Timing is everything: Senior guard Ezinne Kalu has led Savannah State to the NCAA tournament

COURTESY SAVANNAH STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

SAVANNAH, Georgia -- It was a timely announcement that paid off multiple times for Savannah State.

Ezinne Kalu learned she had the same birthday as former Tigers football star Shannon Sharpe when she came on a recruiting visit.

It was the same day SSU announced it would retire Sharpe’s No. 2 jersey later in the season.

“Coach, you’re going to do the same thing for me?” Kalu asked Tigers women’s coach Cedric Baker.

“You’re coming?” Baker asked.

“Coach, I’m coming,” Kalu said.

Baker remembers the conversation clearly. Mark the date — June 26 — the day the SSU women’s basketball program took a leap toward competitiveness. With Kalu in the lineup, the Tigers are 70-61. But without Kalu during Baker’s 11-year tenure, SSU has gone 56-138.

Before Kalu, the Tigers experienced 11 straight losing seasons. Now with Kalu leading the way, the women’s program finds itself mentioned with the nation’s elite. The Tigers will play top-seeded South Carolina at 5 p.m. on Friday in Columbia in the first round of the women’s NCAA tournament.

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