So... Niall asked me to write about my experience in Tennessee so far, I’m a bit behind so bear with me I’ll try and get you all caught up. So I arrived at King after a 24 hour flight stopping in three different American cities on the 16th of August. Classes would start on the 17th so I was thrown right into the mix. I was so tired and had so much to do the first two days that I remember very little from those days. Because King is a relatively small campus it didn’t take long before everyone knew that I was the "Irish guy" on campus, a lot of people would come up and to me just to hear me speak, even at this stage some people choice to call me “Ireland” rather than Daryl.
Before I arrived I had been in touch with my coach on playing at King and helping out there Basketball program. King College had excelled in the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) division over the last 5 or 6 years, therefore they had made moves to make the step up to NCAA (National Collegiate Athletic Association) Division two, I had just happened to arrive in their transition year. This year they will be competing in the (National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association) but playing against Division 1 and 2 schools. When I arrived I found out that I would be playing on the Junior Varsity Squad, however before I could play I had to become eligible through the NCAA Clearinghouse.
This would end up being a longer process than I expected, and because I was European the process was made more difficult. Initially I was able to proof that I am a true amateur, which Niall helped me out with. I was told I was cleared to practice so I got off the sideline, before I was told I didn’t have to prove that I was academically sound because I was on a one year scholarship but that soon changed so I sent the Clearinghouse my A Level results, which they processed, but said it wasn’t enough and asked for my GCSE's. By the time I had become fully eligible I had missed three games including the school’s alumni game.
While I was cleared the first time preseason conditioning had begun, this meant getting up most weekdays at 6 am to go to the track. Every roster member was required to run a mile in a set time (5.45 for guards, 6.45 for forwards, and 7.00 for centres); on top of this the team would then go to the track later in the day for conditioning and have individual workouts throughout the day, as well as attending classes and study hall (the team studies together). As soon as I was cleared by the eligibility centre I made sure I made my mile the first time I attempted it, there was no way I was running it twice, I ran it in 5.30 and nearly died after, I still had to get up with the team to go to the track until everyone made their mile. This is when I noticed for the first time the bond between the players on a College Basketball team, those who completed their laps would still be up at 6 am, lined up around the track, encouraging the rest of the team to "make it this time". It was funny cause the people who lived beside the track used to hate us and you would occasionally hear them screaming out the window for us to be quiet.
It was a frustrating time for me after this because I was cleared to practice but not to play. So all I could do during game was sit on the sidelines, I ended up riding pine for all the wrong reasons. Our JV roster consisted of, walk ons and recovering Varsity players or new Varsity recruits who wouldn't get as much time on Varsity. I remember watching our second game of the season at home against "Bluefield" we won by 30 or 40 while I sat on the bench. To me our roster doesn't look like much a basketball roster, Bluefield looked athletic, I’m pretty sure they thought they'd walk over us. Our roster consists of one 6"9 280 pounder, we call him "Big Boy" or "Meat", and the rest of the roster is 6"1 and smaller. The advantage we had over other teams was that we could shoot, Snapp was our main weapon, 3 point machine, range like Wi-Fi, he went off on Bluefield, scored 25 in the first half. Cory Brown was our backup point guard but could start in my opinion; he looks small but was lightening fast and could just score at will. He was back up behind Batson, King's main recruit this year. He was playing JV to get accustom to King's system. Drew is our 4 man and our captain, smaller than me but athletic as anything, easily our best rebounder. I realized really quickly that I wasn’t going to play the point, when I eventually became eligible in fact it was more likely for me to fit in the forward position simply because of the fact that our team was so small. I would eventually become eligible for our first game against our local rivals Milligan. That’s enough for now ill update you on my first couple of games in my next entry.
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