Hey guys! We are back on the road again on yet another long five-day basketball road trip, and I'm here to bring you all the off-the-court, behind-the-scenes action of what exactly goes on while we're traveling. This trip included more than a foot of snow, our second of the year with a major blizzard. And, we've still got trips to Baltimore, Delaware and Boston to go.
Day 1, Wednesday:
Wednesday afternoon we had a short practice in the Sports Arena, really focusing on George Mason and what they like to do on both ends of the floor so we know what to expect in Thursday night's game. We left Atlanta at 5:30, flew into Washington Dulles Airport and landed in Virginia to be quickly greeted by the very cold weather. After we checked in the hotel at 8 p.m., we had a dinner in the hotel and headed back to our rooms. This trip I stayed with Crystal Johnson, who is one of my best friends on the team, and we ended our night watching the Duke-Florida State men's basketball on ESPN.
Day 2, Thursday, Game Day @ George Mason:
After some morning classroom schoolwork, we went over to George Mason for noon 90-minute shoot around. We got a lot of shots in, reviewed the match-ups and finished going over the scouting report. At 3:30, we ate pre-game meal in the hotel, then watched film with the coaches and went over the last minute details to prep for the game.
At 7 p.m. it's game time. We won by 10 points, giving Coach Henry her 300th career win. It was very exciting to be a part of this milestone of her career and we were all really happy we could help her reach 300. She got the basketball from the game to keep and carried it back to Atlanta for her display case.
Day 3, Friday, Off Day:
Friday, we got to sleep in. We had team study hall from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in one of the hotel conference rooms with our academic adviser Keisha Jones, who also made the trip with us to make sure we are all staying on top of our schoolwork. I had to submit a 3-minute oral Spanish speaking assignment over Ulearn, Danyiell McKeller took an online quiz, Angelique Burtts was writing a paper, while others were reading and studying for upcoming exams. During basketball season, it can get really hectic with traveling for road games and missing some classes, so it's really important to have good communication with our professors to make sure we don't fall behind.
After study hall, we ate lunch in the food court of the hotel at a local Chinese restaurant, and with no time to rest, it was off to film. During our film session, we watched last night's George Mason game and talked as a group about what we did good and what we can improve on. Watching film is a Friday regular duty during the season and a good way for us to see ourselves so we can see our strengths and improve our weaknesses.
After film, we had free time and headed back to our rooms. Crystal and I watched Tyler Perry's “I Can Do Bad All by Myself”. At 4:30 P.M., we met back up with everyone else, headed to a local mall, and went the movies to see “Legion”. After the movie, which was really good by the way, we ate dinner at TGI Fridays. Even though today was an off day on the road, we still had a lot of business to take care of, and a busy schedule with study hall and film, but our coaches always still mange for us to have a little fun while were traveling on these long trips.
Day 4, Saturday, To VCU we:
Saturday morning at about 10 AM, we departed from Fairfax in route for a 100-mile trip to Richmond for our Sunday game at VCU.
To no surprise this morning we woke up to snow and I swear that every time we hit the road we see snow. We had another 2-hour team study hall on the bus on the way to Richmond.
The closer we got towards Richmond the heavier the snow began to pile down, and the more cars and trucks we saw stuck in the snow on the side of the road, in the median and on the exit ramps. One thing I have learned as a student-athlete is to expect the unexpected, be prepared for whatever is thrown in front you, and make the best of it.
It took us almost 5 and a half hours in heavy snow to get to Richmond from Fairfax, which typically is about a 90-minute drive. We made the most of snowy travels and took a lot of pictures of the snow from the windows of
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| Coach Barbaree tromped through the foot of snow to help get us food! |
the bus.
Just when we thought we were safe and secure at the hotel from the winter storm, we pulled up near the hotel; only to find out that the main street entrance to the hotel way off in the distance had been blocked off. So, Coach Henry decided our next mission was to make our way to downtown Richmond to another hotel closer to VCU, and finally at about 3:30 PM, we arrived safely in Richmond. They had gotten about 12 inches of snow by this time, so you can imagine how bad the roads were.
But with literally no time to unwind it was off to practice at VCU. Coach kept our practice shorter than usual; but as always, with a high level of intensity. After practice, we just ate dinner instead of trying to go out to the men's game at VCU and headed to bed early after an unexpected long day of traveling in the blizzard.
Day 5, Sunday, Game Day @ VCU:
Sunday morning, we got off to an early start with a quick and light breakfast at 7:30 AM. Next, we headed to shoot around at VCU from 8-9 a.m., to get in a lot of shots, go over the scouting report, and just get used to the arena. Part of being a student-athlete is being able to adapt quickly to changes, no matter the circumstance, Coach Henry refers to it is “having the same level of consistency.”
Having to wake up early for some teams can be a challenge. After shoot around, we had pre-game meal at 10 in the hotel restaurant. Because we play early on Sundays, we always eat a good breakfast for pregame: eggs, bacon, grits, fresh fruit, french toast, and my personal favorite, waffles. After breakfast, we headed for film, and then headed over to the gym at 12:30.
We lost this game to first-place VCU unfortunately, then headed to the airport, hoping our flight would get out. The men's team had their Sunday morning flight canceled and were going to try to get on that same flight. We left at 7:45 p.m. and got back to the Commons Dorm around 10:15 p.m.
So as you can see there is a lot that happens on our long 5-day road trips. It is nice to travel and see different parts of the country, but after five long days on the road as they say, there's no place home.
This week we have two home games. Thursday is our annual pink zone game for cancer awareness at 6 p.m. with Northeastern, then Sunday we take on William & Mary at 1 p.m. in an early start for Super Bowl Sunday. We need to get some more wins on our home court and I hope you can come out and give us some support and get some free t-shirts and prizes at our games.
BRITTANY GRAHAM #10
GO PANTHERS !
