We Still Are Saint Louis

I started writing this knowing that I would only post it either after the Bills won the entire Tournament or lost and were eliminated.

Unfortunately, it’s the latter this year, the Billikens falling to Oregon tonight in one of their worst games of the year and one of Oregon’s best. The gritty details of missed 3-pointer after 3-pointer for the Bills are unnecessary at this point, as unbelievable as it seemed that they could shoot so many and make so few. This is the second year in a row that the Bills fell this round. The fact of the matter is that their season is officially over, the 3 seniors now alum and the ‘We are Saint Louis’ cheer officially silenced until next year. But what a season it’s been.

The Billikens’ improbable streak this year made me especially cognizant of every article and every Tweet touting the ‘quietly incredible’ Bills (a phrase almost inextricable with the team).

I’ve loved every word of them.

Bernie Miklasz ended one of his articles last week with this line:

“I don’t believe in destiny, but I do believe in SLU. And I want to believe that dreams can come true.”

Well, they did. Maybe not as expected but dreams did come true this season for the Billikens and for Billiken fans.

I’ll preface this with the fact that I am a SLU student, graduating in May and wishing I had more time here. I’ll also preface it with the fact that this basketball season has played a large role in my hesitance to graduate which seems very superficial but, like any great sports story, gets better beneath the surface.

It starts with the passing of Rick Majerus, the story that’s been told time after time, the base from which this team was formed. This was a team of Majerus recruits indoctrinated by a simple model: to win—defend, rebound. Since Majerus’s December passing, those words have been written by Senior, Cody Ellis, in every locker room prior to every game. A-10 Champs. 4 seed in the NCAA. ‘Rick Majerus’ chant from the student section at the final home game. It would be safe to say that Majerus’s dreams have come true.

The story continues to a team that had no discernible star. Three senior leaders in Kwamain Mitchell, Cory Remekun and Cody Ellis paved the way for the Bills but powerhouses like Jordair Jett and Dwayne Evans could shoot when it counted. Grandy Glaze, Mike McCall Jr., Jake Barnett, and Rob Loe rounded out a team that was far more than the individuals, a skill that brought them into the third round of the NCAA Tournament. They dreamt of going further, sure, but to get where they did was a dream, in itself, too.

Interim Coach Jim Crews was overlooked through much of the season in the wake of Majerus but found his rightful dues as a finalist for Naismith Coach of the Year. Being a part of 14 NCAA tournaments in his career in some capacity or another made Crews no stranger to this success but this time was different. This one was for Majerus. As Crews began his senior night speech with, ‘God bless Rick Majerus,’ it seems like his dream came true, too.

SLUnity is a term on SLU’s campus that is somehow applicable to almost every SLU-centric situation (and we’re only a little embarrassed at how cheesy it is). This basketball season, of course, embodied this term with every game, chant and shot. Example A: storming the court after the Butler game, the sea of white spreading across Chaifetz in what was the first inkling that this season might be different. Example B: Teachers cancelling class so students could watch the New Mexico State game last Thursday. It was no secret that no one wanted to be in class that day. Basketball let us (and the teachers) admit that, brought together by a team that didn’t give up.  Example C: The one retired couple that dances after every game in the stands, Billiken faithful only more faithful with age. I will stay as long as possible after every game to see this older couple spin each other around in celebration of a Billiken win. They had quite a few reasons to dance this year.  Example D (my personal favorite): The chorus of ‘Sweet Caroline’ echoing through Chaifetz after a home win. Good times never seemed so good and dreams never seemed so real.

So it wasn’t the dream come true but it was a dream come true and that dream was as close to sports magic as most of us could imagine.

Thanks for a season worth remembering.