BIRMINGHAM, Ala. | The ladder stretched to the heavens, from the balsa-colored floor to wherever it is dreams and hopes hover for those who jump higher, run faster and imagine so much bigger than the rest of us do.
It wasn't one of those overlogo'ed, sold-to-a-sponsor ladders. It was something that looked like they lugged it from a custodian closet somewhere in the dungeon of the Pete Hanna Center, tucked in there with the squeegee-mop bucket and shelves of industrial-strength toilet paper.
It didn't matter.
The journey up, not the contraption, is what counts.
One by one they climbed the ladder. The redshirt freshmen who toiled in total obscurity, not quite sure what their appropriate celebration should be. The role players. The starters. Staff members.
Finally the last bit of surgery was left for C.J. Williamson, who left with full net in hand. Appropriate, since he had just scored 73 points – making 29 of his 53 shots -- over the three games of the Gulf South Conference tournament.
Each person, up the ladder and down – but no one, really, with their feet back on the ground.
Once again, Pete Hanna Arena was Spragins South.
Once again, the UAH Chargers were Gulf South Conference champions, for the fifth time.
Once again, they are going to the NCAA Division II Basketball Tournament.
This makes 14 times in UAH history, the 10th time in the last 13 years and the fourth time in a row.
They thumped Union 86-72 on Sunday afternoon, their seventh consecutive win, their ninth in 10 games. They went to Birmingham looking to avenge their most recent loss, at West Alabama by one point, and only home loss, to Union, also by one point. They beat West Alabama Saturday by 11 on Sunday, Union by 14.
They ran away early as if it was Globetrotters vs. the Washington Generals, only to come back to throw a scare into the fan base – the moms and dads, the long-time boosters, the pep band, the brace of students who are now contemplating beginning their spring break this weekend in Fort Lauderdale. Then some unconscious Union shooting and a few UAH turnovers, and an 18-point lead shrunk to five with 9:11 to play.
Eventually the defense kicked in. Under more duress, Union hit only two of nine 3s the rest of the way. It turned the ball over seven times in the next six minutes. Soon enough, time for somebody to fetch the requisite GSC Championship T-shirts and drag the box to the UAH end of the floor.
There is a historic disconnect between fans and coaches in all sports. The former see only the black and white of a win-loss column. The latter see shades of gray. To coaches, it is about the progress and the process – or, has become traditional in our state The Process, in upper case – in developing a team.
On January 22, this team sat at 11-6. It was 4-6 in the conference. In black-and-white, that looked bleak. Forget playing on Sunday in the GSC finals. Simply making the eight-team field was shaky as Jell-O in a windstorm. Admitted Shulman, "We just wanted to get into the GSC Tourney at one time."
The process worked. The progress. The shots fell. The defense held. The winning became contagious.
Now, Shulman said, "we're going dancing."
Dancing. With feet not touching the ground.
Assistant athletic director Mark McCarter is a former sportswriter who has seen teams cut down nets for decades – but never getting to enjoy it as much as he did Sunday.
