Welcome Back!

Welcome back!

by Bill Thayer

I’ll admit it, I got caught up in baseball all summer. I turned my
attention away from the college hoops scene and really believed the Red Sox
had a chance to take it all. The pieces were in place, D-Lowe was providing
the perfect complement to Pedro, Shea Hillenbrand was becoming a threat,
Grady Little and Carlos Baerga provided a positive clubhouse presence and
management went out and made moves to fill some of the few holes (trading
for Alan Embree, Cliff Floyd and Bob Howry). But, I know, it wasn’t meant
to be.

Baseball’s over now though. It doesn’t matter what the calendar says, we
are less than two weeks from the beginning of basketball season. Less than
two weeks from the first official day of practice, and not one of those
“voluntary” football practices which somehow leads to death. It’s about a
great game in its ideal setting. Five on five, lace them up, get out there
and … work on the fundamentals (remember kids, you can’t spell
fundamentals without the FUN).

While I was wrapped up in baseball, there was so much wrong with college
basketball. The Ed Martin case dragged Michigan’s program even farther from
where it was. Wendell Greenleaf got arrested (again). Marcus Barnes got
the boot from Miami, Tony Cole from Georgia, and Kentucky cleaned house.
West Virginia found a coach who wanted to coach there and didn’t hire him,
then a coach who didn’t want to be there and hired him. And the game lost a
legend in Abe Lemons.

But for one night in August, I took a step back in my life and got a brief
reminder of the pleasure that is college basketball when I went to the UConn
alumni game. The game, which was dubbed the always fun “First Annual” (you
find the flaw in that logic) was a charity event held at Mohegan Sun Casino
in Uncasville, CT (it was impossible to get on any tables when it was over)
with 24 former Huskies playing what was essentially a glorified pick-up
game.

The turnout was incredible both by the fans (the event was sold out, 10,000
in attendance) and the players themselves. Current NBA stars Ray Allen,
Donyell Marshall, Clifford Robinson and Richard Hamilton all played, as well
as Miami Heat first round pick Caron Butler. Fan favorites Khalid El-Amin,
Lyman DePriest and Rudy Johnson all played. A pair of Huskies, Doron
Sheffer and Nadav Henefeld returned to the States after leaving to play
professionally in Israel. The coaching staffs of the two teams were all
former Jim Calhoun assistants, with current Central Connecticut State head
coach Howie Dickenman and DePaul’s new head coach Dave Leito serving as the
head coaches on each team.

The evening began with all the players and coaches being introduced. They
put on a show, music blaring, spotlights for each player, and the crowd ate
it up. Calhoun then thanked the fans for coming and reminded everybody that
this was for a good cause before letting the players take over. What
happened in the game was unimportant. Okay, for those of you who care, the
Blue team won by 3 with Robinson missing a game-tying shot as time expired.
Watching the reactions of the players who were there, returning to the state
that embraced them, was priceless. There was pure joy on El-Amin’s face
when he was able to do his signature chuck and duck drives. Butler said all
week how excited he was to play against the players who were the reason he
ended up in tiny Storrs.

One of the aspects of college basketball is how a player becomes like family
to the fans and coaches. Programs are linked, alumni know they can go back
and see the same court or the same uniforms as there were when they went to
school. There is history that links the players from the 1950’s to recent
graduates. That was clear on that hot summer night when the 10,000 Husky
faithful came out to essentially say thank you to players who never became
multi-million dollar NBA stars. Players like Chris Smith, Calhoun’s first
big recruiting win in Connecticut, who ended up becoming UConn’s all-time
leading scorer. Players like John Gwynn, the player who was a Prop 48
player but became one of the most beloved player in school history, and is
now a corrections officer and high school referee in Connecticut. Players
like Rod Sellers, the undersized center who is known across the nation for
slamming Christian Laettner’s head into the floor during the NCAA
Tournament, but Husky fans remember as the undersized center with bad knees
that brought a huge heart in his four years as a starter.

It wasn’t a Big Monday game at Gampel Pavilion against St. John’s or a Big
East tournament game in the Garden, but for those players and fans, the
alumni game was better, it was a chance to catch up with family.

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