The third reason - and Coach Dement isn’t going to like this one very much and I might have to run a few laps after saying it - but it gives you a reason to miss an occasional class. I mean, I do enjoy going to class and I am not one to just skip out. An education is important. But the other college students out there will follow me on this. The lectures in my 90-minute Communication Theory class aren’t the most exciting ones, if you know what I mean.

The fourth reason is because we get the opportunity to play on other team’s home court. There is nothing like beating a team inside their own building, on their court, in front of their own fans. During this trip we were playing at the Alexander Memorial Coliseum in a building that holds almost 10,000 Georgia Tech fans. (Can you image how exciting that was???)

We left Thursday morning to take the six hours drive down to Atlanta. During the previous day’s practice, our Director of Basketball Operations, Tripp Pendergast, had told us that we were we going to experiment with a different type of bus for this road trip. We were getting what they called a “Sleeper Bus.” He told us that the bus was supposed to have 12 beds along with a certain amount of traditional style bus seats. In each of the beds there was supposed to be your own personal TV monitor with DVD and satellite television. So you can understand why we had high expectations for the bus. I was expecting one of those buses that rock stars take with them during tours.

Let’s just say that our expectations weren’t even close. There was no satellite TV, nor were there even 12 beds. There were six platforms with mattress on top of them. It was the joke of the morning. We were all waiting for Coach to get on the bus because if he had expectations like we did, he was about to be highly disappointed. We all eventually got over the bus and enjoyed it for what it was. Actually, looking back on the trip, the ride was one of the most comfortable rides I’ve experienced here. (Maybe it had something to do with the ride home.) I underestimated the Sleeper Bus and I’m highly recommending it for every road trip from now on.

Once we arrived in Atlanta, we all started getting mentally focused and prepared for the game. Once game time came around, we all felt confident in our ability to play with and beat Georgia Tech. We knew coming in that in order for us to win, we would have to play together as cohesive unit. The first half we played okay. We didn’t rebound well - giving up 17 offensive rebounds - and had a number of unforced turnovers. We knew in the second half that if we rebounded and limited our turnovers that we could come away with a win.

We came out and everyone stepped up their defensive pressure, started pulling rebounds and we started knocking down some key shots. Next thing you know we are up by 14 points with less than six minutes left. We learned from our season opener from last year vs. Marshall that a game is never over until the buzzer goes off. (Last year, we lost a nine-point lead in the final two minutes of regulation and lost in overtime.)

Georgia Tech made a late run, cutting it to seven at one point. But unlike last year, we pulled together and withstood it to come out with the biggest victory in our school history. It was a great feeling because it was truly a team victory. We pulled it together and played as a group. It was also a special moment for me personally because my mom and high school coach came to the game. (Hi, Mom!)

The victory is definitely a great accomplishment for the entire university and the community of Greensboro. Because Greensboro is located right in the heart of ACC country (the conference office is even located here), I think people in the area understand the gravity of it a lot more.

When we got back to campus early the next morning, there were about 15 members of student section (The Blue Crew) out their waiting for us to come home. Throughout the week, there have been so many people that congratulated us on the victory, from professors to administrators, fellow students and people in the community. The support just gave us all a really good feeling. It just reiterates to our team that if we play as a team, we can beat anyone we face on our schedule this season.

This weekend we travel to Springfield, Missouri to play in the Missouri State Classic. Our first game is on Friday, and we play Texas-Pan American. Then on Saturday, we play Missouri State. Both of these games are key games for us because of our victory last week. That has raised the expectations and has put a bigger bull’s eye on us from the viewpoint of other teams. It is the mark of a mediocre team to become “big-headed” – to read your own headlines and not perform as well the next time out. I think we are far from a mediocre team. As hard as it is going to be, we have to forget about our victory at Georgia Tech and focus on playing UTPA and Missouri State this weekend.

In closing I would like say thank you again for all of your support during this week and taking the time to read my inner thoughts thus far in the season. (They tell me I got a lot of “hits”… whatever they are.) We have reached step one in our journey for a championship season. Wish us luck this week.

Before I go, though, I have to give a special mention to our assistant SID Jess’ nephew. Hope this was another good bedtime story for you.

Until next time….
Kyle Hines - # 42