A&M women's basketball coverage is presented by Mac Resource Computers.
In what has to go down as the longest banquet in college sports history -- four hours and three minutes to be exact -- the festivities matched the production on the court this season. National championship caliber! The Texas A&M women's basketball team was honored in a huge way Wednesday night at the Zone Club at Kyle Field ... a 45-minute highlight video capped a night of celebration, storytelling and emotion galore from players, coaches and fans alike. It was a full house of about 850 people and they said that they had to turn away over 300 other requests.
Those that were on hand were treated to a wonderful dinner and an unforgettable night of listening to these players and coaches share their emotions of what it took to bring home the hardware ... and how great it was to get it done with such a wonderful group of young ladies.
First off ... here are the awards that were handed out:
* MVP: Danielle Adams
* Miss Aggie: Sydney Colson
* Miss Defense: Sydney Carter
* Miss Offense: Tyra White
* Miss Hustle: Skylar Collins
* 6th Man Award: Maryann Baker
* Most Improved: Adrienne Pratcher
* Team Academic: Maryann Baker and Kelsey Assarian
* Rookie Award: Karla Gilbert
* Season’s Greatest Fan: The entire 12th Man ... the loyal fans!
Some quick-hitting notes that came out of the event:
* There were lots, and lots, and lots of "standing ovations" ... even Sydney Colson joked on the mic that she felt like she was at Catholic Mass with Maryann Baker because of all of the standing up and sitting down. Funny moment. Very true ... but these ladies and the coaches deserved the ovation and applause that they received, so it was worth it.
* Toward the end of the night, emcee Mike Wright announced that the Aggies have agreed to play at UConn next season -- December 6 to be exact -- as part of the Jimmy V Classic. In addition, A&M will host UConn at Reed Arena the following season (2012-13).
Also, A&M will compete in the Bahama's Tournament this fall, where they will once again face Notre Dame in a rematch of the national championship game.
The biggest news in all of that is that UConn -- maybe the greatest or second greatest program ever in women's basketball -- is coming to Reed Arena for a basketball game in 2012-13. Could you have ever dreamed even three years ago that A&M would be able to attract UConn or Tennessee or a team like that to College Station? They landed Duke in a home-and-home the last two years, which was huge and got the ball rolling. But winning a national title has many rewards, and one of them is the perk of finding yourself in these marquee national "spotlight" types of games. And some of those games wind up in your home gym.
* Even more personification of the word "class" coming straight from Coach Blair: During the middle of the early "thank you's" by Gary Blair, he had the two equestrian coaches come up and get recognized for winning yet another national title. They had their national championship trophy and even head coach Tana McKay gave a few words. I love it and I thought it was a classy move by Blair to move to the side for just a few minutes and allow another very little-known sport receive the recognition that they deserve for dominating their sport as they have in recent years.
* Blair announced at some point in the night that Tyra White and Sydney Carter have been invited to participate in the Team USA trials this summer. They will have a chance to join the national team if they do well at the trials. It's a huge accomplishment just to be asked to try out. Making it would be very, very surreal ... seeing an Aggie playing for the national team in the game of basketball. Although, don't look now, but DeAndre Jordan is starting to look more and more like a perfect international style / Olympic center of the future for Team USA if he continues to progress and develop.
* Gary Blair had a "Maurice Cheeks moment" during Catherine Snow's amazing, spirit-filled, valedictorian-at-graduation-like speech. Snow is relatively shy and got pretty nervous and emotional at the podium. When she started to break down a bit, Gary Blair came up and put his arm around her, helping Cat get through it. It reminded me of that time when Mo Cheeks helped that young lady finish the National Anthem in that Blazers / Mavs game in Portland around 2000. It was a great moment.
* Maryann Baker and Danielle Adams each went 16 minutes during their senior speech. They were each outstanding. Baker is very controlled and coach-like. You can tell that she wants to be a coach and will go after it with passion. By the way ... Maryann is leaving the game the way she entered her college career ... injured. She's having shoulder surgery Thursday at 6 a.m. Adams absolutely stole the show ... she's incredibly funny and had a surprisingly smooth delivery up there on the podium. Danielle owned the mic and got extremely emotional at times, talking about her coaches and teammates. That speech shows you in a small sample, how far Danielle Adams has come as a person ... not just as a basketball player. She has grown up and has blossomed into a fine young woman. I was highly impressed with her speech.
* Sydney Colson was the last speaker and she went 14 minutes. She was fighting back tears most of the time and was, to nobody's surprise, unbelievable. Funny. Insightful. Emotional. She experienced every emotion on that stage during her speech, and the majority of the fans did the same.
* This last thought is a little more personal and may not appeal to everyone reading this: I knew this to be the case before but it was even more evident after attending this banquet ... this team is filled with strong Christians that used their belief to bond together this season in a great and powerful way ... not only on the court but off of it as well. They held regular Bible Study multiple times per week. They spent countless hours talking to each other about God and growing together spiritually. All four seniors that spoke, talked in depth about their relationship with Christ and how this was an entire team of believers that bond together throughout the season. And that bond -- or chemistry, if you will -- was so tight (because it wasn't just based on basketball), they used their amazing "togetherness" as fuel to help them overcome the odds and bring home the national championship trophy! It was amazing for me to hear each of them tell their story ... and if you were there, I sure hope that it inspired you as much as it did me.
That's about all I've got. I did not get video because the banquet was four hours long already and it was packed in there. I wasn't even sure if I could get to any of the players for a video interview. And not knowing that it was going to last that long, I had to leave after about three-and-a-half hours because I'm speaking at the County Line (West, Texas) Muster -- along with Logan and Katy -- Thursday night and I have to finish game-planning our rundown for our time at the podium.
But I hope this gives you a pretty good idea of what went on at the Zone Club Wednesday night. It was a great moment and a wonderful way to cap off an historic season in Texas A&M sports history.
And many, many more to come, shall we?
[This message has been edited by gabe_bock (edited 4/21/2011 8:35a).]
In what has to go down as the longest banquet in college sports history -- four hours and three minutes to be exact -- the festivities matched the production on the court this season. National championship caliber! The Texas A&M women's basketball team was honored in a huge way Wednesday night at the Zone Club at Kyle Field ... a 45-minute highlight video capped a night of celebration, storytelling and emotion galore from players, coaches and fans alike. It was a full house of about 850 people and they said that they had to turn away over 300 other requests.
Those that were on hand were treated to a wonderful dinner and an unforgettable night of listening to these players and coaches share their emotions of what it took to bring home the hardware ... and how great it was to get it done with such a wonderful group of young ladies.
First off ... here are the awards that were handed out:
* MVP: Danielle Adams
* Miss Aggie: Sydney Colson
* Miss Defense: Sydney Carter
* Miss Offense: Tyra White
* Miss Hustle: Skylar Collins
* 6th Man Award: Maryann Baker
* Most Improved: Adrienne Pratcher
* Team Academic: Maryann Baker and Kelsey Assarian
* Rookie Award: Karla Gilbert
* Season’s Greatest Fan: The entire 12th Man ... the loyal fans!
Some quick-hitting notes that came out of the event:
* There were lots, and lots, and lots of "standing ovations" ... even Sydney Colson joked on the mic that she felt like she was at Catholic Mass with Maryann Baker because of all of the standing up and sitting down. Funny moment. Very true ... but these ladies and the coaches deserved the ovation and applause that they received, so it was worth it.
* Toward the end of the night, emcee Mike Wright announced that the Aggies have agreed to play at UConn next season -- December 6 to be exact -- as part of the Jimmy V Classic. In addition, A&M will host UConn at Reed Arena the following season (2012-13).
Also, A&M will compete in the Bahama's Tournament this fall, where they will once again face Notre Dame in a rematch of the national championship game.
The biggest news in all of that is that UConn -- maybe the greatest or second greatest program ever in women's basketball -- is coming to Reed Arena for a basketball game in 2012-13. Could you have ever dreamed even three years ago that A&M would be able to attract UConn or Tennessee or a team like that to College Station? They landed Duke in a home-and-home the last two years, which was huge and got the ball rolling. But winning a national title has many rewards, and one of them is the perk of finding yourself in these marquee national "spotlight" types of games. And some of those games wind up in your home gym.
* Even more personification of the word "class" coming straight from Coach Blair: During the middle of the early "thank you's" by Gary Blair, he had the two equestrian coaches come up and get recognized for winning yet another national title. They had their national championship trophy and even head coach Tana McKay gave a few words. I love it and I thought it was a classy move by Blair to move to the side for just a few minutes and allow another very little-known sport receive the recognition that they deserve for dominating their sport as they have in recent years.
* Blair announced at some point in the night that Tyra White and Sydney Carter have been invited to participate in the Team USA trials this summer. They will have a chance to join the national team if they do well at the trials. It's a huge accomplishment just to be asked to try out. Making it would be very, very surreal ... seeing an Aggie playing for the national team in the game of basketball. Although, don't look now, but DeAndre Jordan is starting to look more and more like a perfect international style / Olympic center of the future for Team USA if he continues to progress and develop.
* Gary Blair had a "Maurice Cheeks moment" during Catherine Snow's amazing, spirit-filled, valedictorian-at-graduation-like speech. Snow is relatively shy and got pretty nervous and emotional at the podium. When she started to break down a bit, Gary Blair came up and put his arm around her, helping Cat get through it. It reminded me of that time when Mo Cheeks helped that young lady finish the National Anthem in that Blazers / Mavs game in Portland around 2000. It was a great moment.
* Maryann Baker and Danielle Adams each went 16 minutes during their senior speech. They were each outstanding. Baker is very controlled and coach-like. You can tell that she wants to be a coach and will go after it with passion. By the way ... Maryann is leaving the game the way she entered her college career ... injured. She's having shoulder surgery Thursday at 6 a.m. Adams absolutely stole the show ... she's incredibly funny and had a surprisingly smooth delivery up there on the podium. Danielle owned the mic and got extremely emotional at times, talking about her coaches and teammates. That speech shows you in a small sample, how far Danielle Adams has come as a person ... not just as a basketball player. She has grown up and has blossomed into a fine young woman. I was highly impressed with her speech.
* Sydney Colson was the last speaker and she went 14 minutes. She was fighting back tears most of the time and was, to nobody's surprise, unbelievable. Funny. Insightful. Emotional. She experienced every emotion on that stage during her speech, and the majority of the fans did the same.
* This last thought is a little more personal and may not appeal to everyone reading this: I knew this to be the case before but it was even more evident after attending this banquet ... this team is filled with strong Christians that used their belief to bond together this season in a great and powerful way ... not only on the court but off of it as well. They held regular Bible Study multiple times per week. They spent countless hours talking to each other about God and growing together spiritually. All four seniors that spoke, talked in depth about their relationship with Christ and how this was an entire team of believers that bond together throughout the season. And that bond -- or chemistry, if you will -- was so tight (because it wasn't just based on basketball), they used their amazing "togetherness" as fuel to help them overcome the odds and bring home the national championship trophy! It was amazing for me to hear each of them tell their story ... and if you were there, I sure hope that it inspired you as much as it did me.
That's about all I've got. I did not get video because the banquet was four hours long already and it was packed in there. I wasn't even sure if I could get to any of the players for a video interview. And not knowing that it was going to last that long, I had to leave after about three-and-a-half hours because I'm speaking at the County Line (West, Texas) Muster -- along with Logan and Katy -- Thursday night and I have to finish game-planning our rundown for our time at the podium.
But I hope this gives you a pretty good idea of what went on at the Zone Club Wednesday night. It was a great moment and a wonderful way to cap off an historic season in Texas A&M sports history.
And many, many more to come, shall we?
[This message has been edited by gabe_bock (edited 4/21/2011 8:35a).]
