Yeah…I said it
Don’t bet against Betty, she knows her basketball
Posted on January 24, 2008
At almost every JMU home basketball game, one chant has resonated over the last four seasons.
“We Want Chami, We Want Chami.”
Although senior center Gabriel Chami’s minutes have steadily declined over his career, he has still managed to charm a wide spectrum of JMU fans.
Whether it’s a group of gung-ho freshmen taking in their first season or 79-year-old, D-Hall employee Betty Lou Bowers, the 6-10 Argentinean has made a lasting impression on Harrisonburg.
“Gabriel is my favorite,” Bowers said. “Because when I first started talkin’ to him my husband was a [high school] basketball coach. So I conversed with him, and he said to me, ‘Would you like to go to some games?’ and I said ‘Yeah.’”
Bowers, who can be found every morning tending the smorgasbord of desserts at D-Hall, has been going to the games ever since. Players are allotted four tickets for every game to give to whomever they want. She and her husband, a former Broadway High School coach, use two of Gabe’s tickets for every game at the Convocation Center. She makes it a point to arrive exactly an hour before each game so that she can watch Gabe and the Dukes warm-up.
Although Bowers has worked for JMU Dining Services for seven years and lived in Harrisonburg her whole life, she only began taking an interest in the men’s basketball team when she met Gabe nearly four years ago.
“Being 5,000 kilometers from my hometown, [Betty’s] more like a mother figure to me,” Chami said.
Now the whole team visits the sweets line each morning to either grab a bagel or receive a special baked good for a birthday present. Junior Juwann James has followed Chami’s lead and gives Betty a hug every morning before she specially wraps his Rice-Krispie treats.
Junior transfer and first-year JMU guard Abdulai Jalloh has already become one of her favorites as he talks to Betty when he’s spreading cream cheese on his bagels.
“A.J., I watch him practice and I mean they really makes those baskets, those 3-shots,” Bowers said. “…But I like all of them. Pierre [Curtis], he’s funny. He laughs all the time. Even when he’s playin’ ball on the floor he just laughs and got a big smile.”
Despite her adoration for all the players, the conversation always reverted back to Chami.
“There such a nice group of fellas and Chami seems like he’s a father figure to all of ’em,” Bowers said. “He just has something nice to say about every one of ’em. He kind of, you know, pats ’em when they come in and off the floor. He’s just a great guy.”
The glowing praise for Chami doesn’t stop there.
The towering center from Cordoba, Argentina, was fourth-year JMU coach Dean Keener’s first recruit, while more than a few players transferred during the first three losing seasons, Chami stuck it out.
“Well I think since I’ve been here since the beginning, I’ve seen great improvement,” Chami said. “It keeps me very motivated to be a part of this.”
As the team’s personnel morphed each year, Gabe’s playing time was cut considerably. As a freshman he started all but three games, only to start 10 games the following year and four games last season.
“When you take over a program and you’re trying to rebuild, you have to have high-character people,” Keener said. “[Chami] is a fantastic person and a great representative of our program and our university.”
Keener cited an example of his senior’s selflessness when Gabe started Jan. 9 in a 69-66 loss at William & Mary, but only played one minute the following Saturday in a 93-74 win over North Carolina-Wilmington, with no complaints.
“I do see myself helping this team in any way I can on and off the court,” Chami said. “I don’t think people know how much work being on a varsity team entails, but everything will work out for you when you’re positive.”
JMU freshman Ben Louis, the team’s other international player compared Chami to a “big dad” who’s helped him fit in after coming to Harrisonburg from Australia.
“He looks after us. He’s always telling me to hurry and do this and do that,” said Louis, who rooms with Chami on team road trips. “He’s been the most loyal member of the team. He’s been here for four years and I don’t think anyone one’s done that at JMU for a while. I think the fans want to pay respect to that and see him out there a little bit.”
Fellow freshman, Heiden Ratner, is averaging 22.6 minutes a game compared to Chami’s 5.6, but knows that it takes true team players to build a program.
“The first day I met him in the summer time he said, ‘You know if I play 40 minutes or don’t even get in the game, I’m gonna be right there supporting the team. Whatever it takes for us to get better,’” Ratner said. “I’m just appreciative for that and the way he’s been throughout the season.”
Chami’s teammates can also look up to him as a student. He carries the highest GPA on the team at 3.2 as a double major in international business and finance, but it’s his presence on the court and on the bench that is vital in helping a young JMU team (10-7 overall) stay focused as they head into the home-stretch of conference play.
“He’s just got that way about him,” Bowers said. “If they lose a game and I say something, he don’t wanna hear it. He says, ‘We’ll be all right. We’re gonna be all right.’ He has no negatives about the team.”
The Dukes have dropped four of their last five games, but Betty is confident that with Gabe leading the way JMU will turn it around. Eh, she’s 59 years my senior, who am I to argue with that.
