This is a sad day for the Aggie community. Well, those Aggies who follow sports, at least. If you didn’t see, the men’s basketball team lost by one point last night to Memphis in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. It was the first time we’d been to a Sweet 16 since 1980, and we’ve never gone farther (at least since the tournamnet was made into a 64-team bracket).
This has been a special season for A&M. The year before my freshman year, we went 7-21 and 0-16 in conference. Aggie basketball was in the dumps. It’s never been premiere, Texas A&M is and probably always will be a football school, but those years were some of the worst. But then came Billy Gillispie.
He ressurected the program. He turned Acie Law IV from an average player who almost quit the team when Billy came into a virtual Aggie legend and one of the best players in the country. He made Aggie basketball so popular, A&M had to endure one of the biggest fiascos in college sports.
What does this have to do with the Multimedia desk? Well, had this been any other team, even football, I might not feel as crushed as I do now about our loss last night. But I do. And it’s not becauseI personally am hurt. I hurt for our players, especially our seniors.
I’m not and never have been a sports writer, but this past season, I felt like I got to know the players a lot better by interviewing them and sitting in on interviews with them. Each one of those seniors; Acie Law IV, Antanas Kavalauskas, Marlon Pompey (and even Lee, Johnston, and Blackburn, I feel like I know them. They’re not just faces on a TV screen or bodies I see from far away. They are seniors who pushed through losing season, grueling practices, and agonizing losses to get this far.
I love Acie Law. Not because he’s a clutch basketball player. Not because he’s brought A&M so much prestige. But because he honest. I can say, without a doubt, that he was not on that court for personal gain. He did not play his heart out because he wants to make millions in the NBA and get a shoe deal with Nike. He was out there because he loves his teammates, his coach, A&M, and the game of basketball. I’m not sure I’ve been able to say that about any sports figure with more confidence.
When you the get time, watch some of these videos. Watch Antanas cry about not wanting to leave College Station. Watch Acie talk about the most important thing to him after graduating is staying in touch with his teammates. Watch Billy G. tear up about the guys he’s coached for three years. And of course, watch them light up Reed Arena.
