In previous years, the NEC men’s basketball season would have been just about wrapping up, but that isn’t the case this season. For the first time the men’s basketball team has secured first place in the conference, giving us home court advantage throughout the playoffs and a bye in the first round. The energy and atmosphere around campus is electrifying; it’s just a great feeling knowing that you’re in the middle of accomplishing something that has never been done before.
This past Saturday, after we played our last regular season game, we were in the locker room and coach Mason said, guys, you’ve just made history I understood what he was saying but the magnitude of what we had just accomplished didn’t register. We are the first team for our sport to make it past the first round in the playoffs and that is a big deal.
For me, this is like a reenactment of what happened in high school because we won the first state championship in school history, so I kind of know what this feeling is like in some ways.
Before practice on Monday, Lou Izzi, our Athletic Director, talked to us about how this will be the largest sporting event in school history and how proud he was of us accomplishing so much this year and staying focused for the game on Friday.
This week I have been trying to stay consistent with all of my routines that I have been doing for the whole year up to this point. I’m not going to lie, it’s pretty tough because the main thing that’s on my mind is the game. One thing that I have been doing a lot more though is watching film and studying the tendencies of our potential opponents. The fact that we have a chance to make even more history also has the games on my mind.
As a team we had one goal from the start of the year, get home court advantage for the playoffs so that we could play in front of our fans. As we got closer to the end of the season we always talked among ourselves and said things like, “We really have a chance to do something that has never been done before” or “imagine what it would be like to host the playoff games at our house.
Those things were our motivation to get this done and host the conference tournament. I can’t wait to see what the gym looks like Friday evening during the WHITE OUT!!! Yes, surprise, white t shirts with the NEC logo will be given out with the ticket that you purchased.
For now, I will try to keep the game off my mind too much so the week goes by faster. I hope to see you guys soon!!! Much Love.
