WORCESTER, Mass.
Julius Hodge stood at center court Sunday afternoon, pounding his hand on his chest, screaming at the top of his lungs, his eyes taking in every corner of DCU Center, savoring the moment.
This was during player introductions.
College basketball players talk all the time about playing with heart, about being leaders, about loving to play and compete. For most of them, the words are empty, pabulum they are taught by coaches and media advisers and their agents-to-be. Hodge is one of those special players who doesn't need to talk about any of those things because he has lived all those things throughout his career. Three years ago, he cried his eyes out when he was called for a foul on Caron Butler in the waning seconds of Connecticut's 77-74, second-round victory over North Carolina State.
That was his first NCAA tournament. This will be his last. He was here Sunday, the only senior starter on either team when the Wolfpack played the Huskies again, because he promised his mother he would come back to college this year and get his degree in communications. A year ago, he was the ACC player of the year, and even though he is -- to put it politely -- an inconsistent shooter, his ability to pass, to run a team, to defend and lead, probably would have made him a first-round draft pick.
But he came back for the degree, and he came back for Sunday. He came back to be part of the first State team to reach the regional semifinals since Jim Valvano's 1989 team lost to Georgetown in that round. He came back, even though he didn't know it, so he could be the hero when his team finally got a second-round rematch with the defending national champions. He came back so that the tears this time would be tears of joy.
"They say that big-time players make big-time plays," he said. "We just weren't going to be denied today. We wanted to keep playing."
Seniors such as Hodge are a dying breed. Hodge said he kept his promise to his mother "because I guess I'm just a mama's boy."
For N.C. State, this was one of those victories that left all its people heaving deep sighs of relief and saying "finally." The past three seasons have produced heartbreaking losses the first weekend of the tournament: U-Conn in '02; by two to California in the first round in '03; by two to Vanderbilt in the second round a year ago after blowing a late 11-point lead.
They blew another late 11-point lead Sunday, and after a State turnover, the Huskies' Charlie Villaneuva stripped Jordan Collins of a rebound and tied the score at 62 with 15 seconds left.
Collins's presence in the game was something of a miracle in itself. He injured his right shoulder in the regular season finale against Wake Forest two weeks ago and didn't know until he warmed up before the game if he could play at all.
"I told the coaches I felt okay in warmups," he said. "I had to at least try it. I didn't want my career to end sitting on the bench."
Like Hodge, Collins is a senior, a DeMatha graduate who came to State with high hopes and learned to deal with a part-time role as time went on. He came off the bench to hit two first-half threes when the Wolfpack's offense was going nowhere fast. He was only in the game at the finish because Ilian Evtimov had fouled out.
"Villaneuva got me on my bad shoulder," he said, able to smile when it was over. "I felt the pain, lost the ball, and he made a play. Give him credit."
