Friday, April 17, 2026

On the edge of seventeen, but far from alone after an unusually reaffirming season yielded new blessings

And the days go by like a strand in the wind. In the web that is my own, I begin again.

I’m getting introspective again, so it must be April 17.

To the longtime readers and followers, no explanation for the inane ramblings you will voluntarily subject yourself to over the scores of paragraphs and thousands of words that follow, no explanation is necessary. But for those new to the family, who may have joined the ride in progress at any point over the past five months? Well, let me first officially welcome you to this insanity, the show that never ends. Come inside, come inside.

It was on this date now 17 years ago that this outlet came into being. I was no more than a baby then, a 22-year-old several months removed from graduating college on the afternoon of April 17, 2009, I had time to kill in the WSJU office — WSJU is the on-campus student radio station at St. John’s, a place you’ll inevitably hear more about for reasons good and, well, less than desirable, as this meandering progresses — and followed through on a suggestion from my mother that maybe, in the event that my budding broadcast career that had taken root a year-and-a-half prior did not work out, maybe I should have a backup plan. That’s what this site started as. No direction for the first year, until I developed college basketball as a niche. I still do play-by-play, but after expanding gradually years ago and now covering multiple states — imagine telling me in 2009, just a few months out of college at the time, that I would be crossing state lines to do this — among the site’s territory, operating this has taken on a life of its own. It’s a labor of love, though. I make no money off it and do not care to, largely because at almost 40 years old, I don’t have the energy to chase down advertising sales or revenue like I may have when I started this at 22. There’s no paywall either, and there never will be for any written piece here, be it my own or from any of my other writers.

There’s also the potential some confusion, self-invited at that, when I mention 17 years with this site but 19 in the college basketball media. My first two years in this business were spent strictly on the broadcast side, but I count them anyway. So if you see two sets of numbers for my longevity in this crazy world, that’s the reason why. I figured I would start with that disclaimer before I get into the real subject of why we’re all here.

Last year’s retrospective was a lot more sobering than I hoped it would be, sadly because several people I was close to in some way, shape or form had since passed on and I had to pay tribute to them the best way I knew how. And when this piece went to press a year ago, I had found out that day that I had lost another friend I had come to make over my travels, Derek “DJ” Southerland.

DJ lost his life far too young, at the tender age of 29. But he packed a lot into those 29 years, and did it by channeling his joie de vivre into St. John’s athletics. Now I’ve seen a great number of St. John’s fans over the years, especially since I started my career there and was exposed to that fan base first before any other group. I’ve never seen a St. John’s fan quite like DJ, and probably never will. What made him so special was that he wasn’t confined to men’s basketball the way so many of the Johnny faithful are, no disrespect to any of them. Women’s basketball? DJ was just as ubiquitous with his custom “DSPN” jersey (DSPN was a nickname that he had acquired during his time as an undergrad on the corner of Union and Utopia) and oversized headphones. Men’s or women’s soccer? DJ was behind the visiting team’s net heckling the keeper when he wasn’t working the cameras for the in-house broadcast production. Volleyball? Softball? Those two sports were arguably closest to his heart. And even after he graduated so many years ago, he still came back.

DJ was also the only San Diego — shit, I always date myself when it comes to teams moving — Los Angeles Charger fan I’ve known, so that also fascinated me considering I’ve been known for my own out-of-town allegiances over the years. What I’ll remember most about him is the love he poured into life and the people who were fortunate enough to come into contact with him. You couldn’t walk away from an encounter with DJ and not be better off from it in the long run. He would never let that happen. And I’d like to think that he had a hand in the Sweet 16 run for St. John’s that I’ll chronicle in greater detail as this long post inches closer to a conclusion. But when he passed away, I found myself remembering a quote of his that he even incorporated into his Twitter bio, one that I subconsciously carried with me in my own journey this year:

Love what you do, and the love will come back to you.

I’ll revisit that multiple times before I end this damn thing, because the love ended up coming back to me a few times over, even in ways I could never have envisioned when I began preparing for the undertaking of another long season. And this long season, which covered 96 games, 18 more than last year and possibly the closest I’ll come to 100 again for reasons I’ll cite later, began under a familiar backdrop, but a new territory as far as long-term presence for this outlet was concerned.

Fortunately, this look back will be much more positive and genial in its tone than last year, because there isn’t any other tragedy to recap other than losing DJ. So with that being said, the 17th year for the site, my 19th overall touring the college basketball circus, raised its curtain with a trip to the Main Line for Villanova’s exhibition against VCU.

My big announcement at this time last year was that I would be gradually expanding the site’s footprint into the Philadelphia market to cover the Big 5 when I didn’t have any conflicts closer to home, so I immediately threw myself into that territory the first chance I could. If I were eligible for one, I’d have probably signed some sort of NIL deal with Amtrak for all the times I took the train down the Northeast Corridor and left pieces of my soul on 95, 76, 676, or whatever road you choose. The returns to the home office after 2 a.m. weren’t always ideal, but the quality of basketball justified it. One thing that blew me away in the opener was how Villanova’s backcourt of Acaden Lewis and Bryce Lindsay, neither of whom will likely play alongside one another again now that both are in the transfer portal, had developed a chemistry together in just weeks that made it look as though they had been teammates for ten years. You also can’t take too much from an exhibition, but handling an eventual conference champion in VCU by 19 points solidified my belief that Kevin Willard would be a lot better in his first season back in the Big East than some more notable colleagues of mine expected.

Six days later, I ended up at Madison Square Garden for my only other preseason game coverage, with Michigan taking on St. John’s. For an exhibition game with James Breeding, Brian Dorsey and Tony Chiazza on the whistle, it turned out to be a high-quality contest even with the frequent whistles. I’d see the Wolverines again later on, as you’ll eventually find out, but I only needed another week or so to reconnect with the Johnnies. That next game was a 108-point statement in the season opener against Quinnipiac, who acquitted itself about as well as a mid-major could against an explosive offense for a school ranked fifth in the country at the time. It didn’t take long to see an upset, however. That came the next day.

Grant Billmeier’s first two years at NJIT were arduous, to say the least. The one thing the former Kevin Willard assistant had going for him, though, was continuity. Somehow, he got most of his core to stay in Newark with him this season, and was rewarded out of the gate with a win at Fordham that would eventually set the tone for the most successful year the Highlanders enjoyed since Jim Engles finally broke through and got the program into a conference a decade ago. I’ll get to NJIT again later in this behemoth piece before I close the book on the season, but the debut of David Bolden while Sebastian Robinson was injured and unavailable offered a glimpse into just how bright the future can be on Warren and Lock.

Rutgers showed signs of life early in the season when it demolished Rider in its opener, and again five days later against Maine. After that, I had the opportunity to cover Dan Geriot in a game for the first time when he led Iona against another program longtime followers will be familiar with, Hofstra. Let me preface the Iona introduction by saying I was somewhat critical of how the Tobin Anderson departure was handled, and that he still deserved a better fate. But after my first encounter with Geriot, in Atlantic City for MAAC media day, I found myself intrigued and impressed by the former Richmond Spider (I can still hear his deep, hearty laugh when I told him I felt old after remembering his Sweet 16 run 15 years prior), and was interested to see how the Gaels would look under his aegis. Iona’s offense showed glimpses of a Tim Cluess unit in that Hofstra game, and started the season stronger than most could have imagined.

Opening week concluded for me with somewhat of a marathon. My football play-by-play gig at Merchant Marine precluded me from covering St. John’s and Alabama early in the day, but I found a way to somehow get from Long Island to Villanova by train in enough time to see the Wildcats host Queens University, the Charlotte institution that this outlet has had the pleasure of telling the story for since it transitioned from Division II into the ASUN. The Royals lost that game by 20, but looked as good in a 20-point loss as any team I’d seen at that level in a long time. That trip was also memorable for being my long-awaited introduction to head coach Grant Leonard, who came on the podcast with Brian Wilmer and I over the summer to talk more about Queens and what went into building the program into what it now stands as today. After the game, Leonard had a simple plea to me before I headed back up to New York.

“I hope you liked our team,” he said, eager to see what I thought after getting a first impression.

Not only did I like what the Royals were eventually molding into, I saw potential, a potential that was realized four months later and one that Brian will chronicle much better than I ever could from my perch up here. I liked what I saw from Villanova when I went back to Finneran Pavilion again 48 hours later to watch a record-setting shooting night against Sacred Heart. After that, Seton Hall, who I will get into deeper as the season goes on, handled Monmouth while Iona repelled a challenge from a Fordham team that showed more fight against the Gaels than it did the week before when I saw Mike Magpayo’s Rams against NJIT. Then, I shipped up to Boston.

There’s going to be a lot of space dedicated to the University of Connecticut in this long-winded, whatever you ultimately want to call it. Let me get that out of the way now before I even go on to mention that I covered 25 UConn games this season, far and away more than any other team this year, and maybe, quite possibly, an all-time high for a single team in all the years I’ve been doing this. My UConn coverage takes on a deeper meaning and more serious tone for a number of reasons, and with the expectation that the Huskies would once again be a national championship contender, I felt like I needed to raise my game a little more this year. So there I was, high atop TD Garden as UConn built up a 20-point lead on BYU and almost lost it as AJ Dybantsa rallied the Cougars before UConn held on to win by two. Dybantsa immediately struck me as the No. 1 pick in June’s NBA Draft if it were my call, as he has enough of Tracy McGrady in him to make a living at the professional level for the next 15 years. I’d say that even if McGrady wasn’t my all-time favorite player, too. The other takeaway from that night in Beantown is that he wasn’t the only Massachusetts native coming home one more time. Alex Karaban did as well, and that was the first of many AK-centric stories I filed over the course of the season. We’ll talk a lot more about how much he’s meant from a professional standpoint before we’re finished, too.

Next up? A pilgrimage to the most magical place in the world.

If you know anything about me, you’ll know how reverently I speak of The Palestra. It’s the greatest venue in college basketball for a reason, a melange of basketball and museum, a sacred space for the most rabid of hoopheads. And when a Big 5 Mass is being served inside the cathedral, it only adds to the holy experience. That’s what Penn and Saint Joseph’s was for me in November. Aside from it being my first look at both teams, with new leaders on their sidelines — Fran McCaffery at his alma mater Penn, and former Quaker coach Steve Donahue now at St. Joe’s — it allowed me to see the Big 5 beyond Villanova. And it was, simply, just a really good basketball game as TJ Power paced Penn in the opening half before Ethan Roberts took over to seal a Quaker victory. I wish I’d have been able to see more of both teams during the year, but scheduling conflicts precluded me.

The next few days were filled with blowouts: Iona over Princeton, Villanova on the road at La Salle — where I finally met another southern bureau friend in Explorer head coach Darris Nichols — and St. John’s at home over Bucknell. Then, I went back to Piscataway for what I thought would be another non-conference Rutgers win. What I got was far different.

In what ended up being a harbinger for the Scarlet Knights and a coming-out party for Darin Smith, Jr., Central Connecticut scored its first-ever win over a Big Ten school when it overpowered Rutgers in every facet of the game to pick up a second power conference win of the year. The Blue Devils had already taken down Boston College earlier in November, and this victory was further proof that Pat Sellers had the potential to lead another storybook season in New Britain. That was ultimately not to be, as LIU ran away with the NEC. November then concluded with Silas Demary, Jr. getting a triple-double as UConn handled Bryant, Wagner getting a commanding performance from Nick Jones to come back on Manhattan and sink the Jaspers in overtime, Malachi Smith sealing a UConn win over Illinois at Madison Square Garden on a day where Braylon Mullins made his long-awaited season debut, and the Cathedral Classic at The Palestra. In the final day of that three-day tournament, Merrimack defeated La Salle and Hofstra convincingly turned back Penn.

How do you follow up a doubleheader at The Palestra? Well, if you’re anything like me, you check another iconic venue off your bucket list.

Allen Fieldhouse. Lawrence, Kansas.


When UConn and Kansas agreed to a home-and-home series in the offseason, the Kansas trip was my mission even if I decided not to cover another game the rest of the year. Why pass up a chance to visit one of the most venerable sites in the sport when you have a chance of getting credentialed? Once approved, the dream became a reality.

UConn defeated the Jayhawks for the first time in program history, in a gritty, typical Husky performance, scoring a resounding 61-56 road win. As good as the game was, the experience was even better. From the trip to Joe’s BBQ in Kansas City, the quiet moments inside the arena hours before tipoff, the Rock Chalk Jayhawks chant live and in living color, all the way to the old-school feel of actually taking the game in, everything about Lawrence was unforgettable. The Bill of Rights now also lives on in my mind with an entirely different context thanks to a man in the Kansas athletic department named Steven Middleton who had no reason whatsoever to be so gracious and so kind to so many people he’d probably never know from a hole in the wall after that night. Steven was nice enough to give a guided tour of The Phog, putting the icing on the cake. The live Connecticut basketball Twitter space after the game was also living proof that sometimes it’s not just about the basketball, but the friends you make along the way that make the long nights and the insane travel worth it. Like Steve Masiello’s now-famous — at least in this space — quote said, it’s bigger than basketball. It always has been.

I wanted to go to Columbia immediately following that special night in Kansas, since Kevin Hovde and the Lions were hosting Hofstra, but Delta had other ideas with a six-hour delay on my flight back. That still pisses me off four months later, yet we play on. The blessing in all of that is it gave the old man an extra day to recover before my next trip, which was back in a home territory since MAAC play started that weekend. Iona hosted Quinnipiac at the Hynes Center, and the Bobcats looked every part of the preseason league favorite they were tabbed as going into the year. After that, I passed on St. John’s to fit three games into one day with the Big 5 Classic. It’s not what it once was and likely never will be again, but the streamers and the rollouts are a reminder of the basketball tradition in my favorite city even if too many people ignore it these days.

In that tripleheader, La Salle finally got a payoff for an injury-riddled season that brought Darris Nichols to tears a week before talking about the emotional nature of the year, coupled with Justin Archer grieving over the anniversary of his mother’s passing, as the Explorers found a way past Drexel. Arch is one of the toughest players I’ve had the privilege of watching, and I wish I got to watch as much of his journey as my southern compatriot Brian did. St. Joe’s started to unleash its resurgence that took on a greater hold after the new year, when Deuce Jones provided his last bit of fireworks with a late-game takeover and buzzer-beater to down Temple, and Villanova overpowered Penn in the championship game. I’d still like to see what the Quakers could have done with a healthy Ethan Roberts that night, as he was concussed in the second half and was never the same player after that even if he came back to help Penn to an Ivy League championship.

Getting back to chronological order, Marist took care of Manhattan at home, then BYU overcame a sluggish first half against Clemson and a rim repair delay at Madison Square Garden, defeating the Tigers in the Jimmy V Classic on a Rob Wright three at the buzzer. In the nightcap of the MSG doubleheader, UConn got a measure of revenge on Florida when the Huskies downed the Gators in an instant classic of a game that deserved to be played out again on a greater stage. From there, Iona defeated Bryant, then led St. John’s early before the Red Storm asserted itself (that’s another theme that will be repeated again before we’re through), and Budd Clark authored his first true masterpiece in a Seton Hall uniform as the Pirates got their first win over Rutgers since 2022. St. John’s then scored a win over DePaul in its Big East opener, and two days later, Furman came into Draddy Gymnasium and defeated Manhattan with one of the tallest teams in the nation. It turns out that wasn’t going to be the only time I saw the Paladins, but we’ll get to that when we get into March.

Then the holiday weekend started with the annual crazy road trip, or in this case this season, one of several. It involved a trip to Rhode Island. And for some reason or another, I usually try to accompany such road trips with a reputable Italian restaurant. It was Lucia in the North End when I went to Boston in November, where I aged myself another decade watching Michigan barely beat Northwestern at Wrigley Field and questioned — as I often do — why I allow college football to take such a gigantic maize and blue hold of my heart. This time, it was Andino’s on Federal Hill. Simply put, I owed Jason Guerette a debt of gratitude after he voluntarily sat through one of the worst seasons in Seton Hall history, so when he was good to go up to Friartown with me, we made the executive decision to put a pregame dinner on the expense account. And just as we had with Maryland seven years prior, we got to cover a Pirate win after Stephon Payne played the game of his life (to that point), while Tajuan Simpkins and Budd Clark sealed a road victory in The Hall’s Big East opener. The next night also did not lack in quality, as Penn had every intent of scoring an upset win at the RAC until Tariq Francis snatched victory from the jaws of defeat with a game-winning shot in the final seconds for Rutgers. Those two games segued into homecoming week for the site, with two notable returns to former scenery for coaches who had become a fixture in their old homes. We’ll start with Tom Pecora on Long Island.

TP had been in the building when Hofstra hosted its NIT game against Cincinnati in 2023, which turned out to be the last time I would see Jack Styczynski before he tragically took his own life during Final Four weekend that season (I’ll have a little more on Jack when we finally make it into March). But Pecora had never coached a game at the Mack Sports Complex since the infamous 2010 CBI home game against what was still known as IUPUI back then. His Quinnipiac team had faced Hofstra two years in a row, first in a multi-team event in Montreal in 2023, again last season in Hamden. The second such game was the beginning of a home-and-home series that was to be reprised four days before Christmas in Hempstead. It was, but not without a proper tribute to an iconic piece of the puzzle.

Hofstra gave Pecora the world-class treatment in his homecoming, with Rick Cole, Stephen Gorchov and staff piecing together a video tribute for the man who led the Pride for nine years, developing star players the likes of Antoine Agudio, Carlos Rivera, Loren Stokes and Charles Jenkins in that time after succeeding some guy named Jay Wright. Hofstra would later win the game against Quinnipiac, but not without a fight. It was in that postgame press conference where Pecora, who still owns his house on Long Island and returned to it on this day, met the confluence of emotions and was ultimately enveloped in its tidal wave.

After spending the moments prior to tipoff as the long-lost relative who embraced family and cracked jokes like only he could, TP would later realize something everyone close to him had known all along.

“I never should have left,” he finally admitted through a cracked voice, going on to call the Fordham job for which he did depart Hofstra “my midlife crisis.” “My wife said I should have got a sports car and a girlfriend instead of going to Fordham.”

Then, after praising the job Speedy Claxton — whom Pecora had recruited to Long Island from the basketball court at Hoffman Park in Elmhurst — has done in retaining his alma mater among the mid-major elite in the Northeast, and lamenting the CAA’s media rights package with FloSports (as he should), TP went off into the Nassau County afternoon. Two days later, it was Kevin Willard’s turn when he returned to the Prudential Center.

Willard had actually coached a game in Newark since leaving Seton Hall, doing so when his Maryland team defeated the Villanova program he now leads. His return to Big East action with the Wildcats, however, was his first battle against the Pirates since leaving New Jersey in 2022. Scheduled for December 23, known of course to Seinfeld fans as Festivus, the airing of grievances for Seton Hall fans was rather a showing of respectability and appreciation as Willard was introduced to a generally warm reception. Villanova got the better of the Pirates on this night, but Willard — as was always the case in his postgame get-togethers — had some fun with the New Jersey media before moving on to the next one. As for me, my next one — and last one for 2025 — came on Long Island as Hofstra defeated Campbell in its CAA lid-lifter.

The new calendar year began in a familiar place, with the rivalry that every thread on the MAAC message board eventually devolves into: Iona vs. Siena. Being that I only saw 28 minutes of the Saints last season, this served as my full baptism to Gerry McNamara and what he was able to do as a head coach. And while Siena fought hard and took the Gaels to the limit before falling short, the total package left a lot to be desired even if Gavin Doty and Francis Folefac carried the undermanned Saints on their backs. I guess I shouldn’t have been so quick to judge in retrospect. The next day, Providence had its defining moment with a late comeback to beat St. John’s, a win so shocking that I admittedly had a hard time putting it into words hours later. Rick Pitino was a little more blunt that afternoon, immediately inferring that the Red Storm’s back was against the wall. Take that quote for what it is, a master coach trying to light a fire under his team by way of sending a message through the media. Nobody does it better. St. John’s would only lose twice more the rest of the way, so message received in no uncertain terms.

With Connor Wilson getting picked up by Storrs Central midway through the season to take his UConn coverage to a wider (and paid) audience, I had to adjust my own schedule to make up for what would have been his Husky games after the new year, starting on the first Sunday of January against Marquette at Gampel Pavilion. I’m proud to still have Connor on board here handling the mid-majors in Connecticut, and I’m grateful that the Storrs Central guys were considerate enough to let him stay on while giving him the compensation he deserves for his excellent work. It also goes to show that I will never deny anyone the opportunity to seek a better gig for themselves if I can’t offer it here. It’s part of the business, just like the portal is for a student-athlete. If you’re not getting a big enough bag here, then why should I stand in your way if somebody else has the resources to offer what I can’t? I’ve learned to take greater pride in developing my younger writers and their skill sets, so when the time comes for them to advance themselves, they have a resume that speaks for itself and an ability to platform themselves on a pedestal with the brand names at the daily outlets. Oh, by the way, UConn beat Marquette that day.

Next up was the oldest rivalry in college basketball history, and one whose lead changed hands for the first time after Princeton used 16 consecutive made field goals in the second half to score a home win over Penn and finally take the all-time series lead over the Quakers. Ethan Roberts made his return that night at Jadwin, and would go on to help steer Penn whenever he was able to, but his post-concussion effects still reared their ugly head far tom often and deprived us all of one of the best players in the Ivy League at his full complement. Later that week, Creighton looked like a Big East contender when Austin Swartz helped the Bluejays beat Villanova on the road, Iona defeated Niagara to stay close to the lead in the MAAC, UConn handled DePaul even after Dan Hurley was displeased with having to reinsert his starters late in the second half after a 20-point lead was cut in half, and Saint Peter’s proved its resurgence was legitimate when the Peacocks bullied a Merrimack side that was previously undefeated in MAAC play. All of that led up to a night where the magic of college basketball manifested itself in more ways than one, thanks to a passionately dedicated fan base that, through my coverage of its program and getting to know the people of section 239 in Hartford, has become family to me.

UConn fans, like many others who support other teams, are defined first and foremost by the fervent passion with which they support the Huskies. It is a breed of rabid, tribal love that my colleague Sam Federman properly dubbed “maniacal sickoism” when he broke down the 30-0 run against Illinois two years ago. On this night, with Seton Hall having won four straight games on its home floor against its Big East rival, a UConn fan named Greg appealed to a higher power. Greg went on Etsy and purchased the services of a witch named Sylvia, with the express purpose of breaking the apparent curse that the Huskies encountered by not being able to win in Newark since 2021. In one of the stranger backstories of the season, the divine intervention was successful, as UConn pulled out a narrow win over Seton Hall. Dan Hurley’s reaction, sure to be notable because of the coach’s own superstitious predilections, was also unforgettable.

“What the fuck?” Hurley said, almost thrown for a loop by the desperate measure. “What was that? Well, I would say UConn fans are a different animal. It’s not surprising, but what am I gonna say about it? I spray holy water all over the court, I sage my court, I throw garlic under the bleachers…I mean, I’m a fucking cartoon character, so I don’t know how I could pass judgment on some other bizarre shit.”

There’s only one Dan Hurley. There’s also, as I would be reminded four days later when I covered my next game, only one Ed Cooley. His own postgame press conference, after Georgetown missed a golden opportunity to score an upset over UConn, contained another all-time quote.

“There’s a lot worse happening than Georgetown losing a basketball game,” Cooley said, intending to put a mid-January defeat in perspective compared to what else was going on in the world. “You know what we are? We’re blessed. We’re blessed to be 9-9, we’re blessed to be 1-6 in the league. It could be a lot worse.”

It certainly could, but it didn’t stop Cooley’s attempt to inject reality into basketball from becoming a meme throughout Big East social media circles. That UConn-Georgetown game was also the first half of a sicko doubleheader that saw me later take the train into Philadelphia that night to watch St. John’s dominate Villanova and win a seven-point game whose final score was much closer than the actual on-court affair let on. I would see both of those teams again after going up to Hamden, Connecticut to watch Quinnipiac outlast Manhattan in overtime, with Seton Hall leading St. John’s by 15 before the Red Storm wore the Pirates down en route to victory, and Villanova defeating Georgetown at home. Next up was an Iona team that got a three in the corner from Toby Harris in the final seconds to upend Merrimack at the Hynes Center. It was a cool payoff for Harris, who transferred from Division III Brandeis and as a North Carolina fan growing up in Durham, got to have his own Luke Maye moment, something he cited when recounting the game-winning sequence. UConn then needed overtime two days later to defeat Villanova, and Michigan State had to go five extra minutes with Rutgers to knock off the Scarlet Knights. Seton Hall then battled back from a double-digit halftime deficit to score a convincing home win over Xavier to set up my final piece of January coverage.

Omaha. Somewhere in Middle America.

Since I couldn’t go back to Milwaukee this season, because UConn’s trip to Marquette coincided with the MAAC tournament, I needed to find another place in the Midwest to travel to. Creighton, and The Drover to a lesser extent, filled that void, even in a 27-point Husky win that featured, notably, Braylon Mullins’ return from a concussion suffered the week before against Villanova. Mullins grew into one of the better players I’ve covered over the course of his freshman season, thanks in large part to his humility and soft-spoken nature. He’s another example of doing what you love and seeing it repaid, as he battled through more than one dry spell before resurfacing to be one of the more integral pieces to the puzzle for the Huskies. He did the same thing to open February with a 32-point rout of Xavier. Before I reunited with UConn again on the first Friday of February, Seton Hall attempted to end its long drought at Villanova, but came up short yet again.

What was billed as the game of the year in the Big East lived up to the hype, but it signaled a clear changing of the guard as far as the conference was concerned.

St. John’s turned back UConn at Madison Square Garden and handed the Huskies their first Big East loss of the season, inflicting its unique brand of pressure defense to force uncharacteristic live-ball miscues and render Silas Demary, Jr. into a rare nine turnovers on the night, reminiscent of the matchup last season when the point guard — then at Georgia — registered ten giveaways against the Johnnies. The Red Storm also proved itself adept at defending without fouling, and drawing whistles better than any other team in the league due to its noticeable size advantage, as evidenced by the 31-12 free throw attempt disparity that some UConn fans were quick to blame the officials for. St. John’s did the same thing three days later against Xavier, in a game where Rick Pitino used what he had to his advantage, but his son Richard proved himself to be an equal counterpart by taking the Musketeers deep into the late rounds against his father’s juggernaut. In between, I covered a MAAC doubleheader where Saint Peter’s defeated Siena and Mount St. Mary’s started a timely late surge to eventually steal the last bye in the MAAC tournament by defeating Iona. After that, Villanova came back to beat Marquette in something that was just a really good basketball game all the way around, and Seton Hall completed a season sweep of Providence. What did I do after that, you might ask?

Well, I took a week off. In the middle of February, when college basketball is just starting to heat up. But I did it for a reason that I want to highlight because it’s something that I’ve placed a greater importance and emphasis on over the past couple years and I felt like I could use the break right before things got crazy like they always do in March. My intuition was right, and I was glad I decided to recharge my batteries when I did.

If you’ve read some of my past epilogues, you’ll know about how I’ve spent almost the entire offseason recovering from burnout and all the travel that I put myself through over the course of five months. And as I get older, the recovery takes longer and I don’t always feel like myself the next day, like I used to when I was younger. Sometimes I need an extra day or two. One thing I prioritized last year and the year before, partially because of some experiences outside of basketball and just in life, was protecting my mental health and guarding it with my life, vowing to do more of the things that made me happy and put me at peace. I no longer feel ashamed to admit that I just need a break from the everyday routine to be me the way I want to be. Over the years, I used to carry everything with me — good, bad or indifferent — everywhere and I never realized the effect it had on me or how toxic it could be to bring a bad mood into a pleasant space. I’m a lot more cognizant of that now, and I make sure I leave work at work, so to speak, and not bring it home or anywhere else. I’m proud to say that I’m in one of the best and most positive mental spaces of my life now, four months away from turning 40, which is a milestone I’m actively embracing. I have this commitment to taking care of myself and preserving my own sanity to thank for that. I also have to admit that when I’m not covering a game, I usually don’t watch any basketball, which also helps me stay fresh and keeps me from getting distracted. It’s okay to not be okay, and it’s perfectly normal to put everything down and walk away when it either gets too much to handle or when you’re simply too tired. Don’t let what happens on the outside pollute your sanctuary, be it physical, mental, emotional or spiritual. You don’t need that negativity in your life, because it’ll only cause distractions that aren’t worth it in the long run.

After my week away, I picked perhaps the most under-the-radar place to return to press row: NJIT. I needed to catch up with Grant Billmeier anyway after he got the Highlanders rolling again, and even though Albany used a second half for the ages to leave New Jersey with a dominant road win, I still had enough to properly encapsulate the resurgence in Newark. The next night, Iona needed overtime to come back against Saint Peter’s, and then I spent the last week before March with UConn. That week began with a resurgent win at Villanova, where Tarris Reed, Jr. demonstrated his importance to the Husky rotation. It continued with a 72-40 thrashing of St. John’s that represented an all-time lowest point output for a Rick Pitino team over the course of his career, a night where the Johnnies only made two field goals after halftime and none in the final 17:28 of regulation. The month of February ended with an all-time program great taking his rightful place among a collection of legends known simply as “the wall.”

It’s going to be damn near impossible to put into words just how much Alex Karaban has meant to the University of Connecticut, but if I didn’t try to do that, I’d be doing a journalistic disservice to him and his legacy. He’ll get an acknowledgment toward the end of this incoherent rambling, which I don’t normally do for individual players, but that’s because Alex wasn’t your normal student-athlete. I felt, for the sake of the site’s UConn coverage and also for AK’s own impact on said coverage, that I had to go up to Storrs on February 28. The fact that Seton Hall was the Huskies’ opponent that day only underscored the feeling of having to be there. It was on the way up that I, and everyone else for that matter, learned that this Saturday afternoon wasn’t going to be your typical matinee in the basketball capital of the world. For the first time, an active UConn player was being inducted into the Huskies of Honor before hanging up his or her jersey for the last time.

Only an Alex Karaban would follow an emotional pregame ceremony that moved him to tears by scoring 23 points and playing all 40 minutes — the latter will be something that is mentioned again before we’re through — in UConn’s win, his last on either of his home courts. There could be no other or more appropriate ending.

Then March started. Usually, March is the crescendo of every emotion that builds up over four months before it explodes into an incomprehensible cacophony. That happened again this year, but it felt different after the Karaban finale. Mount St. Mary’s obliterated Fairfield in my last regular season game to start the third month of the year, then I moved on to the postseason, and something I missed last season for the first time in 13 years.

It felt different not being able to get to the MAAC tournament last year, so I made it a point, especially after it was moved up to avoid conflict with the Big East, to get to as much of it as possible. So with that being said, I spent five days in Atlantic City, first watching Sacred Heart end Iona’s season before Fairfield did the same thing to Manhattan and Saint Peter’s on consecutive nights. Merrimack turned back Sacred Heart in the quarterfinals, then Marist and Siena did the same to Quinnipiac and Mount St. Mary’s, respectively. It was on semifinal Sunday that Merrimack gutted out a John Dunne special over Marist before Siena ended Fairfield’s Cinderella aspirations. The Stags were quite the different story on the women’s side, however.

In what was the only women’s game I covered this season, Carly Thibault-DuDonis cemented herself as the best mid-major coach in the country with her third straight MAAC championship as Fairfield held off Quinnipiac. The Stags, who have compiled a 102-27 record over Carly’s four years in charge, will almost certainly do the same thing again next season, and it’s become refreshing and captivating to watch her and her staff that also includes her husband, Blake, turn down the allure of power conference programs to stay where they are and reaffirm their commitments to constructing something special. I made it a point to highlight that in my column after the championship game. Shortly after that, though, I realized that I was on hand for the final game in a legendary career, when Quinnipiac head coach Tricia Fabbri announced her retirement at the end of the season. Much like Alex Karaban, Trish will get her own acknowledgment in my closing paragraphs. She’s earned that, at the very least.

I initially had every intention of covering what turned out to be a Merrimack-Siena MAAC championship game, until I saw how the CAA tournament played out. Once that final was set up between Hofstra and Monmouth, I pivoted to the nation’s capital. Two programs with many people I know and love in each one, for a spot in the NCAA Tournament, after Hofstra needed overtime and Preston Edmead to escape Towson. I showed up about 10 minutes before the tip thanks to a delayed train and a cab that navigated DC traffic as best as possible.

Hofstra finally got to enjoy a championship after it was stolen from the Pride six years ago that day, winning the CAA title and going on to the NCAA Tournament. In a proud moment for me as a managing editor, I was able to credential my good friend Christian Heimall, who the diehards will remember from his days as the voice of Manhattan basketball, to write a guest op-ed column on the significance of his alma mater ending its long drought. About two hours after Hofstra locked up its automatic bid on Selection Sunday, Siena did the same when it toppled Merrimack. Almost immediately, my first thoughts were of Jack Styczynski, who I mentioned half a lifetime ago in the first part of this piece. Jack was a Hofstra alumnus who grew up a Siena fan in the Capital Region, and I’d like to think he had a hand up above in both teams getting to celebrate something I wish he was still alive to see. His thoughts on Hofstra “ending the jinx,” as he so frequently put it (Jack blamed part of the 25-year dry spell on former Hofstra athletic director Harry Royle leaving the America East for the CAA) would have been witty, unique, and entertaining. I miss Jack every day, and I admit I cried tears of joy for him that night.

On the high of Hofstra and Siena cutting down nets, I covered the four-day extravaganza that has always defined my postseason for better or worse, the Big East tournament. This was the first time I actually did all of it from start to finish, and I was able to pick up a gig along the way filling in for Sean Brennan as the house stringer for the Big East website. Providence opened the tournament by defeating Butler, Xavier eliminated Marquette, and Georgetown ended DePaul’s stay before it could even truly begin. Quarterfinal Thursday was largely predictable in the day session, with St. John’s annihilating Providence before Shaheen Holloway finally picked up his first Big East tournament win when Seton Hall knocked off Creighton. UConn made short work of Xavier for a third time this season, but the one upset of the week came when Georgetown shocked Villanova to book a date with the Huskies in the semifinals. Four old-school Big East programs battled on Friday, but in the end, it ended up leading into the St. John’s-UConn showdown everyone anticipated when the week started. The only downside to that was the titanic heavyweight clash was a knockout three minutes into the contest.

St. John’s opened the game on a 10-0 run and never once felt threatened or intimidated by the Huskies, overpowering UConn on the way to a 72-52 pummeling that earned the Johnnies a second consecutive dual conference championship. The Red Storm would then go on to land the No. 5 seed in the East region on Selection Sunday, a day I spent on Long Island as Hofstra returned to the party for the first time since 2001.

With Philadelphia hosting a first-weekend pod anchored by UConn, I started my 11th March Madness experience in my favorite city, with the Huskies matched up against Furman in the opening round. The SoCon champion Paladins did not go quietly into the night, and battled stronger and longer than the majority of those in attendance expected, but were simply done in by what might be the most dominant performance I’ve ever seen from an individual player in 19 years doing this.

Tarris Reed, Jr. ended his night with 31 points and 27 rebounds, the first time numbers that high were amassed in a tournament game since the 1970s. And with Silas Demary, Jr. unavailable because of an ankle injury suffered in the Big East tournament championship, Dan Hurley and the Huskies needed everything Reed could give them, and more. UConn had an easier time against UCLA in the second round, a game preceded by Tennessee scoring a minor upset at the expense of Virginia. After that, I made a third business trip to Washington, D.C., this time for the East regionals.

Those of you who know me well know that I grew up a North Carolina fan, and thus never took too kindly to Duke. While my affinity for the Tar Heels has been somewhat compromised by my media work precluding me from following the way I used to, my sentiment toward the Blue Devils hasn’t really been affected. But when Duke met St. John’s in the Sweet 16, with the Johnnies making their first appearance on that stage since 1999, I watched that game impartially, with no dog in the fight. Sure, I’m a St. John’s alumnus who covers the program, but that’s all I am. I know my views aren’t for everyone, and some people were visibly disappointed with the fact that I wasn’t outwardly rooting for my alma mater, but I actually enjoyed watching and covering that game with no vested interest. I thought Duke got a friendly whistle, as it sometimes does, but also thought St. John’s played as well as one side could in defeat. Ruben Prey coming from out of nowhere to be one of Rick Pitino’s most effective options on the floor was a surprise, too. The second game was more businesslike, since UConn is our biggest traffic driver and best performer from a click perspective. The Huskies built a 19-point lead on Michigan State, lost it, then rallied back to beat the Spartans and set up another classic UConn-Duke showdown. This latest renewal of a rivalry of bluebloods came on March 29, and did so 27 years to the day that Khalid El-Amin came over and said, “we shocked the world!”

Shocking the world was probably in the deepest outreaches of a lot of minds when Duke owned a 44-25 lead late in the first half of its East regional final against UConn. But just like the Blue Devils’ matchup with Houston in last year’s Final Four, things happened. UConn got within 15 at halftime. Then 15 became 12 at the under-16 timeout. Then 12 became seven as Alex Karaban and Tarris Reed rallied the Huskies back. Duke restored order briefly, but a 10-point lead became seven after a Silas Demary three, then another one to answer Duke’s triple in between. Then the seven-point advantage became just two after Solo Ball’s three-point play with 3:42 remaining in regulation.

Duke got back up five before Ball split two free throws. The Blue Devils were still up four with a minute to go, then Karaban did what he has done so many times, so many unforgettable times before. The senior fired the Huskies up with his patented three off a curl to bring UConn within one. Cameron Boozer drove through the lane and may or may not have traveled to put Duke back up three before Demary split two free throws with ten seconds left, cutting the Blue Devil cushion to a more tenuous 72-70 before Dame Sarr triggered an inbounds where all Duke had to do was get it in and hold the ball. He passed to Cam Boozer, who sent it back to Sarr, who then found Boozer’s twin brother, Cayden.

Cayden Boozer tried going over the top instead. It was deflected by Demary and stolen by Braylon Mullins, who found Karaban with two seconds left. Karaban taking a shot for the win with his career on the line would be absolutely acceptable and forgivable, right? But Alex, typical Alex, passed on the game-winner. He passed to a trailing Mullins, who launched from 35 feet with 1.8 seconds on the clock when he released, and three-tenths of a second when the shot landed.

Swish.

My reaction courtside, with the shot going down right in front of me, was one of pure disbelief, one that people might feel I should apologize for, but truly understandable in the moment:

OH MY FUCKING GOD! OH MY FUCKING GOD!

Remember how I talked about DJ Southerland and his line, do what you love and the love will come back to you? Well, the love certainly came back for a number of people on March 29, 2026 in Washington, D.C. as UConn improbably reached its eighth Final Four. It came back to Dan Hurley, who spent all of last season agonizing over chasing history and admitting he put so much pressure on himself to the point where he considered stepping down after losing to Florida a year ago. It came back to Alex Karaban, who came back for one more season just to have a chance to reach the championship stage for a third time and not have a guarantee before he got there. It came back to Braylon Mullins, as genuine and as truly good a kid as you’ll find in the game, who was mired in a slump that threatened to zap his confidence at the most inopportune time but found a way through to bring his team to a Final Four just 30 minutes from his Greenfield, Indiana home. And at the risk of breaking the fourth wall, it came back to me, who took a week off in February because I was burned out to the point where I resolved to travel a lot less next season (more on that later), only to be rewarded with not just a local angle in Indianapolis for the third Final Four of my career, but quite possibly one of the best games I’ve had the privilege of chronicling in some way, shape or form.

UConn, Illinois, Arizona and Michigan.

On paper, this was a much better Final Four from a business sense than last year’s gathering of No. 1 seeds. All that remained was whether or not it could stand up to the San Antonio quartet on the floor. With UConn leading off the Saturday doubleheader, I wasn’t going to get to see much of Arizona and Michigan, which ended up being for the best because that game was over before it started, but the Huskies showed their championship pedigree once more in defeating Illinois for a second time this season. Take nothing away from the Illini, but the combination of Tarris Reed and Braylon Mullins, neither of whom was 100 percent healthy when the two sides faced off the day after Thanksgiving, was too much for Brad Underwood’s team to overcome. In the nightcap, Michigan overpowered Arizona and not once did it feel close in the brief moments I glanced up from writing.

So it was UConn and Michigan in the national championship, with James Breeding serving as the lead whistle. Don’t ask me how Breeding got on the title game, because that decision is made above my pay grade. I just know I had as much of a gripe about that as everybody else watching. And if you’re a UConn fan reading this, you probably had a worse first half than anyone else on the floor or press row did. Let’s just leave it at that. But as Michigan used its physicality and size to establish an advantage, the Huskies did not roll over. Alex Karaban, in his final act wearing No. 11, played a full 40 minutes one more time. He ended his career with 17 points and 11 rebounds, fighting as valiantly as one could against a stronger opponent. While coming up short transcended any peace he may have felt in the aftermath of the last battle, he did admit he would be able to look back with pride at how he came to Storrs as a boy and left as a man, not to mention the all-time winningest men’s basketball player in UConn history. Alongside him, Silas Demary, Jr. cemented himself for his toughness, later revealing that he played the title game with three torn ligaments in his sprained left ankle, one completely torn and two partially torn. He’ll be back next season for a shot at redemption, and could very well be the Big East preseason player of the year in the same breath. As for Michigan, the maize and blue cut down a net for the first time since 1989, and Dusty May validated himself as one of the best coaches in the nation. The idiot who said he would get fired after four years admitted he ate shit on that one. This is why I don’t gamble.

And that, my friends, wraps up another whirlwind campaign. It ended with arguably the best team in the sport proving such at the end of the day, but not without a fight from the wily veteran who had been on that stage twice before in the last three years, giving the newly-crowned champion its stiffest test in a generational postseason run.

If you’ve managed to stay with me this far and get through all five months of my exploits, you might be as relieved as me to know that the season is finally over. I’m not bullshitting when I say that, either. I’ll elaborate on that a lot more before I finally lower the curtain, but before I do, I’d like to reprise my longstanding tradition of thanking all those who make this endeavor possible every year, and have continually done so. This, like everything else before it, could get a little long-winded, so let me offer my apologies in advance.

First on this list, as she always is and always will be, is my mother. It was on Julie Daly’s suggestion that this outlet was born into being, in the event that my on-air career either flamed out, never materialized, or was unstable. My mother is more than that, she’s my hero, my role model, my best friend, my inspiration, my oracle, the person whose opinion I hold in the highest regard. Being her son is my greatest joy in life, and forever my greatest accomplishment beyond any words I write here or speak on the air anywhere else. If I were to be remembered for one thing in life, I’d rather it be my relation to her than whatever jobs I’ve held or people I’ve affected. It’s rare when you get to encounter a real-life angel. Living with one for almost 40 years is a blessing I would never trade for anything. I love you, Mom. Thank you for being you.

To the coaches and players that everyone affiliated with this outlet has had the opportunity to cover and get to know, thank you for letting all of us tell your story and trusting us with the metaphorical pen to help write it and make it sound better. Your faith in us to share your travails with a larger audience is something none of us take for granted.

To Alex Karaban for being a beacon of all that is right in sports, let alone college basketball. For four years, Alex has stopped to talk to us with no complaints and no questions asked, and has always given selflessly. Never once did anyone covering him feel big-timed or short-changed, and his answers to the hard questions were definitely appreciated, because as the people asking the questions, we get how tough or inconvenient it can be after a loss or a suboptimal outcome. Alex was more professional in the scope of his work than some of us will ever be in ours, and in a capacity where it becomes increasingly harder to get attached to the players we cover because of how frequently they come and go, he became a truly rare gem in this world. Whoever is fortunate to get to know him next will see that almost immediately. For us in the college ranks, there are no words for how much he and his consistency, or his grace under pressure, will be greatly missed.

To Tricia Fabbri for representing Quinnipiac women’s basketball for 31 years and taking a program that was mired in Division II mediocrity when she assumed its reins, only to turn it into the most consistent winner at her level and a Sweet 16 participant before she was through. Trish is more than one of the most brilliant basketball minds I’ve had the privilege of encountering, she’s also a person who immediately welcomes you into her family and treats you like you matter, regardless of how young or old you are. Jon Alba once told us she was the best that almost never was, but she went on to be one of the best that ever did it before she closed the book on her terms. The level of compassion with which she approached basketball and life will never be matched by anyone, and I wish her all the best in her well-deserved retirement. And for the final time, at least until her daughter Carly becomes a head coach somewhere: Fearless. Focused. Fabbri.

To Grant Leonard for being a coach we cover, but also a friend to the outlet. Seeing you take Queens to the NCAA Tournament might be one of my favorite parts of the season, because it could not have happened to a better group of people. I just have one request moving forward: Try to get more buy games that are commutable for me, this way I can provide the same type of coverage you get back home in Charlotte. I’d even be willing to open up the expense account for a trip to Arby’s, or something higher-end, if it can be worked into the schedule. Thank you for all you’ve done for all of us, and I look forward to hosting the next step of your journey.

To the sports information directors I’ve had the pleasure of crossing paths with this season, thank you — on behalf of my staff as well as myself — for putting up with all of us and helping make our jobs easier the same way we’ve tried to do that for you. As I always do, I’ll mention every SID in the order in which I saw them through the year: Mike Sheridan, Chris Kowalczyk, Steve Dombroski, Kevin Wehner, Nick Solari, Joe DiBari, Mike Federico, Chris Corso, Jordan Ozer, Greg Ott, Brian Beyrer, Stephen Gorchov, Bridget Delaney, Matt Ambrose, Bobby Mullen, Mike Mahoney, Chad Cooper, Elliott Carr, Max Rottenecker, Tristan Hobbes, Joe Jarzynka, Alex Nelson, Chris Theisen, Dan Lobacz, Mike Ferraro, Jordan Caskey, Arthur Parks, Mike Demos, Scott Kuykendall, Rob Anderson, Colin Wagner, Diana Pulupa, Mex Carey, Tom Eiser, Mark Vandergrift, Drew Kingsley, Ivey Speight, Dylan Smith, Mike Laprey — who did a phenomenal job replacing a legend in John Paquette at the Big East this season — and David Worlock, who made sure this outlet was accommodated at the Final Four for a third straight year when he didn’t have to.

To everyone on staff for raising the bar and making this outlet what it is, as well as being trusting enough in me to help enhance your already outstanding work. That group begins with Brian Wilmer. My second in command and southern bureau chief goes through his own wordy look back every season, which actually inspired me to do the same in the same detail, and makes it look effortless even though there are more nights where he and I feel further out of place in this business than we thought could be possible. He and I will hopefully be more active with the podcast in the offseason than we were last year, when we got Grant Leonard, Darris Nichols and Mike Morrell to spend an hour or more with us to talk hoops and life.

To Jason Guerette, my longest-tenured staff member, for wrapping up his eleventh season of Seton Hall coverage and finding a way to make it work around a broadcast and public address announcer schedule that is far more lucrative for him than anything he’ll ever do here. I’m just grateful he got to watch a better year for his alma mater than last season’s 7-25 anomaly. He’ll be in Illinois again this summer as the voice of the Gateway Grizzlies before we both do this again in October.

To Jason Dimaio for justifying an expanded role with his coverage of St. John’s. As I got pulled in different places and further away from my home base, Jay stepped in and made sure the Johnnies were well tended to. Assuming he’s good to go next season, he’ll get the chance to do just that once again.

To Connor Wilson for handling all things Connecticut for a second straight season. Connor was picked up by Storrs Central midway through the year to take his UConn coverage to a higher level, but stayed with me to handle the mid-majors in the Nutmeg State. I haven’t had many better writers than him in my time, and he took the site to a new outpost when New Haven joined Division I this year, adding the Chargers to a repertoire that includes Central Connecticut, Yale, Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart. As long as he wants to stay here, he’ll have a spot in the de facto office. He’s too good not to keep in the family.

To Sam Federman for covering 30 more games than I did, doing as much work for me as possible with everything else he’s given to the game, and advancing his own career in a way that makes me increasingly proud of him and his growth as someone serious about his work but also one who attacks each day knowing there’s more for him to accomplish. I often joke and say that Sam is like my son because of the age gap between us, but in reality, watching him succeed and develop himself into one of the better writers in the sport has probably made me the proudest of anyone because of how hard he’s worked and where he started. It won’t be much longer before he’s doing this on a greater scale.

To Josh Noel for joining the southern bureau and covering High Point’s first NCAA Tournament win. I was reminded last month by a close friend of the reasons why I should love what I do, getting back to that theme again, and getting to have someone like Josh on hand for such an historic occurrence was one of them. There’s nothing quite like shared joy, or getting to see someone else find joy in what they do. I can’t wait to see the work he does moving forward.

To Jacob Conley for once again covering Gardner-Webb, and through a hard season, not missing a beat in his coverage of the Runnin’ Bulldogs, or his work at the SoCon tournament or NCAA Tournament. Jake got to watch Siena’s near-upset of Duke AND VCU’s comeback against North Carolina when he was in Greenville, so I don’t think anyone on staff had a better March than he did just off those two games alone.

To Justin Mathis for finding his way back home after taking some time off last season, and having it rewarded by covering a new territory in Furman and the SoCon just in time to see the Paladins emerge from Asheville with a conference title. Justin did some of his best work this season, and it brought me great pride to see him bounce back the way he did.

To Andrew Hefner for taking on extra work this year between Princeton and Saint Peter’s, and positioning himself as a rising star among our ranks. Andrew is only 16, but conducts himself and has a feel for the game like someone three times his age. He’s only going to get even better at this with time and experience than he already is, and I look forward to giving him more opportunities to prove that next season and beyond.

To Bob Dea for coming out of retirement to chronicle LIU’s run to the NEC championship. Bob hasn’t gotten around the way he used to a few years ago when he would go to Seton Hall, Hofstra, Iona and Manhattan with me, but his work still speaks for itself and there’s no one else I’d trust to take better pictures of what happens on the court. Bob was a big part of promoting the “fins up” tradition that was started by LIU fans upon the school changing its nickname from the Blackbirds to the Sharks, and he always made sure to include multiple shots of that during games in whatever galleries he sent.

To Jake Copestick and Kyle Morello for helping me out with some of the Philadelphia and Big 5 coverage during the season, which helped showcase their talents to a different audience. Jake and Kyle do an excellent job hosting the Big 5 Podcast, but they’re also exceptional writers on top of that, so the offer to have them join forces with us was a no-brainer the more I got to go down to Philly and see their work firsthand. They’ll be a bigger part of the family in the seasons to come, God willing.

To my other contributors during the season, namely Ray Floriani, Jordan Ferrell and Pete Janny, thank you for remaining part of the family and a trusted hand I could rely upon when I needed something extra.

To Bob Heussler for believing in me from day one when I interned at WFAN two decades ago and had no idea exactly how I wanted to steer my ship in this business. Bob has always been there when I’ve needed advice, direction, a pep talk, or even someone to vent about Michigan football to. My biggest regret is that whenever I go up to Fairfield to cover a Stags game, it always ends up being the day he has a prior commitment. That’s gotta change.

To Ian Eagle for proving that guys from Queens can make it in this crazy business, and still be the same awesome dudes they were before they blew up. Ian grew up 15 minutes from me in Forest Hills, long before I was ever on the radar in my native Woodhaven, but we have a unique kinship and bond from the day we were both guest instructors at Craig D’Amico’s sports broadcasting camp in New Jersey so many years ago. I always make it a point to find him before every game we’re both in the same building for, because I get a perspective and humorous reminder that life can always be worse. I’m blessed to know him and his son, Noah, and I hope they stay around forever.

To the great Mike DeCourcy on a well-deserved retirement from a full-time writing career at The Sporting News. I had the pleasure of finally connecting with Mike last year in San Antonio, thanks to Adam Zagoria, who introduced the two of us before we patronized a Mexican restaurant on the Riverwalk. Mike has forgotten more basketball than I’ll ever know, and his lifetime of stories and wealth of information has been a blessing to listen to as long as I have. I’m glad he’ll still be around, albeit in an emeritus capacity, because everyone who has been in a room with him is better for it as a result.

To everyone I’ve shared press row with this season, whether it was in New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia, Connecticut, or someplace else, for letting me take up space and not being an asshole about my intrusion. I’ll mention the Philly contingent specifically in Dick “Hoops” Weiss, Aaron Bracy, Jeff Neiburg, Steve Bagell, Dylan Johnson, Dave Szczepanski, Ryan Scanlon, Stephen Cain, Ryan Fannon, Conor Smith, Walker Carnathan, Matt Martucci, Joe Lunardi, and Kale Beers. Thank you for accepting me among your groups.

Finally, I have to thank you, the fans. You’re the reason why I’m still doing this so many years later, and whether you got tired of me a long time ago or you keep coming back for more, the reaction is why I still do what I do. I’m not for everyone, and I apologize if I have a different opinion or stance on your team(s) than you, but every chance I get to interact with any of you means more to me than any win, loss or final score ever could. Without you, there is no me.

That just about wraps it up, but I do need to make some additional announcements before I offer my final remarks. First, I will finally be upgrading the back end of the website in the coming weeks, because I’ve gone as far as I could with the platform I have now through Google and Blogger. If you’ve noticed, I’ve had issues uploading photos lately, as I’ve been operating everything via phone since 2019. I was too lazy to get a new computer after my old war machine crapped out in Dayton when St. John’s lost to Arizona State, so I’m taking the inability to get pictures to post as a sign that I need a full cosmetic overhaul. It’s been long overdue, so I look forward to finally joining the 21st century soon.

Everything else will, as it stands now, remain unchanged by and large barring something unforeseen, so allow me to finally cease my diatribe by invoking the old Irish blessing, as I do every year:

May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind be always at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, the rain fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, a happening I always hope occurs sooner rather than later, may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

God bless you, and much love always.

Jaden Daly
Founder and Managing Editor
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