NCAA Bound: Mike Yocum's Travel Blog

March 15th, 2009

Hello,

So yesterday was a rough day. We had our tournament game and got beat by C.W. Post. As coach said, "we picked a bad night to have a bad night."  They're a team who can put up a bunch of points in a hurry and we were absolutely ice cold in the first half. We could not hit a shot for the life of us and we only scored 13 points in that half. When you are playing against the #2 ranked team in the country that simply will not get it done. There is nothing you can do at this point but take your hat off to C.W. Post. They are a really good team. They are so athletic and really good at getting to the rim and finishing. I was really impressed with their team and I wouldn't be surprised to see them in the Final Four.

I just hate that our season had to end this early. We all packed enough stuff to be in Long Island until Tuesday and it's such a bummer that we had to come home last night. However, it has been a great season. I'm glad that it's spring break right now. It'll be a good chance to just relax and reflect on the season. Thanks for all of the support that our fans have given us. I think for the entire season the fans we had and the support you gave us was an awesome representation of our university.

All of the guys coming back next year are looking forward to getting back in the gym in a few weeks and working towards another CACC championship and hopefully more. We're excited to get this started again.

As for the guys who are not coming back, we're going to miss them. I've played on many different teams in my life and have never played with a more pure shooter than Mike Dunn. That kid flat out can shoot the ball. Dunn was also our captain this year and he was a great leader. I've lived with him the past two years and he has become a great friend and it's going to be weird not having him around.

Our other senior is Carroll Mitchell and I could write about him and what he has meant to this program forever. He is the smartest player I have ever played with. There is no one that knows this game more than him. He'll pull me aside during a game and point out what he sees and what he thinks I should be doing and it always makes perfect sense. He always did everything he needed to do to help team win. As a point guard he stays calm in pressure situations, which is helpful to everyone around him. We're going to miss both of those guys a lot. It has been a pleasure playing with them and working with Carroll everyday.

Thanks again to everyone who supported us this season. I can't wait until next year.

Until then,
Yocum

March 13th, 2009

What's Goin On Everyone?

I am finally lying in my bed in the hotel after an eventful day. We left this morning at 9:30 a.m. and checked into the hotel around 1. The bus ride went pretty smoothly. Mostly everyone just slept. After we checked in, we hung out for about a half hour then headed over to C.W.Post's campus to get our practice in.

I was pretty impressed with C.W. Post's facilities. Their gym is pretty big and a lot of it is wooden so I'd imagine when they get good crowds it probably gets loud in there.

The practice before an NCAA tournament game is different from a regular practice. It's an NCAA regulation that you are only allowed to be on the floor with basketballs for 55 minutes. So practice was at 2 p.m. and we had to wait until 2 on the dot to start practicing. I like that we got to practice in the gym that we'll be playing in tomorrow. It's nice to get a feel for it. You might be surprised at how different gyms can be. It's good to get a feel for the rims, the floor and the depth perception. Practice was short, sweet and pretty effective.

We had a three hour break in between practice and the official tournament banquet. The banquet was held with all eight teams. We went and had some food (which was pretty good) and just hung out. After dinner we got back to the hotel and had a brief meeting. At the meeting we discussed the plan for tomorrow. We'll meet around 9:30 a.m.and then  have our team meal before the game around 2p.m. Then we'll most likely head to the gym and then it's game time. I can't wait to play tomorrow.

And finally, I want to mention someone who doesn't get enough credit. Our team manager Shauna Harrington is working her butt off this weekend. She keeps the whole program together. She works behind the scenes but we absolutely could not function without her. Whenever we need anything she is the first person to take care of it and doesn't mind doing it (or at least she doesn't give that impression haha).  She is just as important to our team as anyone else. She will certainly be missed when she graduates in May.  I just wanted to give her some credit because she certainly deserves it.

Well that's about it for today. I will be checking in tomorrow after the game. As for now, I am going to go get some rest so I can be fresh for tomorrow.

Thanks,
Yocum

PS I put up a picture of Shauna getting a Gatorade for Ish on the bus (Corey awkwardly in the background). Just another prime example of how she takes care of us.

March 12th, 2009
What's Good?

There is absolutely nothing better than college basketball in March. It's amazing. The "win or go home mentality", the upsets, playing three games in three days just to see another day. I've been watching college basketball all season and especially the conference tournaments and it's tough to beat. March basketball on any level (DI, DII, DIII, high school, CYO, whatever) is the best. I just feel so blessed that I get to be apart of it and the fact that it's March and my teammates and I still have an opportunity to go out and compete is a great feeling. It's funny. When I was in high school, during this time of year my friends and I would great each other saying "Happy Holidays". I don't know about anyone else but this is my Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter and birthday all wrapped into one. I love it.

Practice was really good today- we did a lot of game situations. We played 10 minutes scrimmages. So it was just like a game. It's a good situation to use because the only way to practice what you would do in a game is to simulate the situation.

The funniest moment of the day came at the end of practice. We did our last go-around with the shooting game and my team finally won. So at the end of practice the winning team got to pick who will carry their bag tomorrow. Let me preface this by describing the relationship between Corey Francisco and Marcus Lemon. Marcus, a junior, likes to joke with Corey. They enjoy going back and forth with each other. We're all brothers and we all are friends so it's all good.  Well, Corey was on the winning team with me and I'll give you one guess as to who he picked to carry his bag. Yeah you guessed it- Marcus Lemon himself. Everyone got a good laugh out of it.

We're hitting the road to get up to Long Island tomorrow at 9:30 a.m. We'll probably get some breakfast in Kanbar beforehand and getting Wawa hoagies for the bus trip to eat for lunch. Once we get up there (it's probably around two hours away) we will have a brief one hour practice on C.W. Post's court. Then the banquet that evening with all the other teams. I'll be sure to check back in after that and tell everyone how our day went. Until then...

Happy Holidays,
Yocum

March 11th, 2009

What's up everyone?

We had another practice again this afternoon. This is an interesting time of year when it comes to practice. I think it is interesting is because we have so much time in between games and everyone is just excited and ready to play. I'm ready to get to Long Island! I think I can safely speak on behalf of the players and coaches and say that we cannot wait for this game. However, practice is still going really well and we're doing as much as we possibly can to get ready for Post. I would say the word that best describes today's practice was "productive". We got a lot done today and we worked on fine tuning some things. We also played the shooting game again. The other team severely cut into our lead today by going
12 -12 from the free throw line (an extra 25 points) and a half court shot by Russ (another 25 points). I like the fact that we can be serious, but Coach Magee recognizes that it's OK to take the last 10 minutes of practice and do the shooting game to have some fun. We will have two more practices before the game and we are going to do as much as we possibly can to try and win on Saturday.

We are leaving for Post on Friday morning. When we get up there we will have an hour long practice then a banquet with all the teams. Last year the food at Bentley was really good so I'm hoping Post can match it. I would strongly encourage anyone who wants to come to try and make the trip for our game Saturday night. We could use the support of our fans. If Long Island is too far away and you are still in the area (I realize it's spring break) then definitely try and get to the women's game at 1 p.m. on Friday. They are playing really good basketball right now and I am looking forward to checking their box score on Friday night. They worked hard all year and they deserve to be where they're at. Definitely show the women's team some love and make the trip up the boulevard to Holy Family and check them out.

Well that's about all I have for today. I will be doing another post for tomorrow so be sure to give that a look. See you then!

Thanks,
Yocum

March 10th, 2009

Hello Everyone,

I'd like to welcome you to the first entry of my blog leading up to the NCAA tournament.

As many of you may know we won the CACC men's championship on Saturday, beating Bloomfield and we'll be advancing to the NCAA tournament this weekend. The whole conference tournament was great. I loved the atmosphere in the gym! I would like to thank all the fans who have showed us tremendous support not only in the tournament but all season long. You all are our sixth man and I really think our fans made a difference. Also, big ups to Dr. Spinelli for picking up the tab for the student tickets! It is awesome to have that kind of support from our president.

The selection show for the NCAA tournament was held on Sunday and we got the #8 seed.  Our team will be playing the #1 seed CW Post Pioneers on their home floor.  They are currently 27-0 and ranked #2 in the country. It should be an interesting and tough game but I am confident that we will be as prepared as we can possibly be for them. Our coaches do a great job of getting us ready to play. We worked extremely hard this season and we are not ready to see it end yet.

After a much needed day off on Sunday, we resumed practice on Monday. Practice the past two days have gone extremely well. We have been going pretty hard and have been doing some full court stuff. The past two days have also been a lot to take into the brain- lots of film.

After we finished all of that, at the end of practice today we played our shooting game. The shooting is a game that runs all year long and we play it once before each game. At the beginning of the season we break down into two equal teams that were picked by Mike Dunn (my team) and Carroll Mitchell. Each team goes to their respective end of the court and engages in different shooting rounds.  If you throw up an ugly one (at the discretion of Coach Magee) you can lose anywhere from 10-25 points. We keep a running tally of the score all season and at the end of this week the losing team has to carry the winning team's bags when we go to the NCAA tournament. Today was probably the last time we will play before the tournament and I am happy to say my team has a commanding 180 point lead. I told the other team I don't travel light either! I think I'm going to have Paul Draper carry my bag. He'll enjoy that.

Thanks for reading and check back for more updates as we prepare to go to the NCAA tournament!

Thanks,
Yocum