BUIES CREEK, N.C. – 14,556 days, or 39 years, 10 months, 7 days.  That's how long it was between Campbell men's basketball games I attended just as a fan.
 
From Dec. 30, 1983 until Monday night's opener, Nov. 6, 2023, whenever I was present at a Fighting Camel men's hoops game, I was serving in some game operations role or media liaison in my 37 seasons attached to the program as either a student worker (1984-87) or as the primary full-time media contact (1989-March 2023).
 
Let's rewind.
 
After spending one year as a part-time student at NC State – yes, it was the NCAA Championship "Cardiac Pack" season of 1982-83, I enrolled at CU in August of that year.  As anyone associated with the University can recall, life in Buies Creek at that time was incredibly different than today.
 
For one, during its seventh year as an NCAA Division I independent, the men's basketball team played its "home" games 35 miles south at Fayetteville's old Cumberland County Memorial Arena.
 
As it turns out, as a freshman, I didn't take the opportunity to ride one of the old Campbell buses to the games in Fayetteville.  I was a member of the Campbell Times sports staff, but as a new reporter was assigned to cover sports like cross country, golf, and tennis, rather than the more spectator-driven teams like soccer, basketball, and baseball.
 
But over the Christmas break, the Camels played the Wolfpack at NC State.  A group of my high school friends and I bought less than $10 seats to sit in the end zone at old Reynolds Coliseum.  Even though I sat next to future Big South player of the year Clarence Grier in William P. Tuck's Western Civilization class every Tuesday and Thursday, I was still enthralled by the NCAA champs, including Lorenzo Charles, Ernie Myers, Cozell McQueen and Terry Gannon, not to mention the 5-foot-6, future NBA slam dunk champ Anthony "Spud" Webb.
 
My friend Allison Ayscue scolded me for pulling for State against "my school" and I can truthfully say that was the last time I ever did such a thing.  Like many freshmen in those days, I caught a ride home to Raleigh nearly every weekend to work a part-time job that fall, and with no men's hoops games on campus, I hadn't made the connection to the team that I did one year later.
 
In the fall of 1984, I began working with David Snipes in the Campbell Sports Information office and joined the men's basketball stat crew, keeping pencil and paper track of the number of assists, turnovers, steals and blocked shots by both teams during home games. 
 
Afterwards, we called the TV stations with the final score and waited (and waited) for the old telecopier machine to deliver the wire story and box score to numerous outlets.  Full disclosure: the telecopier was a big-time mass media gadget that could transmit one entire sheet of information in an amazing seven (or eight) minutes.  So, if you had two sheets that needed to be sent to a half dozen outlets, you spent about an hour waiting to leave.  For Charles Robinson, David Adams, Chris Carr, and me, that sometimes meant taking off our street shoes and shooting baskets to pass the time on the portable hardwood floor at the old CCMA (which was a wonderful change from the old tartan surface at Carter Gym).
 
Not that I didn't already know it, but I really knew my girlfriend Claudia would one day be able to understand the life of a reporter after she waited, and waited, with me in that room one night during the spring semester of 1987, hours after the teams and nearly everyone but the night manager at the Arena, had left as the telecopier hummed. Fifteen minutes for each outlet.  She's still with me nearly four decades later!
 
On the road, I had the chance to travel back to NC State for the season-opening 94-54 loss to the 13th-ranked Wolfpack, but this time, I sat courtside opposite the Campbell bench alongside dozens of credentialed reporters as I covered the game for the student newspaper. 
 
Six days later, I was in Clemson, S.C., for the annual IPTAY tournament where the Camels faced the Tigers, including both Grant brothers, Horace and Harvey, and Elden Campbell, all of whom played multiple years in the NBA.  My role on the road was to keep the visiting team scorebook, tracking points, fouls and time outs in the last year before the shot clock was universally added to Division I rules and two seasons before the 3-point line was adopted.
 
The next night, the Camels faced the previous season's national runner up Houston Cougars, minus Hakeen Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler, whose roster still included future NBA standout Greg "Cadillac" Anderson.  With assistant coach Press Maravich alongside head coach Jerry Smith, the Camels were in a tight game with Houston until the Cougars pulled away for a nine-point victory in the last four minutes.
 
Over the next three seasons, I worked nearly every home game and multiple contests on the road, where my post-game responsibilities included handing a post-game media contact list to the host sports information director (SID), calling the final score into the Raleigh (and Fayetteville) TV stations, and securing the assigned number of post-game statistics sheets and full game "books" (that included a typewritten play-by-play of scoring, fouls and other details).
 
Shortly after graduation in 1987, I moved to New Bern, N.C., where I took at job as an entry level sports reporter, who covered five high schools, plus East Carolina University men's basketball and Kinston Indians baseball in the old Carolina League.  Over Christmas break, I did get back to Carter Gym to attend a game, but it was to write a feature on former New Bern high school coach Billy Lee, who was then in his third year of what would be an 18-season tenure in charge of the Camels.
 
The following year, 1988-89, I was employed by Coman Publishing, where I primarily covered NC State "non-revenue" sports for The Wolfpacker.  My work schedule didn't permit any trips to Fayetteville (site of seven "home" games) or Buies Creek, where the Camels played eight times that year.
 
In May of that year, our Athletics Director, Wendell Carr called by about the soon to be vacant position of sports information director at Campbell.  I initially was not interested, but following another call from Coach Carr who, along with his wife Susie, treated me like a second son during my undergraduate days, and one from my mass comm professor Dan Ensley, I agreed to an interview on campus.
 
Our president, Dr. Wiggins, was a morning person and wanted to meet me for breakfast at Marshbanks Dining Hall.  Frank Upchurch, then the VP for Institutional Advancement and father of my friends Donald and Rock, met me at the front door.  He asked me, "Did you get a new suit?"  I admitted that I had, just for the occasion, and he then reached under my right armpit, yanked the price tags off the jacket and said," put this in your pocket."
 
We proceeded to the serving line where I had eaten for most of my four years in The Creek, and when I passed the menu "options" and headed directly for the coffee, Frank asked why I wasn't eating.  I told him that I got up at 5:00 a.m. at our apartment in Cary and already had breakfast.  He then said, "you've got to eat something.  Dr. Wiggins says breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  If you don't eat, he'll think something's wrong with you."  So, with my bowl of cereal and coffee in hand, apparently all was well. 
 
On June 1, 1989, I started my job as sports information director at Campbell.  Over the next 34 years, I served as the primary contact for our men's basketball team, a job that took me all over the nation, from Miami to Seattle, San Francisco to Vermont, and even to Jamaica. 
 
I did not attend every game. Sometimes, a student, graduate or full-time assistant made a trip while I stayed home to work at a different event or missed a game due to a wedding or funeral. 
 
But when the Camel men played, and I was in attendance, I was at the official table, or along press row, doing "what I did" – which did not include cheering or yelling for either team (a message that is included by national football, basketball and baseball writers organizations in organizational directives). 
 
My responsibilities are different now.  I am still able to help tell the stories of Campbell athletes, coaches, staff members and alumni through feature stories and podcasts, but I'm not responsible for game day operations.  I attend games as needed in my position as Associate A.D. for Alumni & Community relations, but no longer must dread the 4-hour bus ride home after a midweek road game.
 
Just last Saturday, as I sat with Claudia and our grown daughter Catherine at Kenan Stadium and stood and yelled when the Camels tied the score 7-7 in the first quarter, Catherine looked over and exclaimed, "Daddy, finally you get to cheer!"
 
On Monday night, I sat in the comfortable, padded chairs in the President's suite at Gore Arena, watched the Camels build a 14-point halftime lead and claim a double-digit win over Navy in the season opener.  I felt strangely calm, not worrying one time about how the operation side of the event was or would go.  Those worries are now in control of the most capable and talented hands of Davis Dupree and my friend and colleague since 2007, Jason Williams.
 
I cheered when Gediminas Mokseckas scored at the rim, when Laurynas Vaistaras dropped a backdoor pass to Mason Grant and Anthony Dell'Orso pulled up for a soft jumper.  Like a regular fan, I grimaced when the Camels made an unforced error or failed to secure a loose ball, but fortunately, those were rarities in a 59-48 victory.
 
Oh, by the way, the last game of my first year as a student assistant, my dad and I drove from Raleigh to Fayetteville so that I could keep stats when Navy played Campbell at the old arena in Fayetteville.  Little did I know that Navy's starting center, a sophomore named David Robinson, would go on to win NBA titles, Olympic Gold and enshrinement into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.  We didn't know that fellow sophomore Clarence Grier would cap his senior season two years later as one of the nation's scoring leaders, Big South player of the year and be an eighth-round pick of the Houston Rockets.
 
I just had to keep that assists-turnovers-steals-blocks stat sheet, help run copies, and get back in the car to return to Raleigh (it was spring break on campus).
 
In between the fall semester of 1984 and the 2023 Big South title game in Charlotte (where top-seeded UNC Asheville rallied from a 14-point deficit to defeat the Camels 77-73), the memories are numerous. 
 
I've worked Campbell Basketball games during the span of seven United States Presidents and three (of the five) Campbell Presidents (Norman Wiggins, Jerry Wallace, Brad Creed).  I worked with six Athletics Directors (Wendell Carr, Tom Collins, Stan Williamson, Bob Roller, Omar Banks and Hannah Bazemore), plus two interim ADs (Dennis Bazemore and Wanda Watkins).
 
I've interviewed Jerry Smith, Billy Lee, Robbie Laing and for the last decade, Kevin McGeehan, about Campbell Basketball and escorted those head coaches to pre- and post-game interviews all over the country.
 
What games stand out the most?  Here's a few.
 
Nov. 25, 1989 – Campbell at UNC Wilmington | Wilmington
My first men's hoops regular season game as a full-time employee and trying to appear more experienced, knowledgeable and secure than my 25 years of age would allow.  UNCW SID Joe Browning, who just retired this past Sept. 1 after 37 years of overseeing Seahawk athletics communications, not only welcomed me to the business, but became a trusted colleague who shared his insight and wisdom throughout his tenure.  Seahawks won 73-57.
 
Dec. 12, 1990 – Campbell at Howard | Washington, D.C.
My wife, Claudia, was able to join the travel party and to this day still claims this was one of the most enjoyable games she has ever attended.  While the Camels did win 74-73, the atmosphere at historic Burr Gymnasium was incredible.  Long before days of recorded music blasted at a way-too-loud volume, the Howard pep band entertained the crowd with drum cadences that brought the fans to their feet during timeouts.  The father of our center Marvin Edmonds, who was from Washington, D.C., leaned over to Claudia at one point during the festivities and said with a smile, "I think we're pulling for the wrong team."
 
Mar. 6, 1992 – Campbell vs. Liberty | Anderson, S.C.
When Jeff Bloom's 3-pointer at the buzzer bounded off the back rim and a 53-51 Camel win in the Big South semifinal round at Anderson, S.C., was secure, we were amazed to witness Flames President Jerry Falwell (Sr.) chase the official crew into its dressing area (which, strangely, was a large RV in the corner of what really was a large event space that happened to have a basketball court set in the middle of the Civic Center.  Dr. Falwell was incensed that the crew had called a technical foul on Flames head coach Jeff Meyer and demanded that crew chief Dick Paparo reveal what offense the coach had committed.
 
Mar. 7, 1992 – Campbell vs. Charleston Southern | Anderson, S.C.
'Nuff said, the win (on EPSN with the late Tom Mees on the call) that sent the Camels to the "Big Dance" for the first (and only, so far) time.  It was one of those matchups where it never felt like the third-seeded Camels would lose a second-half lead against the fourth-seeded Bucs and went on to win 67-53.  Revenge for a one-point loss in the '87 Big South final (where I still believe that Brad Childress was behind the 3-point line on a basket that was only credited as a two) with much more at stake, the Big South's first automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
 
Mar. 19, 1992 – Campbell vs. #1 Duke | Greensboro
Every Campbell fan (and most other college basketball fans along Tobacco Road) remembers this one.  David vs. Goliath. Lee's Fleas vs. K's Trees.  Joe Spinks, Mark Mocnik, Steve Martin, Billy Ellison and Keith Ison vs. Duke's Christian Laettner, Brian Davis, Antonio Lang, Bobby Hurley and Thomas Hill.  Yup, future NBA all-star Grant Hill, then a freshman, didn't start.  Duke won 82-56, but that wasn't nearly the whole story.  For 10 days, Buies Creek was the center of the college basketball universe as the small school faced the defending national champs.  Dick Schaap from ABC World News, Gene Wojciechowski of the LA Times, Mark Blaudschun of the Boston Globe, and Barry Jacobs of the NY Times were among the national sports journalists to visit Buies Creek in the run up to the game.  On game night, the Blue Devils jumped to a 20-point halftime lead, but Mocnik made seven threes in a 29-point effort in Duke's 82-56 victory.
 
Jan. 16, 1993 – Radford at Campbell | Buies Creek
Doug Day, who went on to set an NCAA record for 3-pointers made with his high-arcing jump shot, actually hit the light above the basket on a wing three in the waning seconds and the low rafters at Carter Gym played a role in Campbell's 87-84 win over the Highlanders.  Three weeks later, in the final seconds with a 5-point win secured at Radford, Campbell point guard Dan Pogue hurled the basketball skyward in an (unsuccessful) attempt to hit one of the lights that hung on the Dedmon Center domed roof.
 
Dec. 4, 1993 – Campbell at NC State | Raleigh
Joe Spinks scored 25 points to lead the Camels to a 72-69 win in OT over the Wolfpack at Reynolds Coliseum and the program's first-ever win over an Atlantic Coast Conference school.  In an era that proceeded the one-and-done/transfer portal times in which we live and power conference teams assembled rosters that included multiple veterans, the instances of upsets by one-bid league members were few and far between. On the broadcast, which Coach Billy Lee had recorded over the game film, Camel play-by-play announcer's game-ended call was, "Campbell is going to be NC State in men's basketball, and frankly, I don't believe it."
 
Jan. 12, 1994 – Campbell at South Carolina | Columbia, S.C.
Frankly, I wasn't surprised by the fact that Campbell's first win over an SEC member came against Eddie Fogler's Gamecocks, who went on to finish 9-19 overall, but did sweep Tennessee and claim a victory late in the year over Kentucky.  After watching Spinks, Scott Neely, Dan Pogue and company win at Reynolds Coliseum five weeks earlier, the old Carolina Coliseum did not present a very hostile environment.
 
Feb. 18, 1999 – Campbell vs. Georgia State | Buies Creek
After Adam Fellers drained 5 threes and scored 21 points to lead the Camels to an 80-73 win over the preseason ASUN favorite Georgia State, a local reporter (who also was a native of England) asked Panthers head coach "Lefty" Driesell, 'who would you identify as Campbell's most dangerous player?'  Lefty's response: "What'd you think?!"
 
Dec. 29, 2004 – Campbell vs. Kentucky | Lexington, Ky.
I had the best seat in the house, midcourt between the benches, for the largest crowd ever to see the Camels play (in fact, I've been at all of the top-10 highest attended CU men's hoops games).  Despite the fact that the game was played the week after Christmas, 22,411 fans jammed Rupp Arena (which now seats "only" 20,500 after 2019 renovations) to see the eighth-ranked Wildcats defeat the Camels 82-50.  To put that figure in perspective, UK somehow figured how to jam 500 more people into the facility a week later when the Wildcats hosted Kansas.  The game was especially meaningful to sophomore forward Russ Gibson, who grew up a UK fan and was coached by his father, Phil, at Henderson Co. (Ky.) High School.
 
Nov. 20, 2006 – Campbell vs. UNCW | Buies Creek
In the first game played between the Camels and Seahawks at a jam-packed Carter Gym as Division I members, Robbie Laing's team ran past the Benny Moss-led Seahawks 100-94.  Ruell Pringle (27) and Jonathan Rodriguez (22) combined for 49 points and the Camels hit the 100-point mark for the first time against a D1 opponent since 1979.
 
Nov. 15, 2008 – Campbell vs. Chowan | Buies Creek
The opponent or outcome (a 79-64 win) wasn't nearly as notable as the fact that the Camels played their first game in the 3,095-seat John W. Pope Jr. Convocation Center / Gilbert Craig Gore Arena.  After spending 55-years as a tenant of tiny Carter Gym (final seating capacity of 947 was the second-smallest among D1 members), the Camels moved into one of the best mid-major arenas in the region.
 
Dec. 29-30, 2008 – Campbell vs. Chicago State and Penn | Orlando
What made this trip to the UCF Holiday tournament memorable for us was not the fact that the Camels went 0-2 at the "New" UCF Arena, but on the ride to Orlando, there were literally more kids than players on the bus.  Coach Robbie Laing invited the families of everyone in the travel part to join the team for the games, and a trip to Disney World, which was covered as part of the "guarantee" by the host school.  We were able to experience the Magic Kingdom over Christmas break with 12-year old Catherine and 8-year old Oliver.
 
Nov. 17, 2009 – Campbell vs. East Carolina | Buies Creek
First post-win floor rush by Camel students following a 74-68 win over ECU, alma mater of Campbell President Jerry Wallace, who celebrated in the midst of the crowd.
 
Nov. 23, 2009 – Campbell vs. Virginia Tech | Buies Creek
Hokies head coach Seth Greenberg agreed to be the first ACC member to ever play a men's hoops game in Buies Creek.  In front of a greater-than capacity crowd of 3,205, the Camels led midway through the second half at Gore Arena, but could not hold off Virginia Tech in a 71-60 decision.
 
Nov. 27, 2009 – Campbell vs. North Florida | Buies Creek
Campbell trailed UNF 31-16 in an afternoon ASUN contest at Gore Arena.  In the final minute of a Camel rally and the home team leading by one, our nine-year-old son, Oliver, who had served as a water boy for the team since kindergarten, apparently thought it might be a good time for some strategic input.  After the final horn sounded in a 59-58 win, and the teams lined up to shake hands, assistant coach Bobby Kennen immediately headed by way with a gigantic smile and maybe a tear welling up in his eyes.  Fighting back the urge to burst out laughing, Bobby told me that Oliver crept down to where the coaches were seated as the clock ticked down in the final minute, tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Coach Kennen, when's it going to be Cole's (Dewey) turn to play?"  What a way to break the tension!  Bobby wondered if Cole put Oliver up to it, but decades later, he was just as surprised to hear the story re-told as were his teammates Preston Dodson and Junard Hartley, all of whom were some of "Big O's" favorites.
 
Feb. 19, 2010 – Campbell vs. ETSU | Buies Creek
The only seats vacant in Gore Arena were the two rows behind the visitors' bench reserved for their guests.  Nearly every one of the 3,023 in attendance were on hand to see the final home game of Campbell's much-loved senior quartet of Jonathan Rodriguez, Kyle Veraska, William Kossangue and Miles Taylor.  The Camels, who shared the ASUN regular season title, defeated the eventual tourney champs 79-57.
 
Dec. 22, 2010 – Campbell vs. UNCW | Buies Creek
Just after Junard Hartley hit a buzzer-beating corner three in front of the Camel bench, he was swarmed by his teammates.  That's what most people in the stands and those who tuned into the online broadcast saw.  What Claudia saw, however, was something entirely different.  Torn between supporting the Camels – a team he adopted after moving to the area to be a full-time grandparent – and his wife Phyllis' alma mater UNCW, my father-in-law, Wilbur "D" Croom wore a vintage Campbell Baseball cap and a UNCW shirt underneath his windbreaker jacket.  After Junard's shot, "D" stood and zipped up his jacket so few among the happy fans realized his divided loyalties as they exited the arena.  Note: The house would further divide when Catherine entered UNCW and graduated with the class of 2019, while Oliver attended his hometown school.
 
Feb. 19, 2013 – Campbell vs. Radford | Radford, Va.
After the Highlanders took an eight-point lead at halftime, Jeff Beeler, who still serves as the official scorer at hoops games in addition to his regular chores as head women's golf coach at Radford, leaned over and told me, "You might want to get out of here for a few minutes. It's about to get crazy.  They're going to record a Harlem Shake."  I thanked my former student assistant and long-time friend for the tip, but after checking the security arrangements (a plastic pipe and chain that separated the bleachers from the official table and bench area), I assured him that I was going to be ok and proceeded to start writing the first half summary for my post-game story.  After decades of developing the ability to block out noise and focus on writing, I paid little attention to the volume and enthusiasm of the public address announcer and the blast of the piped-in music that started the "Harlem Shake."  Well, moments later, I knew I should have heeded Jeff's warning as an overly enthusiastic costumed Radford student jumped the "barrier" and was standing on the seat next to me and shaking with all his might.  I tried to assume my normal, "been there, done that" pose, but I most certainly had NEVER been there and done THAT.  The video from that night lives on HERE.  And, by the way, Trey Freeman (21) and Andrew Ryan (20) combined for 41 points as the Camels rallied to beat the Highs 72-66 in OT.
 
Feb. 1, 2014 – Campbell vs. Coastal Carolina | Buies Creek
The largest crowd (3,220) ever to witness a Campbell home game jammed Gore Arena when CU hosted a nationally televised game for the first time.  ESPNU aired Campbell's 61-58 loss to eventual Big South champ Coastal Carolina as its Big South Wildcard selection broadcast.
 
Feb. 20, 2016 – Campbell vs. Charleston Southern | Charleston, S.C.
My former student assistant, and later boss, Ricky Ray sent me a text message during the first half of our game at Charleston Southern.  It read simply, "Bill Murray is standing behind you."  A classmate of Joey, Jeff and Jamie Beeler, longtime friend – and one who was known to "pull my leg" on occasion, I initially did not believe him.  But, when I turned around, there he stood, Carl Spackler from "Caddyshack," long-time Saturday Night Live cast member, and still Co-Owner/Director of Fun (that's his real title) of the Charleston RiverDogs minor league baseball team.  As fans flocked to take selfies with Murray, who in typical fashion, obliged but with a non-plussed, "Groundhog Day" visage, I sat back and just enjoyed the scene.  I did snap a quick photo of someone else taking Murray's picture.  From what I was told, Murray was in town for a college baseball tournament at Joseph Riley Park, and a friend invited him to check out CSU hoops (and the nation's second-smallest gym) that evening.  Always one who is up for the unusual, Murray showed up, and even participated in the halftime student promotion before circling the court, giving high-fives to cheerleaders, CSU students and band members before making his exit.  The final box score would reveal that Troy Harper scored a career-high 26 points in a 74-72 Campbell victory.
 
Mar. 2, 2017 – Campbell vs. UNC Asheville | Rock Hill, S.C.
Chris Clemons scored a Big South and school record 51 points, including 8 threes, to lift the seventh-seeded Camels over second-seed UNC Asheville 81-79 in the league quarterfinals at Winthrop Coliseum.  Clemons scored 23 of Campbell's first 25 points in a win that started the Camels on a run to their first league tournament title game since 1994.
 
Mar. 2, 2019 – Campbell vs. Radford | Buies Creek
On Senior Day for Chris Clemons, Andrew Eudy and Jon Ander Cuadra at Gore Arena, the Camels secured the program's first regular season title in nine years in front of a record 3,351 fans.  Clemons, who would lead the nation in scoring (30.1) and conclude his career as the third-leading scorer in NCAA history (3,225 points), tallied 30 and Jordan Whitfield's free throws clinched the final margin against the Highlanders.
 
Dec. 19, 2020 – Campbell at NC State | Raleigh
With Covid-19 restrictions in place, and only essential personnel permitted inside 19,700-seat PNC Arena, the fact that the Wolfpack defeated Campbell 69-50 was not nearly as remarkable as the strange setting in which the game was played.  Seats on the benches were spaced out along the sideline and baselines.  Everyone not in the game was required to wear facemasks, and my station on the concourse above the lower level was definitely the farthest I've even been stationed at a workplace for a CU hoops game.
 
Nov. 13, 2021 – Campbell at #9 Duke | Durham
A sold-out (9,314 seats) Cameron Indoor Stadium witnessed the Camels hang tough with a top-10 team before falling 67-56.  Returning to normal (for those days) times – despite having to show proof of vaccination – was thrilling to say the least after a season of playing in front of mostly empty stands.
 
Feb. 2, 2022 – Campbell vs. Presbyterian | Charlotte
Milos Stajcic hit a 3-pointer through contact with 0.6 seconds left in the second overtime to lift Campbell to a 75-72 win over Presbyterian in the first round of the Big South tournament at Bojangles' Coliseum.  A senior from Serbia and loved by everyone associated with the program, the 6-foot-10 Stajcic was mobbed by his teammates and shed tears of joy as the final horn sounded.
 
Feb. 18, 2023 – Campbell vs. Presbyterian | Buies Creek
In my last home game as the men's basketball contact at Campbell, I was surprised to be recognized during a second-half media timeout for my 34 years in the position.  Claudia snuck in without me knowing and sat down in the first row of seats behind our workstation and shared in the moment as friends, neighbors and Camel fans made me feel incredibly special.
 
Mar. 5, 2023 – Campbell vs. UNC Asheville | Charlotte
For 38 game minutes, this appeared to finally be the day that the Camels would end a 31-year drought since its first NCAA tournament appearance and leave the Big South Conference with a tournament title.  A number of longtime colleagues wished me good luck – even though for decades I've maintained an even-keel on game days with the knowledge that I had a job to do, win or lose.  In spite of the incredible effort of the likes of Ricky Clemons (17 points), Dell'Orso (12) and Jay Pal (26 points, 10 rebounds), the regular season champ Bulldogs found a way to pull out the 77-73 win behind league player of the year and tournament MVP Drew Pember (29 points, 8 boards).  In the end, I didn't feel sorry for not making another NCAA trip in my old position – I'll be ready for Campbell's next March Madness sojourn whether it's a member of the staff or as a fan – but my heart hurt for the players and staff, who put so much effort into a season's worth of preparation, only to come up two possessions short of the prize.
 
So, there you have it.  Many Campbell fans remember these games, and others, for different reasons.  Even though we always keep score, the real memories are of the people we've met and the places we've visited.  I'm looking forward to meeting and seeing more of both in my new role.  Feel free to join in as I cheer and clap enthusiastically for the Camels!