Junior guard Brittany Graham, an English major and communications minor, is going to keep a diary during this basketball season. Friday, the team left for South Carolina to play Clemson on Saturday. This is her first look at what goes on behind the scenes with the team.
Right now, it is 12:48 on Friday afternoon and we are on the bus on our way to play at Clemson on Saturday in our season opener.
It's been a long pre‑season and we are very excited to get this season under way. We've been waiting for this day for so long, going all the way back to summer school when the entire team stayed here to dedicate themselves to helping our team get better. This game is even more interesting because we are one of the last three division I teams to play their season opener... saving the best for last!
We are very excited to start this season because it seems like we have been practicing for two years now, and we have had about 6 or 7 full-game scrimmages against each other. Right now we are just ready to play against someone other than ourselves and people who don't know the plays.
To celebrate our last pre‑season practice Thursday, our coaches surprised us with a big bag full of candy, a cooler with pop and Gatorade, and other snacks. (We even had the bag of candy at water breaks which was pretty fun too). We also ate our healthy snacks and discussed our team season goals for the 08‑09 season.
We have a lot of high expectations for ourselves this season and it is going to be a lot of fun to see how things play out with the players we have coming back and our 52nd ranked recruiting class that has joined those nine returnees.
Other than practice and more practice that's about everything it seems that has been going on with the team as of late. I did celebrate my 22nd birthday on November 13 (I know I'm old because freshmen Jylisa and Crystal remind me daily, I just tell them they are kids because they are both still 18). We played on my birthday and got a win against Georgia Southwestern. It was pretty exciting and our team chemistry really started to show in the second half. I contributed eight points and a couple of three-point baskets in that second half in my first game as a Panther.
Last weekend we had visits from four recruits: Tiffany, Jerlisa, Angelique and Erika who all committed. So, welcome to the team future Panthers!!!
Hopefully we will get a big win tomorrow against an ACC opponent on Coach Lea's birthday!!!!
We'll I'm going to enjoy the ride up I-85 to Clemson by watching the movie Talladega nights... "shake n' bake"
Tonight, we'll have a practice in Clemson's gym and then a team meal together. My roommate this trip is junior Dana Olsen, another first-year player to the team and a former opponent last year in the JUCO KJCAA League. Knowing us, our room will be iPods on and basketball on the TV tonight. That's how I like it, low key and relaxing. We will have different roomies every trip, so that will help the team get to know one another even better.
Until next time,
Go Panthers
Graham #10
