udee79

Dad was a UD prof, out of 8 kids 7 of us went to UD. And 6 of us married UD grads. Years ago we were featured as the ultimate UD family in the Dayton Daily News during homecoming week.

El Shaqtus

Yes, SLU School of Law.

__________________
Mom, thanks for everything.

RIP Coach Rick Majerus 12/1/12. You were the one that said it was OK to think big at SLU. You were right.

KVBL Lexington Kings

pongbaba

No - not a Richmond grad.

Full disclosure? I've followed coach Mooney since his days of high school coaching. I've watched him (and staff) do things the right way at LC, Arcadia (Beaver) college, USAF and now Richmond.

Snipe

I attended Xavier University. I became a Xavier fan in high school watching Byron Larkin, Derrick Strong and Tyrone Hill. I was really excited about the basketball before I hit campus, and I have been going to every game ever since.

I have been taking my kids to games since they were in the stroller. No matter where they go to college they will always be Muskie fans.

It has been quite a ride. I think the lowest home attendance during my fandom was less than 3,000 (the Loyola Chicago snow game). Every year the crowds grew, even though nobody of note outside of the MCC would play us. We could sell out the Crosstown Shootout every year but that was it. Then we started selling out more games, and I still remember the first time we sold out a season before it started.

When I started the only chance of making the dance was to win the conference tournament every year. Those games were the season. Now days it is all about seeding. The young kids have it so easy.

BrownIndians85

2nd generation Bonnie myself, and growing up in the area have watched the Bonnies since I can remember.

I'm sure other alums can relate to this, but I'd have to say the Bonnies are the only team in any sport at any level for which watching is a downright unhealthy experience. The highs and lows, the blood pressure changes, walking on cloud 9 for days after big wins, and being on suicide watch for a week after a loss to CC. I can't imagine trading it for anything.

__________________
http://www.gobonnies.com

Bona Wolf for Pope

I was at an off-campus event for prospective freshmen last year and, in the hotel bar next to where the reception was, we were able to get the Bonnies-LaSalle A-10 tournament game on TV. It was such a rollercoaster for all the alums and the attendees as the Bonnies took and gave away leads. We had to do shifts watching the game and talking to the families (except the ones who went into the bar to watch along with us). It would have been phenomenal to win, not only because we should have, but the rest of the night was kind of blech following the loss.

__________________
"Careful reading comprehension is crucial to an online forum discussion."

I_am_snow_owl

Yes...Temple SBM graduate. Arrived on campus the same time Eddie Jones and Aaron McKie did...a wonderful time to become an Owl fan....

BM-GW

GW BA (class of '86) plus unfinished MS and MBA.

mateer

When I was in high school I killed the NCAA pools. Having an interest of college basketball that extended south to the ACC during their glory years gave me a huge edge. For me my college selection was going to be determined by fun (a few visits to my brother's frat fueled college experience inspired me in all the wrong ways) and college basketball. Orginially from North Carolina basketball was in my blood. Since fifth grade, I basically memorized Street and Smith's guidesI was interested in Wake, UNC, and a few other places. I also was not going to go to several places because of basketball; Maryland, Duke to name two. Anyway, my best friend got in to Richmond early and raved about the school. I always picked them to win their first round games because I knew what Giantkillers they were. I knew little else but applied there too as an afterthought. One I had been sick and opted out of going to school on a Friday, even though I had probably gotten over the hump. About an hour after I said I was too sick to go to school my mother saw through my ruse and said I was either going to school or could go look at a college. Uhhh... option B please.

We drove down to Richmond on a beautiful spring day. That first day of spring when the cold of winter snapped and all you want to do is go outside. Sure enough, the campus was alive with people enjoying the weather and there were girls lying out in bikinis everywhere. The campus was also beautiful. My mother raved about the lake, the architecture and the academic inspiration it radiated... looking around at all the eye-candy I readily agreed. I told her I didn't need to take the tour, this was where I was going. Regular NCAA tournaments, hot chicks, and a good academic reputation... heaven or what?

Irony: not once in all my years there did I see a day like that on campus. Sure you could find girls laying out at the Greek theatre and in rare pockets around school but it was hardly the Hard Rock Casino pool scene I envisioned as a high schooler. Richmond once known for beautiful student bodies trended up in academics and I'd wager never match the heights of that spring day since and that is hardly the reputation they have now. Also, as an avowed hoops head I came in on the tail end of Dick Tarrants tenure along with a bevy of talented recruits that were going to build on the recent NCAA successes. Chard Varga who ended up at Pittsburgh, Jeremy Metzger at Penn State, and a few others had limited success. Suddenly Tarrant was gone and I got the Bill Dooley era, a rough patch of college basketball that had zero NCAA games and I witnessed the Robins Center go from being packed for CAA games to the half-full crowds we are yet to overcome fully. I even stayed for an extra year and still no NCAA tournament. Of course the next year, Beilein came in and beat three seed South Carolina in the first round to make the sting even more.

Still, for all the reasons my mother wanted me to go to Richmond and for neither of the two biggest reasons I wanted to go, it's an experience I would never trade.

__________________

mh05

SBU class of '05.

3rd generation Bonnie from Rochester, NY. Family has season tickets and we make the 3.5 hour or so round trip trek for just about every game. Sure seems much easier when we're winning.

BGUD1

Not a graduate of UD here either. Have followed UD since the 1984 season when I started following UD with a passion. Just a couple of names Chapman/Goodwin (best pure shooter i've ever seen play for UD) probably my 2 favorite players thru the years. Thankfully, our down years from 91-95 I was in Norfolk in the Navy so I didn't have to go thru that misery lol...Also, went to school in the MAC..Bowling Green...was nice winning against you guys this weekend Temple

bostonspider

Spider Graduate. I saw UR for the first time the spring of my HS Senior year, on a similar day as Mateer, and also decided then and there that is where I wanted to go. Think I got there a year or so before Mateer and was able to enjoy two years of Tarrant before the Dooley decline, including the thriller of Syracuse in the NCAA's.

austinniner

I grew up a Niner fan watching the final 4 run as a kid. Initially, I didn't go to school there, and took scholorship money elsewhere. After a disaterous freshman year, I transferred to Charlotte and was much happier for it.

SpiderInTheMixingBowl

I had a similar experience. My father lost his job in the '91 recession and as he was older it was difficult for him to find another job. It became clear my parents were not going to be paying for me to go college. So I began looking at places that offer academic scholarships. (In an aside, I was really pissed off this year when Washington Post included as one of the top 5 things that needs to happen for college in America is the elimination of academic scholarships.) Anyhoo, I'm a finalist for one of the scholarships at Richmond (a school I'd only heard of because of the S-16 run). Richmond paid to fly me in for an interview in the spring of 1993. It was 34 degrees in Chicago when I got on the plane. It was 67 degrees in Richmond when I landed. The aroma of the campus. The flowers. The midnight football game. The bikini goddesses at the Greek theater. And yes, I must admit the girls were a factor in my decision, which I guess in hindsight is reasonable since I'm happily married to one of them.

My freshman and sophomore years (1993-1995) I supported the basketball team strongly. I did some tutoring for the athletic department at some point. I played pickup bball a couple of times with Daryl Oliver when he had a broken hand. I had a class freshman year with Jason McKinney on Chaos Theory.

My junior year I was buried in mounds of work particularly with P-Chem and only made it to a few games. My senior year was similar combined with the fact that I blew my ACL playing Ultimate Frisbee. And it is a heck of a hike from University Forest Apartments to the Robbins Center on one leg.

I went back to Chicago for graduate school and lost track of the BBall team's accomplishments until they joined the Atlantic 10. I was never keen on the CAA as one of my first experiences with the CAA tournament was the infamous Papparo no-call. I really do love the Atlantic 10.

Another thought: I'm always amazed how strongly UR Class of '97 is represented on the message boards considering the Dooley years.

SpiderInTheMixingBowl

Also can I just say you have the best handle. My frosh year roommate had the best impersonation of him.