The first game of my collegiate career was finally here. Friday afternoon I was just buzzing around the campus. It was a very exciting day for me for so many reasons. My grandparents from both sides were here, my boyfriend Mason flew in, and it was finally time to play. We had our pre-game meal at Outback steak house. If you have no idea how pre-game works, then allow me to tell you. First, you show up on time! That is one of the most important things to prepare yourself for in college. Just stick to this saying, "If you’re on time, you’re late, and if you’re early, you’re on time." You will then get to place your order. Your choices are unlimited and I love it! You can get whatever you want, but you have to eat whatever you get. If I were in Kentucky still, it would sound like this, "Git whatcha wont, eat whatcha git." I ordered my 12-ounce steak, a salad with ranch, and the best thing from Outback - the Bloomin' Onion. While you are eating, a list is passed around with four blanks under your name. For every game we play, we have four tickets guaranteed. So, you write down who is coming for that game and they sign in by their name when they get there. I was totally stuffed after eating all that. but I had time to digest it before the game.

My first game went very well. We had no time at all to settle on that win because we had Arizona State next. The State Farm Tip Off Classic was Sunday afternoon and people were ready for it to finally be here. Saturday morning we had practice in the Dean Smith Center at 10:15. Each of the four participating teams is allotted an hour and a half. They are very strict about when you start and when you end, and when you can touch a ball, etc. There is a lot I still need to learn about these strange rules. Practice went as planned and we got to eat afterward. We had food catered to us and we ate as a team. We also got presents for participating in the classic. I was excited to hear we got presents. Later that night was the banquet for the Classic.

Our whole team looked good in our formal attire. It was different seeing them dressed up rather than in sweats or basketball gear. We listened to the guest speakers while we ate and just enjoyed each other's company. Of course, every time a speaker would mention one of the four schools, that team would hoot and holler. That’s just how college athletes are - always competing, no matter what it is.

Sunday morning pre-game was at Bob Evans. Now, maybe to you Bob Evans is for old people, but for me and all the breakfast lovers out there it is so much more. I seriously could eat breakfast all day every day. Biscuits and gravy is definitely my favorite because I am a country girl. I ate until I could not stuff another thing and I also had a to-go box. College is all about the leftovers and don’t forget that.

I went to the Dean Dome at 12:30 and received my treatments. It was exciting just knowing that our game would be on ESPN. I had a lot of people calling me and telling me good luck and that they would be watching. We were out on the court for our shootaround and people started to roll in. We had a crowd of about seven thousand or so. The ball was thrown in the air and the game was on.

Arizona State was a great team. They are very fundamental and they could also shoot the ball. We tried our different defenses and offensive sets to keep them off balance. It was going OK, but we went into halftime with a one-point lead. At halftime, we received our goals for the second half and we were expected to execute them as we were told. We came out the second half and did as we were told. Our defense was not too bad, considering it was the second game of the season. We ended up winning 75-60.

It was a long but very exciting weekend for me. I wanted to thank everyone that made this classic possible - ESPN, InterSport, State Farm, and more. It went very well and I had a lot of fun. We have our next game on Tuesday against Elon. Yet again it is time to play.

"Dreams and dedication are a powerful combination."
_ William Longgood

Until next time, stay cool and keep ballin' ya’ll.

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