SOPHOMORE SZN… expect the unexpected.
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| Getting ready to board at Newark Airport |
So, I just returned from my 2nd year at K
Academy. My SOPHOMORE SZN, if you
will. Last year at this time, I sat down
ready to write about every single detail from the 5 best days of my life: the
intricate details of DUKE, Cameron, basketball, Coach K, former and current
players, The Washington Duke Inn, Durham, socials and swag. This year, just know that every single thing
that I wrote before still 100% applies.
DUKE is still DUKE; Cameron is still the Mecca; basketball is still the
nucleus of K Academy; Coach K is still the GOAT; former and current players are
still literally everywhere you look; The Washington Duke Inn is still the most
gracious and lovely home setting for our 5 day week; the socials are still definitely
worth staving off pure exhaustion and skipping naps to make sure you attend
every single second of; and the swag is still more than you can imagine… I
don’t care if you watched the Grayson Allen video that DUKE Basketball posted
on social media going through what all is in our swag bags.
Yeah. Pretty sick, right? But I’m telling you: until you see it in
person, you can’t understand how awesome it all is. Yeah, it’s just stuff, but good grief, it’s the stuff material dreams are made
of.
Back in May,
when I had only just found out that I would in fact be returning for my
Sophomore SZN, I jotted down a quick post about how excited I was and I noted
that I kept coming back to being overwhelmingly excited for one particular
aspect. Yes, I was of course excited for
all of the aforementioned, but what I kept finding myself completely focused on
was the excitement I felt to return to my K Academy family.
I said it in
May and it is worth repeating. K Academy is a
family. And family doesn't have an off-season. You're a K
Academy camper for 5 days; but you're a K Academy family member for life. Talk
to anyone who has ever attended... they all describe it as such: family. As
Rachel Curtis once put it to me: "The friendships and bonds formed during
the K Academy are meant to last a lifetime- not just while you are a camper.
You are now one of us for life (even on the days when you may not want to have
us- haha)!" I guess I sort-of knew that going in, but I didn't really know
it until it ended. In life, lots of people say lots of things and a select few
actually live up to it. Family. K Academy says that for a reason: they mean it.
So what was
an inauguration for me last year turned into a full-blown reunion this
year. A family reunion for the
ages. And it started immediately.
Ariana and I
hadn’t been in our room for 5 minutes before there was a knock at our
door. The person on the other side? Only the number one person I would want to
see: Matt Cantando! Turns out his room
wasn’t ready yet so he was hanging in ours for the time being.
SUMMER CAMP HAD OFFICIALLY BEGUN!
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| My brother from another, Matt Cantando |
Matt and I quickly
became two young kids at 5AM on a holiday morning- going through our bags piece
by piece and freaking out over everything.
“A WATER BOTTLE!!!!!!!!” I have a
vivid recollection of me giddily jumping over and showing Matt how the water
bottle has a built-in straw. It’s that
kind of week, everyone. Everything is a
10 because, well, everything is a 10.
From there,
Matt and I got changed into our uniforms and headed down to lunch. I said it last year and it too is worth
repeating: the level that The Washington Duke Inn rises to for these 5 days is
nothing shy of perfection. The attention
to detail, the kindness, the friendliness, the helpfulness, the
professionalism, the commitment to making sure that every single need/want is
attended to… the staff there from top to bottom is as good as it gets. I still can’t get over Tommy not resting
until he tracked me down a Diet Dr. Pepper on Thursday night… even after I
begged him to believe me that I was fine with a Diet Coke instead. The entire staff there deserves so much
thanks for how they welcome us all and are so incredibly supportive of us in
every aspect, so I hope they know how much we all appreciate every single thing
they do. Thank you, thank you, thank you
Washington Duke. You’re our home-base
for these 5 days and you make it just that: our home.
So, lunch
comes and goes and what comes with that is the growth of the family
reunion. From here on out, every single
encounter is one of “HEYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! Oh my gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! How are you?!
So good to see you! What’s
new? How have you been? Where’s [insert family member name here]? I’M
SO GLAD YOU ARE HERE.” Hugs, hugs, hugs,
high fives, high fives, high fives. And
what these encounters make up in quantity, they don’t lack in quality. I felt like a high schooler just back from
summer break and seeing all of my friends again. And when you consider there is over 100
campers, plus each of their
family/friend contingents, this becomes a full-scale operation really quickly. And it’s just the best! I had the feeling about it in May and it held true: the best
part of K Academy is what I perceived it would be: the family.
I’ll tell you
how I know the family
aspect is the best- walk with me here:
Wednesday
comes and goes.
Wednesday day
is the meeting with Coach K and then followed by player evaluations where we
all warm-up, stretch, shoot around, do drills and scrimmage as the 30-40
former/current/incoming players, coaches and Coach K watch. You can’t really beat playing for hours on
hours with a group of people you absolutely love on the most beautiful campus
in the world. This is such a great way
to kick off K Academy because it sets the tone for the entire week: friends,
family, DUKE and ball.
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| Getting shots up in the K center |
Wednesday
night is the Draft and social in Cameron.
Very cool, personal and intimate experience. I’m at a table with Ariana, my Dad, Matt Cantando,
Amy Cantando, Ferol Vernon, new camper Bob, David Merin and Ann Merin.
Our table is right next to Coach K, his family and friends, and is
surrounded by the players I have looked up to and watched for my entire
life. I’m blessed beyond measure to have
been drafted by Team Charlotte coached by David Henderson, Martynas Pocius,
Marty Nessley, Jim Yuschak and Joey “WE’RE DOING THIS” Baker. Oh, and by the by, my teammate? Matt Cantando. (“Just say ‘thank you.’”) Pretty sure anyone who knows me knows my love
for Matt, Amy, Jack, Emma, Sadie, Mary, John, their houseplants, their mailman,
their accounting professor at Wake, etc.
It’s no secret that if nothing else happened for me at K Academy, I had
already won just by being able to team up with Matt again.
And even better, I’m teamed up too with Bryan
Palma, Matt Devin, Marc Wise, Terry Rains, Owen Littman, and Jim Tobin. And just like last year, this was only day 1,
and it always only gets better from here.
(Remember, I’m building to tell you how I know the family
aspect of K Academy is the best.)
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| Team Charlotte 2019 |
Thursday
comes and goes.
First things first: team pictures.
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| Team Charlotte 2019 Krzyzewski, Pocius, Yuschak, Henderson, Cantando, Palma, Baker Tobin, Wise, Goswick, Rains, Littman, Devin, Nessley |
Thursday day
then proceeds with an early morning practice, followed by 2 games- one in the morning
(we won), and one in the afternoon (we lost a super close one, which, stinks, but we lost to a team with my teammates
and friends from last year, Dan Sutera and Ferol Vernon. Never want to lose, ever, but if I’m going to
lose, let it be to those two guys any day of the week).
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| Dan Sutera and Ferol Vernon |
Between games is time spent catching up with
returning family and meeting new friends-who-will-become-family, such as
my most favorite new person ever, Kevin Malphurs. It was Kevin’s first camp experience this
year and I’m pretty sure I just watched the reincarnated version of myself from
last year when I watched him. Not so
much when he played- he’s a phenomenal passer and much more efficient shooter
than I am- but more so when he walked around and took it all in. I didn’t see him stop smiling once. Not once.
So, I’m pretty sure I passed the “I slept with a coat hanger in my
mouth” look down to him and it’s now on him to pass that torch to someone next
year. Kevin, let us know who you choose
in 12 months.
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| Kevin Malphurs and Sarah Goswick (and Greg Anthony at the 1991 Final Four wearing his DUKE hat. Karma, buddy.) |
I’m also very
pleased to tell you that the fridge is still in the recovery room and it’s
still as ice cold and stocked as ever. When I say it’s one of my top 5 favorite
things about camp, I am neither exaggerating nor saying where aspects like DUKE
gear, Cameron, Coach K and basketball fall on the list (after the K Academy family,
of course)- but that’s five aspects and only four remaining spots, so…………… (I’ve reworked that sentence so many times
and I’m still not sure it’s correct. The
bottom line is: THE FRIDGE IN THE RECOVERY ROOM IS A GAME CHANGER. JUST TRUST ME ON THIS ONE.)
Moving
on.
Thursday night
is dinner on the patio and surrounding area at The Washington Duke. Coach K talks to us all for a bit between
dinner and the start of the Warriors/Raptors NBA Finals Game 1. This is such a great night because in
addition to everything else going on- Coach K mulling around and chatting
everyone up, getting to talk to and take pics with some of my favorite players
ever such as Grayson Allen and Shane Battier, meeting 3 of the incoming
freshmen and taking what can only be described as a Fun House photo in which
they all appear to be life-size and I appear to be the only one of us whose
photo was taken using a long lens- Ariana and I got our annual dose of Andy
“it’s not stand up, this is just how I am” Borman storytelling. If I could have a daily dose of this, my life
would be that much better. There we are- me, Ariana, Andy and now Shane
Battier (with Kevin and Jeff Klein popping in and out too), standing around
talking about their Fantasy Football league- which, apparently has a
groundswell for a new Andy Borman division- and the conversation just goes
every which way. Fantasy Football; Mike
Dunleavy taking Andy to Elmo’s to break the news to him that he’s going to the
NBA… and not break it to him that he’s going to be leaving him, but break it to
him that he won’t be able to hold up his end of the lease they just signed at
Erwin Square; Mike Dunleavy subsequently lightly wrecking Andy’s old truck or
Jeep while back on campus at DUKE to take summer classes and dejectedly calling
to tell Andy who is out and about driving Mike Dunleavy’s Mercedes 9 series
around California; and just on and on and so on and so forth. If you’ve ever had the pleasure to talk to
Andy Borman about anything, then you
know- it’s never the subject matter that is the point, it’s the Andy Borman way
of telling it. He could tell me about
last night’s episode of House Hunters and I promise he could do it in a way
that I’d walk away crying laughing. He’s
just that funny. What I didn’t know
though, and what I was about to learn over the course of these 5 days, is that
Andy Borman isn’t just a lovely and funny guy- this man is a damn fine Coach
and is on an absolute crash-course to take a team far whenever he decides the opportunity is right. Ask Ariana and Amy Cantando and Ann Merin who
sat with me behind the bench when Andy coached his team- they too had to stop
themselves from checking in to the game after hearing his speeches. Something about that whole family, man: they
will have you ready to run through a wall for them.
So, that’s
Thursday in a large nutshell. Great day,
and yep, still building to tell you how I know the family aspect of K
Academy is the best.
Up
to Friday. Similar to Thursday in that
it’s a 2 game day. 2 games up, 2 games
won. Yay, Team Charlotte. Great games and these were two games that
were won entirely by the collective team.
Bryan with great defense and pushing the ball and pace. Terry with lockdown defense that would make
Jordan Goldwire proud. Owen with passes
that would make Tre and Tyus proud. Matt being the Mr. Everything player he
always is and taking charges like he’s got on a full set of football pads or
something. Matt Devin playing as well on
both ends of the floor as anyone could- he’s tough as nails and can knock down
any shot he gets a look at… and routinely does just that. Jim getting stops and hitting clutch threes
with authority. And Marc consistently with
one of the sweetest back-to-the-basket-turn-around shots I’ve seen and somehow
also being right where he needs to be to make crucially timed blocks. It was a great, great day of basketball for
Team Charlotte and we were feeling good about it. That put us at 3-1 for the season to that
point which was a great place to be going into Saturday.
Friday is also the day we get to hang in the DUKE locker room and watch film. Always one of the biggest highlights of the week.
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| SI6HTS |
Really quickly: speaking of the locker room visits. Did anyone happen to catch David Merin's locker room visit headgear? Later in this post I will reference "minor injuries." Just know that I am NOT talking about David's warzone-esque battlescar when I say "minor." LOOK AT THIS WRAP! He's a warrior.
And! Apparently he plays even better when injured!
Too good. Too good.
So, now Friday night comes and this was dinner at a new venue: the Champions Club upstairs at Cameron. Another fun night of socializing- Coach K, Mrs. K and family mingling around, players and coaches dispersed throughout, and the highlight of the night: the senior videos. When it is your 4th year at K Academy, you get your very own personal highlight reel put to whatever music your spouse/family/friend chooses. This year? 12 seniors. TWELVE. And the videos were all awesome. I was particularly into these because three of my best guys had their senior videos played: Matt Cantando, Dan Sutera and Scott Ethridge. And they were all as “Matt, Dan and Scott-esque” as they could be. Purely perfection.
And! Apparently he plays even better when injured!
Too good. Too good.
So, now Friday night comes and this was dinner at a new venue: the Champions Club upstairs at Cameron. Another fun night of socializing- Coach K, Mrs. K and family mingling around, players and coaches dispersed throughout, and the highlight of the night: the senior videos. When it is your 4th year at K Academy, you get your very own personal highlight reel put to whatever music your spouse/family/friend chooses. This year? 12 seniors. TWELVE. And the videos were all awesome. I was particularly into these because three of my best guys had their senior videos played: Matt Cantando, Dan Sutera and Scott Ethridge. And they were all as “Matt, Dan and Scott-esque” as they could be. Purely perfection.
So,
we’ve now kicked it through Wednesday, Thursday and Friday- I’m once again in
the midst of the best few days of my year, just like I was last year- and I’m
still winding up the story, building to tell you how I know the family
aspect of K Academy is the best.
Have
you figured it out yet?
I’ll
give you a clue. Here are a few snippets
of what I had said to this point in my post last year:
From
Wednesday day:
At 2:30, we went up to Scharf Hall where we had
our formal introduction. Duke players lined the sides of the front
of the room and by this point, Ariana and my Dad had joined me. And
then it happened: the door toward the back of Scharf Hall opened, as Mike Cragg
the Deputy Director of Athletics at Duke, was speaking and there he
was: Coach K. Standing at the back of the room that I was
sitting in. I’ve been in a room a million times with Coach K- it’s
just that in the past, that “room” has been a stadium that holds, at minimum
9,314 people (Cameron) and at maximum, 19,812 people (Madison Square
Garden). This was a touch different. I was completely
sidetracked. I could barely even focus on the amazing program media
guide that they had given us.
From Wednesday night:
I had one goal in mind: get a picture with
Coach K. Only, I wasn’t sure of myself enough yet. So,
naturally, I sent in Ariana. Only, damned if she didn’t get
momentarily star-struck. “Coooooooooooach”, she said, her voice
cracking. And then turned around the most genuine (I’m going to beat
that word to death, but it fits), kind, and completely tuned-in
person. He stood there and talked to Ariana, told us how happy he
was that we were there… and then said some other stuff that frankly I don’t
remember because I was trying to take in the moment. My Dad came
over and introduced himself and they talked for a bit and then Dad read my mind
and said: “Let me get a picture of you 3.” My father the
hero. This literally was all I needed from camp. I had my
bag. I had my jersey. I had my photo with Coach
K. I was set.
From Thursday:
This was an awesome day for me, losses notwithstanding, and now
we were headed to cocktails and dinner and watching the first game of the NBA
Playoffs with Coach K at the Washington Duke. This was already super
cool to me- getting to watch a game with Coach K- that’s a bucket-list item for
sure. And lo and behold, it got even better. Game is on,
I’m sitting there talking with one of my favorite people Ariana and I met at
the camp, Chip Engelland, and I feel a tap on my shoulder. Oh, hey,
Coach K. Yeah, just a little rattling. “I saw you
today. Be ready tomorrow. You don’t want to be a one-shot
wonder.” I laughed, he didn’t (I clearly don’t have a gauge on when the
Krzyzewski family is joking or not). Ariana then blew up my spot and
said that I pointed to Debbie after I made my three. “I saw
that. I see lots of things. I saw you profiling.” All
I could think of was that scene in Love & Basketball when Monica shoots and
holds the pose and her coach is not impressed. Thankfully,
he chuckled then.
Chip, being the awesome human he is, told me how cool he thought
that moment was, after Coach K returned to his seat. A few moments
later, I hear: “Sarah!” I know that voice. It’s Coach
K again! “You
gonna be ready tomorrow?” I looked him dead in the eye and said
without hesitation: “Yes I am.”
From Friday:
Coach K took the podium to speak to us all-
probably about 200 or so of us were there including all the Duke players at
camp, etc.- and as he’s speaking, he refers to all of the campers as “you
guys.” I take zero offense to this and legitimately could not care
less, but to his credit, Coach K has made a point all camp to make sure
whenever he does this, to correct himself and say that he either means that in
general terms, or to change his language to say “and you
ladies.” (He actually came up to me earlier in camp and explained
just that- “when I say ‘you guys’, I just refer to everyone as
that.” He also told me he’s going to prefer to say “hi” to me by
saying “yo” as that’s something he learned from Bobby Hurley and he likes
saying it. I told him I took no offense by the “guys” language and
that I looked forward to my next “yo.”) This time, on the podium, he
corrected himself in the way of saying “and ladies. We have a couple
of ladies this year.” And then it happened. No way will I
get this wording exactly right because I lost my damn mind, but it went
something like this: “You guys. And ladies. We
have a couple of ladies this year. And incidentally, I don’t think
anyone has shot it better than Sarah. The real question is why Ricky
didn’t have her in at the end of the game. But what do I know, I’ve
only been doing this 43 years.”
I should pretty
much just end this writing there. I don’t have anything further to
say. How? How do I have any moment after
that? Pursue moments? You pursue a moment after
that. I’m maxed out.
Ariana: “Are you dying?”
Me: “I mean. Yeah. There’s no way I can even process that. I keep thinking that nothing can ever get better, but then each day or night, something new happens and I’m just… yeah.”
Me: “I mean. Yeah. There’s no way I can even process that. I keep thinking that nothing can ever get better, but then each day or night, something new happens and I’m just… yeah.”
Do you see what the central focus of my day-by-day recap last
year was? Last year’s focus was exactly as it should
be: 200% on the magnitude of what I was experiencing from the standpoint of a
fan living a fantasy. Have you seen me
write about this in this way this year?
Not so much. And let me be very
clear: the scene isn’t any different.
Coach K and all of the players and coaches and everyone associated with
DUKE that I have watched 2 hours a night, twice a week, 5+ months a year for the
past 37 years are all still there. And
they’re still providing all of the storybook moments that I raved about last
year. Nothing has changed in that
regard. And throughout the year, I only
become more immersed in my life as a DUKE fan with every passing second, so that hasn’t
changed either. What has changed is… no,
not my perspective. Believe me entirely
when I say I will never, ever not be affected when Coach K, JJ REDICK, Battier,
Duhon, David Henderson, Marty Nessley, William Avery, Mason, McClure, AOC, Joey Baker,
Andy Borman, Hairston, Justise, Thornton, Robert Brickey, Gene Banks, Andre
Dawkins, Shelden, Pocius, Grayson, Kennard, Tre, Okafor, Matt Jones, Amile,
Scheyer, Buckmire, Brennan Besser, J-Rob, Savarino, Nolan, Nate James, Chris
Carrawell, Ricky Price, Cherokee Parks, Vernon Carey, Cassius Stanley, Matthew
Hurt, Wendell Moore, etc. etc. are in my visual. That part didn’t change.
What did change is: what hit me hardest in
terms of “this is surreal.” And that’s
what I’ve been trying to tell you. The
first year, it’s all about the “oh my goodness, I can’t believe this is happening”
moments that are happening faster than you can process- that whole “DUKE,
Cameron, basketball, Coach K, former and current players, The Washington Duke
Inn, Durham, socials and swag” thing I’ve been referencing. But then, there’s this whole 365 days that
happens after your rookie season ends.
And that’s when you really get what makes this camp so
special. You start to realize- wait,
there’s something real
here. And all that other stuff- the
stuff that will blow your mind for 5 days- moves from the focal point of your
experience and shifts to being something else: the icing on the cake. Had someone told me that a year ago, I’d call
bullsh*t. No way would you ever convince
me that it wouldn’t be, and stay, the other way around: “Not a chance,” I would have told you. And I… would have been wrong.
I care that Coach K was there. Profusely. Intensely.
Profoundly. I care. You know me well enough to know that
I could never underscore that enough.
But I can tell you this tidbit that truly happened: Ariana turned to me on Wednesday at the
draft, on Thursday before the NBA game started, and on Friday between my first
and second game, and asked me each time “don’t you want to go talk to and get a
picture with Coach K?” and each time I responded with some version of “yes, of
course, but sometime later… I’m gonna go grab lunch with Amy and Jack right now”
or “yeah, but I’m going to shoot around with Matt Devin and work on my shot
fake.” Taking a step back, this even
makes my head spin a little. But that, again, is what I’m trying to tell
you. K Academy is a family and those waters
run deep. Deeper even than fanaticism, I
now see.
So, Saturday
comes.
Reality
starts to set in, so yeah, I made sure to pull my head out of the sand and ensure
that I got a chance to talk with Coach K and spend some time with the man who,
to say I look up to him, would be a sad little understatement. And, per usual, talking with Coach K produced
a moment that I couldn’t have fathomed.
My shot this season was up and down- hit some, missed some, such is
life. So, before my Saturday game, I sat
and talked with Coach K for a few in which he told me how to mentally prepare
to be successful in my shooting for my upcoming game and ended it with “because
you’ve got a good shot…” And just like
that, it was Friday night of my rookie season at K Academy all over again and
my head was in the clouds. You understand
that DUKE has had some of the best shooters in college
basketball history- JJ, Collins, Ricky Price, Kennard, Dawkins, Capel, Langdon,
Curry, Laettner, Singler, Scheyer, J.Will, and Battier, to name a few- and here
is the Coach that led them all, telling me
that I have a nice shot?! Now, do I
think he was lumping me in with all of those shooters I just mentioned? Yes, actually, I do! It’s a fantasy camp, OK? Let me be.
So, yeah,
head in the clouds, not really sure this just happened- thankfully Ariana
happened to catch this all on video, so I know I didn’t imagine it… but only
now, I have to actually go play. Last
year I just had to figure out how to go to sleep after hearing Coach K laud my
shooting; this year I had to actually go be productive afterward. The game before ours went into sudden-death
double overtime so I proceeded to spend every last second doing exactly what
Coach K had advised me to do: envisioning my shot. There’s a picture of me with a death-stare,
eyes locked on the rim… I’m not crazy, I’m envisioning.
And it worked. I hit one of the toughest shots of my two
years at K Academy that game. Lucky,
maybe… but it was just like I had envisioned it. And Ariana, my Dad, Jenny, Marc, Kayla, Kai
and Stacy were all there to see it too.
Speaking of
Stacy, there is something that makes her being in attendance (both last year and this year) ultra-special to
me. Back in January 2015, ESPN did a
feature entitled “Do You Know Mike Krzyzewski?
His friends, family and the people closest to him say you know the
coach- not the man.”
http://www.espn.com/espn/feature/story/_/id/12161880/duke-blue-devils-coach-mike-krzyzewski-think-is
In
this article, there are interviews and bites from people who have grown up with
Coach K and have remained steadfastly by his side. One of whom, of course, is Dennis
"Moe" Mlynski.
IT IS EARLY December and Duke has just beaten Wisconsin, and, after the
game, a few select people gather in the hallway outside of the visitors locker
room.
Stepek is there and, of course, Mlynski.
He's always there if he can be. Best-friend status -- Krzyzewski
was his best man -- has afforded the man everyone calls Moe a few perks. He's
been in the bleachers when Krzyzewski recruited Chicago products Jon Scheyer,
Jabari Parker and Jahlil Okafor.
He has spent the day in the Krzyzewski home on days of the Carolina
game, and been in attendance for all of the Blue Devils' title victories.
So naturally, when the Devils play in Madison, Wisconsin -- a
doable roughly 150-mile ride away -- he's there. After Duke won, a happy
Krzyzewski is holding court, regaling folks with stories and tales until
someone finally says the bus is waiting and it's time to go.
Krzyzewski goes from person to person, offering each a warm hug
and sincere thanks, saving Mlynski for last.
"I say, 'You want me to kiss your ring?'" Mlynski says.
"And he says, 'No. But you can kiss my ass.'"
You think you know Mike Krzyzewski?
Maybe you do.
But then again, you really don't.
You see,
Stacy… is my Moe. She’s been with me
since we were both just two 4th graders running around the original
Hillandale Elementary School in Durham.
We rode the bus every morning to Chewning together, then Brogden. Our parking spots at Riverside were side by
side. We lived together all 4 years of
undergrad at UNC-G. And we have a bond
that is simply unbreakable. Stacy couldn’t
care one bit less about DUKE (she’s a UNC fan, actually), basketball, Coach K,
Cameron, or any of it. She comes for
me. She’s my Moe. Always has been, always will be. Sharing any moment of my life with her is
what makes those moments special to me. This
year as I was standing post-game and talking with her, Moe came up to say
hello. It was a full-circle moment for
me because “my Moe” got to meet the
Moe. Family had just met family.
Whew,
OK. Back to the action.
Saturday
night is always so bittersweet. It’s
such a lovely dinner- we all sit at team specific tables (this year at the Blue
Devil Tower) and just rehash what we have all been through over these past few
days and make sure we spend as much team time together as we can. It’s so hard because you don’t want to get
caught up in knowing tomorrow is Sunday, but tomorrow is Sunday, and that’s tough to swallow. But it’s a night filled with laughter and
comradery and ends with us all coming together, watching the Xs and Os video,
and mentally preparing for the next morning.
And when I say morning, I mean morning.
Team
Charlotte was fortunate to advance to the NCAA Tournament on Sunday. This year the format was restructured a
little: 12 teams total- 8 of whom play in the NCAA Tournament on Sunday; 4 of
whom play in the newly-minted NIT Tournament on Sunday. Team Charlotte was the 4 seed in the NCAA,
so, when I said morning, I meant it: our game was at 7:30AM. Not our warm-up, not our introductions, not
our stretching… our game.
I’m sorry to
report that after a major comeback rally effort, Team Charlotte fell short and
was eliminated. We finished the week
with a record of 3-3. Nothing to hang
our heads about. Plus, I knew that
losing that game was nothing compared to what I was going to be feeling in a
few hours when we all parted ways. At
least, for right now, it was only about 8:15AM and we had nearly a full day
left to hang out and stay a team. So, we
did just that. We all stayed, ate lunch,
watched the other games, cheered like crazy for our friends and just made sure
to soak in every last second.
And this is
when K Academy becomes painful. If you
aren’t one for mushy and corny, then this would be a good time for you to close
your browser. I am an intensely
sentimental person and I truly feel
goodbyes, so this part of camp always hits me extremely hard. I’m the kind of person who will watch a TV
show’s series finale, knowing damn well I haven’t ever watched a single episode
of the show otherwise, just so that I can get caught up in the emotion of the
end. I have a love-hate thing with
goodbyes: I hate them, but at the same time, the emotion of them makes me feel
very real, and I love getting caught up in that feeling. In saying our goodbyes, I kept thinking about
these 3 shows that a) I loved and b) had such poignant moments at the end of
the series. In my mind, the gist of what
was said in each of these shows was ruminating around, but not the specific
wording. I have since gone and looked at
the scripts. I knew I kept reflecting
back on them, so I thought that there must be something specifically said in
each of them that I was relating to.
And, I was right:
Golden Girls Series Finale:
- Okay.
- I guess this is it.
- Right.
- Listen, you don't have to say anything.
- I mean, what can you say about seven years of fights and laughter?
- Just that it's been very... Well, it's been an experience that I'll always keep very close to my heart. And that these are memories that I'll wrap myself in when the world gets cold and I forget that there are people who are warm and loving and... I'll miss you.
- You will always be a part of us.
- Your friendship was something I never expected at this point in my life. And I could never have asked for a better surprise.
FRIENDS Series Finale:
-
So,
I guess this is it.
-
Yeah.
I guess so.
-
This is
harder than I thought it would be.
Fresh Prince of Bel
Air Series Finale:
-
It's been a good trip.
-
It's been a great trip.
-
Look, whenever, wherever, I got your back, C.
-
Whenever, wherever, I've got your back, W.
-
That just doesn't sound right coming from me,
does it?
-
Sounds
great, man.
That’s pretty much how I felt, and how I feel, about K
Academy. The memories I have made are
ones that will forever be ones that I hold in the highest regard and the
closest to my heart. The people I have
met, yeah, I didn’t expect it at all.
I’m 37 years old. This is a
basketball camp… a fantasy basketball
camp, no less. For adults. Over 35 years old. I’m one of two female campers. 500+ miles away from where I currently live
but oddly enough right smack in the middle of where I grew up. I knew no
other camper when I signed up for this experience. None of this is screaming: YOU WILL MAKE
LIFELONG FRIENDS HERE THAT YOU CONSIDER FAMILY.
And isn’t that just when life is at its best? When you have expectations, or lack thereof,
and they just get blasted beyond recognition?
And when you walk away with these friendships knowing: I’ve got these
people for life, and they’ve got me right back too. That’s the kind of thing that, well, it’s
just real. And everything else, no
matter what, is just icing.
Family. It’s lived and breathed at K Academy.
You see, a lot goes on at K Academy. These days are jam-packed. Sun-up to midnight. There are good times, there are hard times. It’s competitive, it’s intense, it’s
demanding, and it’s challenging. In the
heat of the moment, it’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae of things like: minor injuries,
7:30AM games, pure exhaustion at the end of the night, missed shots, flubbed
plays, lost games and seasons ending.
But what you will find, what I surely have found is: those things fade and it’s everything else that will rise to the forefront of your memories. Your focus shifts to the things that matter: the way it felt to pick up Matt Cantando after he had just taken his 6th charge of the season; the text message from Bryan Palma at 6:09AM Sunday telling Team Charlotte he’s “opening up Cameron- time to win a chip!” (and the response from Coach Henderson coming in all of 4 minutes later: "that's what I'm talking about!", followed by Jim Tobin's response not even 10 minutes after that... just a reminder- it's not even 6:30AM and these guys are READY); hanging out with Owen and Tara Littman back at the Washington Duke and talking real life, politics, what it’s like to have 4 dogs (who knew we were all crazy?!) and NYC; getting a midday pep talk from Dan Devin and then practicing my shot fake with Matt Devin; spending time between games sitting and chatting with Jennifer Lang about, just, living real life; seeing the joy Jordan Karen has in showing his Mom, Carla around- and the pride they both feel watching Rob Karen out there playing his heart out; running out to mid-court as the buzzer sounded to celebrate the incredible game Terry Rains just had on both ends of the floor; Marc Wise with the ultimate team-first attitude, playing his guts out amidst a seriously badly pulled hamstring; 11PM hallway story-time with Keith and Alaina Fournier- complete with Keith regaling us with tales from his debaucheries as a student at DUKE; talking with Andrew Tuttle and his Dad, David (who is just a priceless gem, everyone) and seeing the pure glee on their faces when Jahlil Okafor politely excused himself as he walked through our little circle ("I won't take that charge!", David exclaimed); watching Kevin Malphurs hit yet another huge 3 but knowing he knows it was extra special because JJ Redick was sitting there watching too; hearing- and seeing in person- the prank that David and Ann Merin managed to pull off after many years of planning (HILARIOUS, you two); sitting in Cameron and listening to Debbie Savarino talk with absolute pride about how well her oldest son, Joey, is doing in college and how well he has taken to his life there; laughing with Hamill Jones about how he Zion Williamson-ed my De'Andre Hunter corner 3 shot attempt, closing a full court gap in less than 2 seconds... and then seeing the look of pure completeness on Hamill's face as he gathered all of his family to take a group photo with Coach K on Saturday night (PS, Hamill, I 100% think you should do the camp idea at your high school- if there is anyone who can follow in the footsteps of Coach K, it's you, Hamill Jones the Third!); feeling so grateful for Coach Yuschak's wife, Susan, as she is running around on Saturday night to ensure we received the definitive answer as to exactly what time the training room would be open Sunday morning; looking over every game and seeing- and certainly hearing- Ariana Goswick and Amy Cantando cheer their hearts out for Team Charlotte; catching up every night with Jeff Klein and being there to cheer him on for each game (did you know Jeff has the record for most FTs taken at K Academy- try to guess it… you won’t even come close); Ariana’s chats with Dan Sutera and his “Dad”, Dan (hahahaha); having breakfast in the mornings with Randy Chen and his two girls; getting the “club passes” from the girls serving as the doorpersons in the defense room; meeting Ferol Vernon’s sweet kids and watching his games together with Ricci; daily chats and hugs with David Zenon; talking with Robert Brickey and finally getting to tell him how he was my favorite player when I was in second grade- a trait I shared with my second grade teacher, Mrs. Earlene Kistler (as in Doug Kistler's wife); watching Scott Ethridge beam as he watched his daughter show her friend around Cameron; getting shots up in the K Center and Cameron as Coaches Henderson, Yuschak, Pocius, Baker and Nessley all rebounded for me, helped me with my form and built my confidence up- shot after shot after shot; Mike, Mercer, Stirling and Christopher Griffin coming out in full support; Jack Cantando being Team Charlotte’s 9th man - celebrating our successes and shouldering our losses right alongside with us; watching K Academy: The Next Generation play some seriously good pick-up in the K Center each day; and, finally, getting the game plan drawn up in the pre-game huddle by Coach Marty Pocius, only to then have him turn the board over for his final message: ENJOY THE MOMENT.
 |
| Get you a friend like Jack Cantando |
Family. It’s lived and
breathed at K Academy. You can’t help
but see it.
You look out and see Luke Kennard coaching his dad, Mark
Kennard, who is attending as a camper this year. You see the joy Luke has when Mark steps to
the line to ice away a game with 2 free throws.
That’s family.
You look out and see Nolan Smith’s wife, Cheyna, who is
literally about to give birth just strolling around K Academy each day. When I say “literally about to give birth”, I
am being, well, literal. K Academy ended
on Sunday. She gave birth to their
daughter on Monday. So the 5 days
leading up to that? There she was- at K
Academy. In Cameron Indoor Stadium. In late May/early June. In the south.
I don’t know if you’ve spent much time in Cameron Indoor Stadium, but it
isn’t exactly revered or renowned for its level of comfort. And I don’t know if you looked at a weather
report last week for Durham, NC, but when we landed on Tuesday, it was 98
degrees. But there she was. Day after day after day. In full support mode. That’s family.
You sit on the bleachers in Cameron with Debe and Corey
Parks, Cherokee Parks’ Mom and sister, and you listen to them cheer for
Cherokee’s team and it’s as if he’s about to sub in. The passion they bring, it’s real. They are as invested as invested gets and
take this as seriously as possible- it’s like it is 1994 all over again. That’s family.
You walk around each day and night and see the likes of Mrs.
K., Debbie, Lindy, Steve, Joey, Michael, Quin, Remington and Caden… Coach K’s
family. These are people who have had
more than their fill of DUKE in their life.
No one would think one thing about it if they said, “you know, I don’t
know if I really want to spend my summer sitting in Cameron Indoor Stadium
watching a bunch of adults act like they are playing for DUKE.” Yet, there they are. And not at all phoning it in. Watching, cheering, investing, and loving
it. “This night makes my heart so full,”
Lindy said as we all rode back to the Washington Duke after the Wednesday night
draft. And it wasn’t lip service. She didn’t owe anyone that remark. I’m not even sure she was talking to anyone
other than just saying it aloud to the universe. And she said it because she meant it. That’s family.
And finally, not 5 minutes after Team Charlotte lost our
last game, I caught a quiet second with Matt who came up to me with tears in
his eyes, hugged me and said “I feel like I let you down.” He knows he did no such thing. And I made sure to tell him that. But, in typical Matt fashion, he’s always
thinking of others. Whether it’s running
down from lunch to be behind Dan and Ferol’s bench to sideline coach them and
cheer them on; or taking charge after charge after charge in our games, body
and health be damned; or yelling “CLEAR! CLEAR! CLEAR! CLEAR!” the duration of
our games until he loses his voice; or just being the guy who will always,
always, always lift you up as a teammate and a friend; Matt Cantando is a
teammate and a friend you should all be so lucky to have. Coach K, to my knowledge, does not have a
vested interest in any of the games in terms of hoping one team wins over
another. But I just happened to see him as
our last-chance-shot rimmed out and the deal was sealed for our loss. Have you ever watched a DUKE game and seen a
play fall apart or something just not go right and over on the bench you see
Coach K pull his knee toward his chest and he leans back and, kind-of, sighs…
as if to say “maaaaaaan, damn”? Have you
seen that? I have. And I saw it when we lost. And I know that was for Matt. Matt would never accept that as true and
would be sure I didn’t see it correctly, but I know what I saw. That’s just the kind of reaction Matt
elicits- he puts everyone else first, so we all want to put him first and see him succeed. Even Coach K... the winningest coach in
basketball history… at his fantasy camp… in a game that has no true impact on
his life. That’s family.
I told you: Family. It’s lived and breathed at K Academy.
So, that’s it.
Sophomore SZN… OUT.
I will say to any of you who
are reading this and are at all on the fence of making the leap to attend K
Academy: if it’s feasible for you- do it.
Go back and read what I wrote after last year to get a proper feel for
all the cool stuff you can expect at your fingertips. And then read what I wrote here and know that
I foresaw nothing like this happening. I
thought I’d be writing a second post to tell you how cool the stuff in my bag
was when I arrived, or what it’s like to play in Cameron, or how mindboggling
it is to sit and watch film in the DUKE locker room. Look: I live and breathe DUKE and
particularly DUKE basketball and Coach K and everything associated with the
program. You may find a bigger fan than
me out there, and if you do, they should likely be under mental health
supervision. Never could I have imagined
something about K Academy supplanting all of the stuff I wrote about following
my rookie season. But I’m telling you:
it happened. Here’s the bottom line: if
you’re looking for a way to carve 5 days out of your life and be surrounded by DUKE,
Cameron, basketball, Coach K, former and current players, The Washington Duke
Inn, Durham, socials and swag: congratulations- you found it. Just don’t be surprised when you walk away
with all of that and find yourself talking about it all in the secondary. You come for the rookie season experience and
the stuff; you return for the family. Over and over and over again.
To my family - my parents, my brother Marc, my nieces Kayla and Kai- and to all of my friends: you all have always been there cheering me on through everything in life. Thank you for loving me the way you do and for loving me for exactly who I am.
To my wife, Ariana, who loves and supports me like no other: thank you. Thank you for being there with me every step of the way and for making my life- and our life together- what it is: everything.
To everyone who works their face off to bring this fantasy
camp to life: Debbie Savarino, Rachel Curtis, Jon Jackson, Reagan Lunn, Nolan
Elingburg, Kevin Cullen, Jose Fonseca (and the entire training staff), the Team
Managers, the Equipment and Facilities Operations team, Food and Beverage crew,
and everyone
who is part of putting this experience together for all of us (far too many to
name here, for sure): please accept my most sincere thank you for all that you
do. I don’t know how you do it, but I’m
so grateful you’re you. I appreciate each
and every one of you- individually and collectively.
 |
| The Incomparable Debbie Savarino |
To the DUKE players- past, present, and incoming: THANK YOU
doesn’t quite cut it. You show up, you
give us your time, your attention, your commitment, your energy and your
passion. You don’t take a single play
off and you make each one of us better- better players, better people. Thank you for taking time out of your lives
to have an impact on ours. You’re THE BROTHERHOOD and we’re all just lucky to tag along.
To Coach K: you never cease to amaze. The loyalty, the passion, the consistency,
the fire, the commitment, the principles, the fight and the perspective that
you provide each one of us who wants to look, listen and learn is unmatched by
anyone, anywhere. In a time when you
have nothing left that you need to
prove to anyone, you continue to prove to us what we have long known: you are
the greatest to ever do it and your willingness to let us- and desire to have
us- all be a part of your team is something I will never take for granted. I respect many, many, many things about you,
but not one comes before the intangibles that you bring to the table, simply by
being you: first and foremost the way you regard your family and your
friends. Middle of March, big time game,
camera pans to the tunnel and there you are- heading to the locker room,
holding hands with Mrs. K. End of
May/beginning of June, there you are- sitting in Cameron at your camp,
surrounded by your wife, your kids, your grandkids and your best friend since
childhood, Moe. On Saturday, you talked
about how you are deep in your love for your family and your friends. Thank you for not just talking about it; but
for being
about it.
And finally, to those of you who I have had the pleasure of spending
5 days with each of these past 2 years, please know: it has been the
experience- and the time- of my life. I
cannot thank you all enough for what you have each brought to my life. It’s been more than I ever could have
imagined, and I’m so incredibly blessed to call all of you my family.
Let’s do it all again in less than 365 days, shall we?
- SMG #22
