Basketball Diaries

Senior shares Spring Break memories, experience of last college basketball games

When Spring Break rolls around, most college students pack their bags for a Caribbean cruise or a trip to Key West, Fla. They trade the cold chill of the Shenandoah Valley in March for the warm tropical sun.

I thought about booking a flight to Cancun or some exotic location. But, the more I thought about it, the more I realized that's just not me.

For the past three years, I spent my Spring Break covering the JMU men's and women's basketball teams at their respective Colonial Athletic Association Tournaments. Not covering them for a fourth year — my final year as a student — felt like a crime. For most of us, you only can be a student once. And, for all I know, this could be the last time I would cover JMU basketball as a reporter.

With my decision to cover the men's and women's CAA tournament games, I made hotel reservations and packed my bags for a week of travel.

Off to an early start

With JMU opening the CAA Tournament Friday night at the Richmond Coliseum, I was expecting to enjoy a Thursday night off by attending the women's basketball season finale at the Convocation Center as just a spectator. However, little did I know that the men's tournament would make the news on the eve of the tournament's opening day.

Shortly before I headed to the Convocation Center, I found out that the men's assistant basketball coach, Kevin Baggett, had been fired two days before the Dukes were scheduled to take the floor against the University of North Carolina-Wilmington. After arriving at the game, rumors spread quickly on press row, and I already could tell it was going to be a long week.

Friday afternoon, I hopped in my car and headed for Richmond. After arriving at my hotel a little after 4 p.m., I headed to the coliseum for the 5:30 p.m. game between the College of William & Mary and Towson University.

The media hospitality room at the coliseum is set up underneath the arena. To briefly describe it, the makeshift room is in a cinder block loading area. However, there are royal blue curtains hung so the room doesn't feel like a complete dungeon. There was a small buffet line, along with a press conference area, a table stacked with all of the teams' media guides and a press area for reporters to file stories.

A few minutes after 7:30 p.m., the JMU players took the court for warm-ups. Approximately 40 minutes later, it was game time and time for me to get to work.

I took my place on the baseline to shoot photos during the game. JMU got off to a horrible start, and I thought to myself, "Here we go again." However, JMU came back and made quite a game out of it. A few more free throws and the Dukes could have upset the Seahawks.

Following the game, the reporters headed to the press conference. I think we all knew it would be the last time we would see coach Sherman Dillard at a JMU postgame interview.

With the JMU men out of the tournament, I decided to stay in Richmond an extra day to see some more games. Saturday morning started with the CAA Legends Breakfast, an event that honors one former player from every school in the conference. JMU honored Linton Townes, who played for the Dukes from 1979-'82. Later that day, I made it over to the coliseum to catch a few more games before I called it a weekend.

On the road again

After heading home for a few days, I packed up for Norfolk early Wednesday morning and headed to the women's CAA Tournament. It was just my luck — when I arrived at my hotel, the computers were down and I couldn't check in. I wasted an hour at the nearby MacArthur Center mall, but when I returned, the computers still were down. With less than an hour until game time, I managed to get a room anyway so that I could change and get to the arena in time.

It was my third visit to the Ted Constant Convocation Center, the home coliseum of Old Dominion University. Only two years old, "The Ted," as it is called, is probably the nicest basketball facility in the CAA. The hospitality room and media room was not a dungeon like in the Richmond Coliseum, but it was a lot smaller. After grabbing a quick snack, it was time for the Dukes to tip off against Towson.

Early on, it looked as though JMU would be exiting early. Yet, the Dukes put together a run that got them back in the game. When I was sitting on the baseline taking photos, a Towson player hit a shot to put the Tigers up by 1 point with 19.2 seconds. All I could think about was another disappointing exit for JMU basketball in less than a week.

Having covered the women's team all year, I knew they could find a way to win. Sure enough, red-shirt senior guard Jody LeRose nailed a 3-pointer that would give JMU the win. As a member of the media, it's customary to not cheer, so I had to bottle the excitement of the win. Nevertheless, it was a heck of a game.

The next day, JMU wasn't as lucky. The Dukes fell behind and never caught their breath. The loss ended the Dukes' season and, for me, it was hard to believe it was over.

For four years, I've lived for JMU basketball. I've attended almost every men's game that didn't conflict with a Breeze production schedule. On the women's side, I've covered the team for all four years. I'd always hoped JMU would make the NCAAs while I was a student, but that never was the case. I'll have to settle for watching them make the NCAAs as an alumnus.

A bonus road trip

Before I left, I had talked with my local sports editor. He told me to call him if JMU had been knocked out of the tournament early. Since it had, I called him and he said the newspaper had an extra press credential for Friday night's second session of the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament. Growing up a big ACC fan, it was like a dream come true.

Instead of driving back to Harrisonburg, I loaded the car and headed to Greensboro, N.C. I'd been to, and even covered, a few ACC games over the past few years, but I never had been to the ACC Tournament. To some, it's the mecca of college basketball. This year, it proved to be just that.

I watched the first game, and wrote a game story for the Danville Register & Bee on the second game between Wake Forest University and the University of Maryland. Again, with my luck, the game ran really late and I didn't get to enjoy the game since I already was about an hour past deadline. I finished my story and e-mailed it in shortly before 1 a.m. Then, I headed back home for the night and left to return to Harrisonburg the next morning.

Overall — in a week — I had put over 1,100 miles on my car, watched more live basketball than most do in an entire season and was dead tired. I may have gotten little relaxation, but looking back, if I had to decide between Cancun or JMU basketball, I'd make the same decision all over again.