This Week in Wrenball: Not Done Yet

I know we’re supposed to be sad that William & Mary fell a step short of making the NCAA Tournament yet one more time. We didn’t reach the summit, so we’re to be disappointed. But here’s the thing: as I sat in the Richmond Coliseum and looked at the scoreboard showing W&M trailing conference regular season champion ODU by 5 points with 5 minutes left to play, I realized that the outcome was almost secondary to me. I desperately wanted them to complete their second-half comeback, to be sure, but the game reminded us, once again, of the joy inherent in the pursuit, in the small moments.

In a Danny Sumner drive and dunk over a bigger opponent, contested three-point baskets, and one-man effort to bring the Tribe back from a 15-point second-half deficit.

In David Schneider’s all-akimbo three-point shot, and full-court intuition, instinct, and drive.

In Quinn McDowell’s gritting his teeth through the pain of an ankle injury to limp to the line and drain a pair of free throws.

In the increasingly urgent back-and-forth roars of two engaged fanbases.

In Marcus Kitts and Steven Hess taking everything Gerald Lee dished out in the paint (and I hope your small children weren’t watching, because Lee did unspeakable things with his knees, elbows, and hips) and giving as well as they got.

In Tony Shaver’s unceasing optimism, patience, and perspective.

And finally, in realizing that William & Mary – picked to finish 11th in the 12-team CAA – proved yet again that they belonged on that stage. ODU was bigger, stronger, and better. But the Tribe scared 'em, and if that Sumner three had dropped to cut the deficit to 4 in the final minutes, who knows what might have happened.

Damn, but that team doesn’t have an ounce of quit in it. Even if we as fans wavered in our belief.

The fact that this isn’t the valedictory for what may go down as the best team in W&M history is victory in some sense. We’re almost certain to be previewing an NIT game here in a week or so. To paraphrase FOG:TB Michael Litos (who, once again, was awesome in his coverage of the CAA Tourney and in his generosity to us in Richmond), if I told you before the season that the Wrens would be going to the NIT, would you take it?

Hell, yeah, I would.