Diamonds 💎 are a Girls Best Friend : The value of relationships, both in the moment and a decade later.

The photo above is from the ESPN 30 for 30 episode titled ” The Class that saved Coach K”.

The Class of 1986 at Duke University got back together in 2019, 33 years after they graduated. Last night I was searching for something to watch and landed on a feature that I have watched at least a dozen times. The fun part is that I still find it highly entertaining.

  That is one of the goals in trying hard to capture the Glory of June 13, 2015 for both of the Schools that I have worked with over the past four decades. What did the Championship victories mean to the players and coaches, the fans and families ?

Now that 10 years have past, how many people still look back at what took place that day at Liberty University and Radford University, with a great deal of fondness ?

Teams win State Championships all the time, Virginia alone has six classifications of schools, so what makes these two stand out ? For Page County it was the finishing touch on a Back 2 Back that was three decades in the making. For Carroll County the victory that was 40+ years in the making.

Let’s get back to the Round Table conversations. What would it sound like if Coach Alan Knight was in a room with Coach Rick Nester and a handful of players from both teams ?

Now, make no mistake, I am not trying to compare Nester and Knight with Coach K. Just wondering what the Ladies that put forth the effort back then would have to say about the experience of playing with their teammates and for their coaches???

Three of the Lady Cavaliers finished up playing Softball at Ferrum College so they would have extended period of time. How many of the players have stayed in contact with each other over the years ?

How have the relationships created back then advanced ? What are the fondest memories of the lifetime playing the game they loved ? How many players found a way to give back to the game they love ?

No question about the two Head Coaches as they are both set to lead their programs in the 2025 – 2026 season. But we can ask if either one of them will last until the 50th season ?