On the Road, Again and Again

Sir Charles, and Flavor Flav

Presbyterian first walked into Beard-Eaves Memorial Coliseum for a shootaround. Al'Lonzo Coleman, a freshman center, paused while tying his shoes, glanced at the ceiling and whispered, "Charles Barkley." His oversize jersey hung from the rafters.

Memories of the season outweigh the losses, players say. After three games in California, a mechanical problem delayed their connecting flight from San Jose to Las Vegas on Dec. 23. An airline official promised they would hold the plane, and the team rushed to the terminal -- just in time to watch their plane take off.

They wouldn't arrive back in Clinton until late Christmas Eve, but the team resolved to make the most of Las Vegas. The airline gave them free hotel rooms and tickets to the buffet at the Wild Wild West casino. Coaches hit the Strip and players headed to a mall. Walking through, senior guard Ryan Lamb spotted the rapper Flavor Flav. They huddled around him and snapped pictures. "He was even shorter than me," said Lamb, who's 5 feet 8.

They traveled so often that all the cities blurred into one, long trip. Coaches forgot their hotel rooms numbers. Kiscaden lost a pair of glasses and a cellphone charger; he doesn't know where. Steven Yien Gatkuoth, a redshirt freshman, left a suit in New York. "We just try to tell to stories about stuff that happened," Kiscaden said. "And we have no idea where it happened."

When the five-minute mark passed, the Tigers led by 22. Coleman rubbed his chin on the bench, and Allen chewed on a towel. Nibert still patrolled the sidelines like a maniac. He made endless substitutions and screamed offensive plays, his voice so drained it sounded like a train whistle. Kiscaden swished a three-pointer, then another. Lamb made one, too, and suddenly a 14-0 run by Presbyterian hacked the lead to 10. Players on the bench leapt out of their chairs.

On this night, that was their win -- they knew anybody who saw, "Auburn 78, Presbyterian 65" on ESPN would be surprised, maybe even impressed.

Afterward, the players staggered back to the bus, bags slung over their shoulders. Boxes of sandwiches that Smith had ordered before the game awaited. Some of them had class in less than 12 hours, and they wouldn't arrive home until 3 a.m.

"That Jimmy John's?" point guard Pierre Miller said. "That stuff is whack. I remember that from Ohio State."

"Man, I think it's pretty good," Harmon said.

Miller grabbed his sandwich box, found his seat and waited for his teammates to join him. Kiscaden limped past, back to 29A. Nibert made sure everyone had boarded, then told Jeff they could leave. The bus rumbled out of the lot, five hours away from a home they would soon leave again.