Danville Diary Day 1: Kieon Arkwright

St.Clair County Community College’s Journey to the NJCAA National Tournament

Day 1:  Monday, March 15, 2010
Leaving at 6 a.m. for Danville (Illinois) was really early and we were going to be on the bus for bout 7.5 hours. Everyone pretty much slept until we reached Indiana where we practiced at IPFW for about an hour. We just pretty much shot around so we could get off the bus and get our legs moving to get away from all the stiffness.

After that hour we headed back on the bus, got food and were on our way back down the road. On the way there we watched film on Lewis & Clark who we play Tuesday at 3 p.m. Everyone seemed so pumped and focused for the big game tomorrow. I was joking on the Bus with Alan Sharp and Marquis Lee about how hard we hard worked to be here and how at the beginning of the season no one really knew about us.

Well after the film we pretty much just chilled and went back to sleep and some of us did some homework. After
about a few more hours we arrived in Danville and got off the bus to get ready to practice at the college where we would be playing at.

We only got to practice for 30 mins for some reason. I don’t know, I guess that was the NJCAA rules for team practice times. Walking into the gym was exciting though because we talked all year about getting to this very place and we

were here. The shootaround went pretty good we just got alot of shots in and evey body got their Dunk lol. Jake Stark, being the passer, that he is was throwing everybody alley oops. Everyone was excited but determined.Coach (Dale) Vos and the assistants all looked focused and ready to get the tournament going.

After the shootaround we got back on the bus and went to our hotel where the team and I chilled in the hot tub and talked about what we need to do to win our game. To finish off our busy day we went to the NJCAA banquet where all the 16 Teams competing in the tournament attended. At this banquet Coach Steve Schmit was inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame. The Banquet was pretty much just a type of welcoming all the teams who made it to nationals and congratulated us. Oh yeah, we ate a little bit too.

With that my day has come to an end. I’m about to sit around watch a few teammates play NCAA college basketball and get some rest before the game tomorrow.

Stay tuned for the Inside Scoop of the St. Clair County Community College Skippers NJCAA National Tournament Journey……..

{Kieon Arkwright}