Howdy folks,
Checking in from Greensboro, N.C., this is Grant Gibbs, junior guard for the Creighton men’s basketball team. It’s been a busy first two days here in tobacco country. We took off early Wednesday morning from Omaha and arrived in North Carolina around 10 a.m. Eastern Time. Just a fun fact for you, it takes freshman guard Avery Dingman ’til about noon until he starts looking and acting normal (not a morning person). Wednesday was a pretty standard day for a college basketball player: naps, practice, food and then watched a little hoops before calling it a night and hitting the sheets for good.
The weather in Greensboro has been spectacular: 80 degrees, sunny with clear skies. Our two hosts from the Greensboro Sports Council are fine southern gentlemen who have done a great job of showing us around. We had our open practice today at Greensboro Coliseum, the arena where we will be playing tomorrow. In the NCAA tournament, every team has 30 minutes of “practice” at the actual arena for fans to watch: basically a chance for the fans to get a look at the teams and players. The arena is pretty cool, a little bigger than the CenturyLink and mostly of green coloration. It’s a place rich with history as the ACC tournament has been played there for years. Names like Ralph Sampson, Len Bias and even Michael Jordan have played in and roamed the same locker rooms we did today. Pretty cool stuff.
Our opponent tomorrow, Alabama, is a really good ball club. Many people have been saying it will be our efficient and multi-faceted offense against their athletic, swarming defense. We’re going to have to really take care of the ball and keep them off the offensive glass in order to be successful. We’re as loose and confident as ever though, and I think our naïve nature about playing in the tournament and everything that comes along with it could play to our advantage. We’ve played all year pressure-free, with extreme togetherness and a belief in one another, and that won’t change no matter who or where we’re playing.
The wildest thing just happened as I’m sitting here in my hotel room typing this first entry. My road roommate, freshman point guard Austin Chatman, and I have been hanging out watching the NCAA tournament action for most of the night. As we’re watching the Iowa State vs. Connecticut game, Austin tells me that UConn is destined to comeback from a 12 point halftime deficit due to the play of UConn’s star wing, Jeremy Lamb. He says he’s made such a valid point that he’s going to tweet about Lamb and his second half prediction, for the world to see. Within minutes, we’re watching the halftime report on TBS and they display Austin’s tweet and a giant picture of him on the T.V. for his second half prediction. We immediately look at each other, baffled, and start jumping up and down on the beds. Soon all our teammates run have run into the room, and are bouncing around and celebrating Austin’s newfound celebrity. It was really just a random, yet hilarious, event to have happened.
Anyway, that’s all I got for the update here in Greensboro: need to get some sleep for the game tomorrow. I can tell you that this group is extremely excited, but focused, to get out on the court and represent Creighton and everybody back home watching in Omaha. Thanks for reading, God Bless, and Roll Jays.
-GG