Roll Wave!

Last night was one of those nights that reminds me of how lucky I am to work for such a great school. It all started a few weeks ago when my coworker Kasey got an e-mail from Coach Ronnie Hamilton, the assistant coach of our men's basketball team here at Tulane. Ronnie and the team were having a cool program that invited members from Tulane's faculty and staff to attend a VIP game day experience with the team. Naturally, Kasey and I, both huge Tulane and New Orleans sports fans, immediately took him up on his offer.

Yesterday's game against the Conference rival SMU Mustangs from Dallas was our big day, but we had no idea how big it would be for us. Ronnie and his group had an awesome day of events planned out for us, and Kasey and I totally felt like VIP from start to finish. It stated with a team dinner in our university center at 3:00. We had a chance to eat a great pre-game dinner of pork chops, chicken breast, mashed potatoes, etc., I think the players each ate three times what I did, but hey, it was a big game. The team was awesome- so welcoming, accommodating and truly happy to have Kasey and I there. We got to meet head coach Ed Conroy, who is absolutely a class act. He is a great leader for this team, and the guys really seem to have a great amount of adoration and respect for him. The team's got a great deal of camaraderie as well, which was awesome to see. They come from everywhere: Florida, Georgia, South Africa, Germany, etc... you get the idea.

Lunch with the team. I felt short. 

Gametime was 7:00, but we arrived at 6:15 for the locker room pre-game chat from the coach. Conroy talked about our skills and strategy for beating the Mustangs and had a good 20 minutes of chalk talk with the team, the coaches, and Kasey and me. I was going to chime in with my tips for outlet passes and offensive rebounds, but figured I would leave it to coach to handle the chat.

After the pre-game chat with the players, Coach Conroy and Kasey and I headed up to the Coach's Corner where Coach spent some time giving a rundown of the game and the lineup with our season ticket holders and members of the Tulane Athletics Fund and our athletic donors. Coach was cordial with all the fans and donors and took time to answer all of their questions and even accept their advice for how tonight game should pan out.

Then it was back to the locker room for the team to be announced and take the court. I got to get some daps from each of the players, including my favorite Jordan Callahan. I think that I really brought them some luck with my fist. At least so I like to think.

Players giving daps to me (and vice-versa)

The game was awesome. We got off to a rough start in the first half, but really killed it in the second. Tulane put up 63 points in the second half to come back from behind to beat SMU 80-74, bringing us to 14-6 overall and 2-4 in the CUSA. Our freshman Ricky Tarrant was en fuego, posting a 33-point game, which marked the most points for a freshman to score for the Green Wave in any game. My man Jordan Callahan had 16 points and five assists. The student section was on fire, and the whole ambiance at Fogelman last night was incredible.

When the game was over we got to head back to the locker room to hear Conroy give some great breakdowns of the game and let his team know how proud of them he was. He even told Kasey and I, (who are now evidently on a first name basis with him) that it was us who brought the team good luck tonight. See? My daps helped.

What an awesome night for me, for Tulane basketball and for the school as a whole. I was totally impressed with  how welcoming Coach and his staff and team were, they made us feel welcome and truly a part of the team for a night. The players where awesome- friendly, funny, and all around great guys to be around. At the end of the night, we snapped a picture with Jordan, said goodbye to Ronnie and the rest of the coaching staff and players, and then headed home, full of Green Wave pride. Roll Wave indeed!

Inside the locker room

Kasey in the locker room, checking out past NBA Green Wave players

What game would be complete without a performance from Shockwave, Tulane's student dance team. 

Time out. See the guy in the blue shirt and tie? Well that is Zach Schreiber,  a junior at Tulane from New York. He is our official team  manager; he manages the day-to-day operations of the team and also travels to all of our away games (even last month when we played number 1 Syracuse!) He's planning on going into sports management when he graduates.

Piling on the points in the second half. 

Final Score. Roll Wave! 

We win! 

Post game with Coach Conroy in the locker room.

Our man Jordan Callahan! He's going to be on that NBA list someday.