It was a Monday night right around Thanksgiving. In was my second year as a season ticket holder and I had no idea what to expect. The Hoyas were coming off of their worst season in the history of the Big East (started in 1979). Craig Esherick has been fired and John Thompson III has been hired.
They had brought in a very unheralded recruiting class. None of the kids were ranked in the top 100 nationally, but there had been some late buzz that Jeff Green had been flying under the radar.
*Roy Hibbert was a huge 7 footer that had disappointed in high school with sub par play and lots of injuries. Went by the nickname "The Big Stiff".
*Jeff Green was said to be an undersized center with a decent outside shot. Oh and he had dreads.
*Tyler Crawford was a great player in a second rate level of Virginia High School Hoops (AA). Probably better suited to stay closer to home and play at JMU.
*Jon Wallace was some walk-on that apparently was set to play for JT3 at Princeton but was coming along for the ride.
*Patrick Ewing, Jr was a sophomore playing for Indiana.
After watching Temple thump them at home to the tune of 75 - 57, I can remember my exact statement as the final buzzer sounded:
"Great. We suck again."
Nothing changed that first night. Well at least nothing that my ignorant eyes could see. It was another terrible performance in front of another embarrassing crowd. Announced crowd of 6,320.
Simply put: It was depressing.
I was even a little upset that JT3 had been awarded the job of turning the program around. I felt that they needed a clean break from the Thompson name.
Turns out I am a huge moron.
Shocking.
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