30 years from now, when someone's asking me about the '09-'10 basketball season, here are the five moments, I'll remember this season by.
1. Beating Drake 90-70 at the Knapp Center. The team had swagger, along with the ISU fans in attendance (myself included). After this result, every Cyclone homer was thinking this was a NCAA Tourney Team. Was one of the most fun games I've attended in the past few years.
2. The arrival of Marquis Gilstrap. Think it was a rough year? Imagine where we would've been without Gilstrap. The guy led the Big 12 in rebounding. Had those two awesome dunks on Cole Aldrich at Hilton. Sure he was unpolished, but his ability to take over at times was a lot of fun to watch. After hearing his story about leaving school, and coming back, along with his performance this year, I'll never forget what he did in his 1 year at ISU.
3. Dendy-Gate 1 and 2. Also Colvin-Gate. Lots of random rumors across the ISU fanbase during the season. When things aren't going well, fans need something to talk about I guess.
4. The defections. Including a particular starting Center who's biggest offer other than ISU was St Mary's (3 years ago mind you), developing nicely, to bolt unexpectedly from the program. Also, a particular shooting-guard, who wanted to sit on the bench in a pro-league in Germany, rather than help a team he already had committed to here... After coming off a year where we had 6 new incoming players, we currently have 3 committed players and 3 open scholarships for the '10-'11 season.
5. Last, but not least, beating K-State in Manhattan. Enough of the snarky comments, this was awesome. We kept watching and waiting for ISU to fall behind, but they battled through lack of depth, foul trouble (including Brackins fouling out), and some boneheaded plays to get one of the biggest victories in the Basketball program... Period. The guys kept fighting all year, and it was nice to see something positive happen to that group, during one of the most frustrating years I can remember.
Honorable Mention: The 3 game losing streak to UNI, Northwestern, and Cal. After those performances, I started doubting this team, and figured we were likely in for a longer year than expected.... It's an honorable mention, because 30 years from now, I'll remember the losses, but probably forgot the teams... Ok I lied. I KNOW I'll remember UNI, but there's a chance I'll forget the others.
I realize this year stunk, but what are some moments that you will remember this season by (both good and bad)? You will remember something about this season, and I'd be interested in hearing your takeaways.
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