Yesterday afternoon, Marion Harris was at Emory and Henry watching 👀 his Middle daughter play college LaCrosse and I knew how much that meant to him. Creating a story that brings Joy to an Athlete and his or her family 👪 is my favorite thing to do.

This is where my site differs from the rest of the World 🌎 in regards to coverage. Natalie Harris played a game yesterday and Emory and Henry won the game as she returned from her off – season surgery.

We could have tossed out some stats and minutes played as say would a Newspaper 📰, OR because we aren’t in the business to make money, we could have some fun with an impressive young Lady.

The story made her and her roommate smile from ear to ear!!! That was the intention, not to become famous or sell ad space but to lift the spirits of someone who I appreciate and respect.

Here is that one…

Carroll County has a Sports version of a Swiss Army Knife and she is busy playing LaCrosse for Emory and Henry this afternoon !

That as a prelude to this one –

This story is for Christy Ervin and her overdrive driven daughter, Alyssa. If some other folks enjoy it then that’s a bonus.

Anyone who has children ( we had five and nine Grandchildren) has been nervous about sending their Kiddo to their first day of class, especially when its a new School and in this case, far far away.

So now the story through the eyes 👀 of a Parent as we await word on whether or not the Lady Paladins will get to play a post season tournament game in the smaller event.

Furman University was the second stop on the Basketball 🏀 trail 👣 for our Little Girl. After four years of lighting up the scoreboard on The Hill and across the Commonwealth to the tune of 2000+ points, stop one at Elon University wasn’t the answer.

That adds pressure to the process the second time around. If you are not overjoyed with your second destination its easy to get labeled as a vagabond.

The best part of the story about Elon was just how strong our Kiddo finished up in regards to the Academics ! Wow, we all knew that she could Hoop with the Best of them but our little one had chops with the Books 📚 as well!! # ProudParent

This time around I knew the teacher which helped me a great deal. Coach Pierre Curtis was a four year baller at James Madison University when we resided up in the Valley. Curtis played the game, knows the game which should translate to being able to teach the game.

How is she going to look wearing Purple, will she get to play somewhere nice, will they take neat Field (Road) trips to fun places ?????? Will she like her new teammates, her new roommate and will other folks not be alarmed by just how seriously our Kiddo takes the game ?? Most importantly, will the smile reappear on her face ??

Anxiety for a Parent or in this case, a make believe Parent.

Easy one to answer – Timmons Arena is a great place to play Basketball and just as enjoyable of one to watch a game.

The only drawback being that the SoCon as a whole doesn’t fully appreciate the fact that Women’s Basketball has rode the train that Caitlin Clark engineered a few years back. The Gym is a jumping for the Men ( congratulations to the Men for going to the Dance 💃) but far from it for the Ladies.

Our Girl had a few very special Field trips, including a home coming of sorts at nearby Radford University. A multitude of folks made the trip up from The Hill that night. The only drawback to the evening was the ‘ Dins were still getting to know each other and Radford handled them back then.

Playing on Big Stages in the three road games versus Southeast Conference (SEC) opponents were fun with the trip into The Swamp being the highlight.

Sometimes its not how many are in the seats, its about how invested they are.

New friends and teammates….

As a parent you realize that your Kiddo is only one of many, in this case 1 of 14. You have to try and learn as much about them as possible because its the right thing to do.

Clare Coyle is an intense young lady, Kyraha Parnell is the young lady from just down the street in Galax. Tyriana Berry plays the game fearlessly and Sophia Pearl is comfortable behind the arc. Raina McGowens has speed to burn and we have already shown 💘 to Coach.

Looking good in Purple was a silly thing to worry about, right???

The team has been put together on the fly over the past three years and has meshed together remarkably well. No Seniors in the rotation means the future is looking bright.

My wishlist for Coach and the team is a home crowd advantage because right now its simply not there. The facility is Top Shelf, the team is well coached and they play hard. The Trifecta of what you need to be successful.

The night I flew back to the East Coast and watched them play against Samford, I was one of 375. We lost that night in the fourth quarter and in part because visiting teams don’t fear playing in our building.

Moving forward to the SoCon tournament recently played in Ashville, North Carolina. Bill Gallimore was in town for Day 2 and its always a treat to see him at a Sporting event where a current or former Cavalier is playing !

I love the fact that the SoCon has the Men and the Women playing in the same Arena at the same time ! Absolutely 💯% a fan of this but as I ” Fake Parent ” , I owe it to myself to point out one questionable thing and one thing that was simply an injustice to Furman University.

The tournament was being played at the same time that the ACC Women’s tournament was being played.

Here is the upper bracket for the Quarterfinals. The two early games were between the two teams that would meet early the next day. The same thing for the evening session and this prevents any team from having a distinct advantage over their opponents.

Day 1 in Ashville, UT-C played in the same slot as Duke and did so against the lowest seed possible. The 1-8 match-up absolutely should have been followed by the #4 – Furman versus #5 – Mercer. No questions about it.

Instead the 4 – 5 tilt was pushed back to the very end of the night which ended after 8pm. Head back to the lockeroom and then go back to the Hotel. Visit briefly with your Families but best case scenario you’re going to bed 🛌 at 11.

The game versus Mercer was exactly what a 4 – 5 contest should be. Tough, back and forth between two even teams and our Kiddo had the night of her life. Coyle drew 2 early fouls and Curtis knew he needed some Magical from Alyssa.

She delivered with 27 points, 6 boards and 6 steals and Coach needed her out there until there was 90 seconds left in the game. The team was gassed and they had no business having to play their next game first thing that next morning.

UT-C raced out to an immediate 10 point lead in the Semi-final game and never looked back. Furman cut ✂️ a 20 point deficit down to eight with a late 12-0 spurt led by Coyle but that is as close as they could get.

Only one of two things allowed this to happen. First, nobody cared enough to realize that they went against the bracket format everyone uses or Two, they were looking to protect the Mocs as they entered Sunday with a 20-1 record in SoCon tournament finals.

Loved everything about the year, loved that  our Little Girl was treated like an equal part of a well coached Machine!

Still hoping 🙏 that we have another game to play but can’t help but wonder what might have been.

The only other thought process was while I completely understand that there is a need to Bus 🚌 in students on Thursday when there was probably only friends and family members in the building. It’s a great thing for the Community but to do it again for the Semi-final round on Friday was a bit of a surprise. As someone who champions Women’s College Basketball, I would hope that the double header on Day 2 could stand on its own merit.

In closing, Thank You 🙏 Miss Ervin for taking so many of us on your journey !

Thank You Mrs Ervin for raising ❤ our Kiddo in the manner that you have !