We had the very special privilege of following the womens basketball team behind the scenes for the entire Saturday afternoon as they took on the Cincinnati Bearcats at UD Arena. It was an opportunity rarely granted at this level and the access we received and hospitality given to us by the AD, Coach Jabir and his staff, and especially the players were of the highest order.

We followed the team and coaches around like shadows and documented everything that goes on before, during, and after a UD basketball game. From the pregame speeches and prayers, to the halftime chalk talk, to the postgame reunion in the locker room of the Donoher Center, we were there and saw everything. Most importantly however, Coach Jabir and his players are letting us bring it all to you.

Specifically, John sat courtside on the bench with the UD team and followed Jabir around well before the game, asking questions, probing, following his moves. From last-minute coaching moves in the locker room while the players are elsewhere to perhaps a short walk to burn off energy, to coaching on the sidelines, Churan went everywhere Jabir did. He heard everything, saw everything, and took notes on everything the coaches said and did.

My responsibility was to gather video and still photo footage of the events that took place. From the players arriving in the locker rooms, to warm-ups, to the pregame prayer, to the last-minute changes in strategy on the whiteboard, to the halftime discussion by the coaches in the tunnel under the Arena, to the halftime speech in the lockers, to the postgame wrap-up back in the locker room of the Donoher Center, to the post-game interview in the McHale Auditorium — we were there and will bring it to you in the near future in video form to supplement Johns coverage.

This exercise was one of the most rewarding that I’ve ever done and I’ve been doing this for 7-8 years (it’s been too long when you start losing count). Its been a while since I was the one participating in team sports so I forgot a lot about what went on. It brought back a lot of memories with the fellas before a big soccer match. A different sport here, but the same principles are at work. It was fantastic to see the progression of UD athletes preparing for a game, acquiring a game plan, listening, making adjustments, rallying together, and having faith in a new coach with a new way of doing things around here. It’s no secret that UD womens basketball has been mediocre at best since the move from NAIA Division II to NCAA Division I back in the early 1980s. Coach Jabir’s resume’ speaks for itself and he believes this may be the best coaching opportunity of his career given the potential of the program. With prior stops at Siena, Marquette, and Providence, that’s saying a mouthful.

The final score of 62-40 in favor of UC on Saturday was lost in many more important details. It was a 4pt game midway through the second half, and just a 10pt game with four minutes left — against a 5-1 team that had only lost to Michigan and had two All America candidates. Dayton shot just 25% for the game and the staff reminded the players that 10% better might have turned the game around — very doable.

We will keep you posted on when to expect the fruits of our labor on this project. Give us a couple of weeks to sort it all out. In the meantime I know I speak for John when I say thank you to Jim, his fine assistants, Doug Hauschild, Jill Weakland, and most importantly the players for giving us the opportunity to tell their story and help sell UD womens basketball. Darn few media outlets of ANY legitimacy — no matter how notorious — are invited and given unrestricted access in the manner we received. For an afternoon they made us feel like members of the program.

I certainly hope a small reason for that is because of the standard we set for ourselves and the reputation that follows UDPride.