Dennis Clark The Tribune-Star The Tribune Star Thu Mar 17, 2011, 09:46 AM EDT
ROCKVILLE — The Mahurin family is taking “March Madness” to a whole new level.
To wit, Indiana State redshirt freshman R.J. Mahurin will be competing in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament in Cleveland beginning Friday.
Some 275 miles away, R.J.’s father, Dave, and younger brother, sophomore Lane, coach and leading scorer, respectively, will be with the Rockville boys basketball team, which will be playing in the Class A Lafayette Semistate on Saturday.
Has this perfect storm of basketball games created an impossible mission for the Mahurin family to attend all these games? No, they have gladly accepted the mission.
“We’ve rented an RV and on Friday morning at about 10 o’clock we will motor up to Cleveland,” coach Mahurin said. “We’ll go to the ISU game, which will get over at about 12:30 [a.m.]
“Then we’ll load back up and drive back to Rockville. … I estimate we’ll return at about 8 on Saturday morning. Then we’ve got to be at the high school at noon. A big sendoff for the team is at around 1 [p.m.], then we play at 4 [p.m.].
“Should [the Rox] win, it will be all the hoopla and trimmings then. Regardless, we’ll come back to Rockville and if the Sycamores won [on Friday] we’ll head back to Cleveland sometime on Sunday.”
The Mahurins couldn’t have asked for a better NCAA venue than Cleveland. After all, ISU could have been assigned to a faraway destination like Tucson, Ariz.
“The only thing that could have gone better was to have an earlier game on Friday,” coach Mahurin noted. “I just hope I have a chance to enjoy it a little bit.”
His son, R.J., said of his family’s travel plans, “I’m really glad to get the draw we did. … It’s still a haul, but doable. It’s really nice to see them at so many of my games.”
Lane has chosen to stay behind to rest up for Saturday’s semistate game against Triton.
“I just thought it was better to stick with my team. … [ISU’s] game being so late and our semistate game the next day,” Lane said.
Instead, Lane and his Rox teammates will be at Beef ’O’ Brady’s to watch some of the NCAA games. He added with a grin, “Unfortunately, we’ll all have to go to our houses to watch Indiana State’s game … ’cause it’s a little late.”
If ISU defeats Syracuse on Friday, Lane plans to join his family in Cleveland on Sunday.
“I’m hoping for a big Round 1 upset. … I’m hoping ESPN will be all over it the next day,” Lane laughed.
Dave says he’s attended most of R.J.’s home games and about half of the away games, including at Drake. “Going to Des Moines is probably a similar drive to Cleveland. Although we went there in my truck so we didn’t have much room,” he chuckled.
“They kind of surprised me at Drake, I looked up and there they were waving at me. They’ve made a lot of trips for me,” R.J. said.
The scheduling was not so kind to the Mahurins when ISU played in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and the Rox were in the North Vermillion sectional.
“Only got to see the [MVC] championship game,” Dave recalled. “Our sectional championship game was at 7:30 p.m., and I was out in my truck at 7 p.m. or maybe a little after trying to hear the end of the [MVC] semifinal game. That was tough. That was probably the worst conflict we had all year. But you get past that conflict when you win.”
Dave, R.J., Lane and daughter Beth were all on hand when the Rox won the regional championship game at Frankfort on Saturday. Beth is a Rox senior volleyball and basketball player, signed to play both sports at Murray State next year.
“We’ve got a hectic life going on,” Lane said. “Seems like someone’s got a game every other day. We had to go [Beth’s] game, then R.J.’s game, then my game, then her game. It’s all back-and-forth. Next year she starts at Murray [State], so we’re going to have to find a rotation.”
Dave Mahurin feels this busy schedule has not detracted from his coaching duties, saying, “We’ve been successful more than we’ve ever been, so it must not be too bad.
“From Selection Sunday on it’s been a wonderful experience. I know R.J. is walking on air every time I talk to him. He’s so excited. It always makes you feel good to see your kids happy.”
Copyright 2011 News From Terre Haute, Indiana. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Source:
No comments:
Post a Comment