 13 hours listening to my foolishness on press row somewhere. We’ll do some more podcasts over the summer, which will be awesome. I think we both need a break first, though.

Justin also came back this year and provided a lot of the coverage over in the southwest part of South Carolina. It was good to have him back on board. I’ve also mentioned Jake several times in this piece, but we’re always good for some jokes and good conversation. He wasn’t around for the whole thing, but it was great to see him, as always.

The coaches are always kinder to me than I deserve. To G, Bobby, Pross, Rack, Monty, Sid, Mitch, Ritchie, Nice, Shane, Sweat, Flynn, Zach, Mike (Morrell), Mike (Jones), Justin, Ronnie, Q, Saah, Marty, DK, Brad, and Jeremy, thank you for the time, the answers, the handshakes, the phone calls, the texts, the kind words, and everything. I also need to thank the other coaching contact I regularly text whom I won’t identify – largely because I don’t know if I can. He knows who he is, though.

I also need to mention it ended in a win for Jeremy. I mentioned that he left the tournament to go watch his son play. He ended up – admittedly, not surprisingly – signing his son to play for the Runnin’ Bulldogs after the season. Jake wrote a story about the signing for us. If you ever talk to Jeremy, you’ll quickly learn how much he loves Boiling Springs and how much his family means to him. Of all the reasons I always enjoy talking to Jeremy, that love is at the top.

I want to thank everyone in the Big South office for tolerating my nonsense, questions, and occasional critiques. Sherika, Mark (Simpson), Jordan, Stephen, Mark (Bryant), and everyone else associated with the league are always truly kind and accommodating. It's hard to believe I've been telling their stories for as long as I have, but I'm honored to have done so.

I also owe a thank you to all of you. Whether you read one word or all of them I scribbled this season, I appreciate your doing it. I also got the chance to catch up with a lot of you and say hello (or hello again!), which was so awesome. A hello and a conversation is more rejuvenating than any energy drink, and I got to hear about some of your families, cool trips you were taking, and other things going on in your lives. I say this all the time, but if you see me at a game, please come say hello. If I appear tired, I promise it’s not because of you.

I should also mention that Jaden brought up in his comments that we won’t put our content behind a paywall. Thank goodness for that. I’ve had some of you ask how you can support us or me in the work we do without having to pay for specific content, and I’ve got an idea about that. I may implement that next season. Stay tuned.

And now, to cut a long story short – insert sarcastic laughter – it’s time to bring this to a close. Had I my way, I would just shut the laptop screen until August when it’s time for high school sports again. Unfortunately, thanks to the seemingly never-ending season, that’s not an option. Still, I think I will toss the laptop into the lake for a month or so, then try to retrieve it later.

You know that there are two ways this always ends. One of those ways is through the words of Kyle Whelliston. The other is through the words of Billy Joel. If they’re good enough for my buddy Andy Masur from WGN Radio, they’re good enough for me.

So many faces in and out of my life
Some will last, some will just be now and then
Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes
I’m afraid it’s time for goodbye again

-30- 
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