SALISBURY — In “Hoosiers,” arguably one of the 10 best sports movies ever made, there’s a poignant scene in which Hickory High School’s basketball team enters the arena where they’re going to compete for a state title. It’s mammoth, and immediately the players look shell shocked.
Livingstone College’s men’s basketball team has made it to the NCAA Division II playoffs for the first time in school history and plays at 8:30 p.m. Saturday against the 22-8 Fairmont State University Fighting Falcons. But when the Blue Bears take the court today at 3 p.m. for practice inside the gym at West Liberty University (W. Va.), don’t expect coach James Stinson to borrow a page from Hackman’s book.
Sure the NCAA DII playoffs will be by far the biggest stage on which the Blue Bears have played, but Stinson and his assistant coaches have worked all week on keeping the players grounded.
“Our players are anxious and excited at the same time,” said Stinson, who captured CIAA Coach of the Year honors. “We haven’t played since March 2, so it will have been two weeks since we played when we tip off Saturday night. None of our players competed for a state title in high school, so Saturday’s playoff game will be the biggest game of their lives. But we’ve told them to just remember the mental attitude, hard work and solid play that got them where they are. If they do that, I think we’ll be all right.”
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