by Malcolm Butler
I’ve had a lot of interesting experiences during the past 26 years of calling college games leading to a lifetime of memories.
None stranger than March 12, 2020.
I was still broadcasting Lady Techster basketball games back then and had just called No. 12 seed Louisiana Tech’s upset win a day earlier over No. 5 seed UAB in the opening round of the Conference USA Basketball Tournament at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Covid 19 had started to become a household term as the disease made its way to the United States a few months earlier. The night of March 11, media outlets were broadcasting how various sporting events were starting to be shut down.
NCAA conferences were hosting their annual tournaments across the country. The NBA season was in full swing.
The morning of March 12, I had already set up courtside preparing to go live on the air as the Lady Techsters were facing No. 4 seed Middle Tennessee.
Equipment was set up. Teams were warming up. The Tech Hoop Troop was already playing behind me.
Literally minutes before I was scheduled to go live on 97.7 FM with my 30-minute pregame show, a voice came over the public address at The Star announcing the tournament was canceled. Everyone was to immediately leave the arena.
The season was over. Not just in Frisco, but across our country.
In some ways that seems like forever ago. In some ways, just like yesterday.
And it was just the start of one of the strangest, and saddest, times of my lifetime.
Players were crying. Coaches were in shock. Heck, we all were. It was unprecedented … at least in my lifetime.
I remember going on air for like two minutes telling those tuned in for the pregame show the news. It was like an out-of-body experience.
As I packed up my radio equipment hurriedly, a text came across my phone from then-Tech AD Tommy McClelland informing our executive staff that we would be meeting back at the team hotel to discuss the news and what would follow, even though none of us had a clear idea.
Back at the team hotel, I passed our seniors in the lobby, their eyes bloodshot from crying. Their college careers were over just like that … without getting a chance to fight to the bitter end on the hardwood.
As I drove back to Ruston from Frisco in my Jeep, I was listening to the radio. Reports of everything from professional to collegiate athletics shutting down.
I had know idea what the next year to 18 months would hold for our country. No one did.
As I prepare to head to Huntsville, Alabama, this week for the CUSA hoops tournament, it’s hard to believe that was five full years ago.
Although I’m thankful that time has passed, and sorry for all of those who were so negatively impacted in much harsher ways than a game getting canceled, I won’t ever forget that morning at The Star.
The day a deadly disease had its first impact on my life, even if it was just on the hardwood.
