University of Albany guard Logan Aronhalt has decided to spend his final year of on-court eligibility at the University of Maryland this coming season. Aronhalt had completed his bachelor degree at Albany but because UA doesn't offer his graduate major, the NCAA allows student-athletes to transfer and play right away without penalty. I wrote about Aronhalt a few weeks ago when it first broke that both he and leading scorer Gerardo Suero wouldn't be returning for a promising season at Albany. At that moment I was more stunned that the top two offensive producers wouldn't be around for their senior season, but now that it's set in I find myself more excited, particularly for Logan's new opportunity. Playing for the Maryland Terrapins is a big deal. Not every day does a kid from the America East jump to play in the ACC and moreover have an opportunity to play major minutes right away for the Terps. The reason why Aronhalt's presence on campus will be such a good fit is largely due to the fact that Maryland two-guard and one of the nation's leading scorers, Terrell Stoglin, has jumped to the NBA draft after learning he would be suspended for the entire 2012-13 season for violating team/university rules. Not only is there now 21.6ppg that needs to made up for (the next closest scorer for Maryland puts up half of that), but also nearly 18 shots per game are waiting to be claimed. If I were to unfairly boil it down to Aronhalt's best on-court quality it would be just that, shot making. He shot over 35% from three point range this season while the most accurate returning three point shooter for Maryland is 27%. I expect that threat from behind the arch along with the mid range consistency of Logan will land him a starting role in a Terp uniform. Aronhalt averaged 13.8ppg this year in the America East for the 19-win Great Danes but most people don't realize that those numbers aren't truly reflective of the kind of season Logan was having before his knee started to flair up and prevent him from playing even double digit minutes in the final 7 games of the year. For most of the season Aronhalt was the third leading scorer in the America East putting up closer to 15ppg. I'm confident in Aronhalt raising his level when he plays in the ACC on a nightly basis because that's what he did when UA 'played up' in competition this year. The road warrior dropped 20 points at Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, 13 points at both Pitt and Maryland, and 15 points at George Mason. Albany coach Will Brown and his staff will undoubtedly miss the reliability of Aronhalt on the perimeter this season, but you can bet that disappointment will equally match the relief from Maryland coach Mark Turgeon after having landed Aronhalt. He's a good player, a great student, and somehow a even better person, so despite the departure from the Great Danes it's hard for Albany's 'Purple Family' not to root for Logan Aronhalt moving forward...and they won't try. Best of luck Logan!

In the game of basketball being taller is better. I've been roughly 6'3 pushing 6'4 for the better part of the last 10 years, and that god given physical feature has been instrumental in my success on the court over that same stretch of time. When I walk into a room away from the court it's safe to say that I'm usually one of the bigger guys in the room. Sometimes I'm the tallest, but never the smallest. Over the years I've had literally hundreds of people comment on my height, whether it's the standard "you make me feel short" or "how's the weather up there?" Some of my teammates and opponents over the years have been monstrous and hear the comments even more than I do. I think of my teammate from the Empire State Games back in high school, Brad Sheehan who was 6'10. I had to look up at Brad and that gave me perspective of what a 7 inch difference must feel like to other 5-foot something's looking up at me. Never though have I felt dwarfed, that is until this past week when meeting my new teammate for the Albany Legends, 7-foot 3-inch Shagari Alleyne. This dude is a giant. The thought of someone's height making me temporarily uncomfortable had never come up until I went up and introduced myself to Shagari. Not only did my nose feel like it was lined up with his belly button, but when he first shook my hand his fingers had no other place to go beyond my palm but up my forearm. I thought he was going to eat me. We spoke for a few moments and then just he and I went into the bathroom to find a stall and change for practice. I peaked my eyes just over the top of the stall down the row of toilets to see Shagari's entire torso above the furthest northern point. It was incredible. It seemed like if he wanted to he could reach right over the barrier and flush the toilet in the stall next to him. (To put it in perspective I posted this pic with Shagari next to Shaq. As you can see Shagari makes Shaq's frame seem human). Our coach introduced him to the team and informed us that Shagari spent three years at Kentucky during the Tubby Smith era before transferring to Manhattan for his final year. He's played on numerous teams worldwide including the Harlem Globetrotters under the appropriate nickname "Skyscraper". During that first practice there were a few standout moments I'd never experienced. First I saw a human being for the first time be able to have two feet on the ground and grab the 10 foot high rim. I had heard of it being done but seeing it had me and my 11 teammates in awe. I later went to slap him on the rear for a 'thata-boy' and had to literally swing chest high to reach the appropriate level. When the 7'3 tree dunked the ball for the first time everyone couldn't help but laugh because of just how bizarrely easy it looked. It didn't take long to realize just how nice and gentle of a dude Shagari is too. Soft spoken but sharp witted, Shagari has turned out to be one of my favorite guys on the team. I give him all the credit in the world for being able to handle the attention he demands when his lanky self ducks into a room. People everywhere including his own teammates like me asking him for pictures, lifting kids he doesn't know up to the rim to dunk, and answering questions about his size 23 shoes are all taken in stride. Here is a video from this past Saturday (May 19th 2012) of an effortless offensive rebound and dunk.

Even in the Holy Bible it says we must give credit where credit is due, so with that being said I knew I had to carve out some space for LeBron James after receiving his third NBA MVP in four years this past weekend. Though the credit I want to throw his way with this post isn't the actual fact that he's the eighth player in league history to win his third MVP trophy joining the likes of guys such as Jordan, Russell, Kareem, and Magic, or that he averaged 27 points, 6 assists, and 8 rebounds per game this season for the Miami Heat. I hope (at least) by now we're all at the acceptance stage with LeBron concerning how special he is as a player and where his talent stack up with the all-time greats. Instead what I feel like I need to touch on is the way he's handled his latest accolade. There's been so much made in the last two years about LeBron as a person following 'The Decision'. I've ripped LBJ and his seemingly self serving and self centered attitude because it was hard for me to ignore. I'd found myself saying things like "Sure the guy is a great player, but anyone who gets 'Chosen 1' inked on their back is an attention whore." The examples of his needy self seemed endless, and then I watched this past weekend's 12-minute long MVP acceptance speech from King James. Not only did his candid words while accepting the trophy make me temporarily forget about any of his past transgressions, when I did recall them they seemed less significant. During those 12 minutes LeBron completely humanized himself. From the very moment he stepped on stage and said he didn't need the 'cheat sheet' his PR guy Adam gave him beforehand, to the point where he called every one of his Heat teammates on stage and turned around to thank them, the speech was a smash hit. I've posted the video below in case you missed it so you can see for yourself. The appreciation and the gratitude were real not only making him seem human as I said, but a likable one at that! (Could you imagine?!) Not that the noticeably humble King's words absolve him from any and every thing he's done that's rubbed me the wrong way, but I figured if I've banged on him for his missteps, he deserves to be credited with being a class act as he did this past weekend. Enjoy the video.

Before we all get too caught up in the 2nd round of the NBA playoffs that are inching closer, I'd like to take a quick look back at some of the best plays from the recently concluded regular season. And when I say top plays, I mean dunks! (Sorry Purists. I love buzzer beaters as much as the next guy, but when half of the list is last second heaves it's time to make a separate list. So I picked a separate list. Dunks:) It's my belief that of the pro sports, the NBA have the best pure athletes, and this video serves as evidence. Watching these guys that are anywhere from 6 to 7-foot exploding on the breakaway or in the half court with the power and grace in which they do it is unworldly. Check out 6'10, 250lb Blake Griffin elevate to the point that a car could fit in the space between his feet and the ground while also having the coordination to grab the ball and jam it over a 7-footer while he's up there (#6). Or comprehend Russell Westbrook who's listed at 6'3 decide to only use one hand when catching Kevin Durant's ally-oop pass that was one foot above and 5 feet away from the rim when contacted (#3). Even if you disagree with me on which sport brings in the biggest, strongest, and the fastest athletes, I'm still pretty sure you'll walk away from this video better off. Enjoy!
P.S. For a better appreciation, in between each dunk on the countdown go stand under a regulation size hoop to remind your brain just how high 10-feet in the air is.

I'm going to go ahead and join the majority of rational people and shake my head at New York Knicks power forward Amare Stoudemire. Usually when Amare is featured in one of my blog posts it's due to his lack of heart, rebounding or the inability to consistently make winning basketball plays for the Knicks, but this time it's a little different. Yes, his 7 rebounds in 41 minutes in game two's loss to the Miami Heat still won't cut it for an *elite* forward, but that performance wasn't any more out of the ordinary for Amare than his 5 boards in 32 minutes in game one's 34-point loss. What's stealing this blog's space is Stoudemire's realistic possibility of watching the rest of the Knicks first round from the sidelines due to a badly lacerated hand from punching glass covering a fire extinguisher following Monday's loss. I've seen this type of hot-headed behavior countless times during my time playing sports or watching them, and I figured that Amare took in the same lesson I had: The wall...the ground...the glass, they're all undefeated. There is zero upside with assaulting these non-living things. Don't misunderstand, I get the instinct to hit something in the heat of the moment out of frustration, but the urge to keep my bones and skin intact is stronger than the one that wants to hurt something that can't feel in the first place. I'll take it one step further...typically, the wacko who's doing the smashing is usually just as concerned about letting others know how mad he is as he is actually concerned about burning off his 'uncontrollable' frustration. Who knows Amare's true motive for attacking a sharp, inanimate object, but sources are saying it was the mere 9 shot attempts in game 2 that set him off. To that I'd ask, how bad did he want the ball in the first place? In 84 offensive rebounding opportunities the Knicks had in the first two games of the series, Stoudemire (who, allegedly, is an athletic 6'11 power forward) collected a grand total of 2. Considering that the Heat don't even have a true rebounding forward or center, that's a pretty telling 'S.T.A.T.', don't you think? (OK, so I did bang on Amare again for not rebounding, back to the punch) Recently I've been spending time in an urban high school and have seen this "Punch 'X' because I'm pissed" behavior a handful of times. I've witnessed students punch lockers, desks and walls, most of them with the cast covering their hand the following day to prove it. I understand Stoudemire came directly out of high school to the NBA, but at nearly 30 years old I trusted that he'd broken those 15-year old instincts. In an apologetic tweet, Amare said that the incident had "bad timing". Show me "good timing" to fish-fillet your hand with glass and I'll show you a padded room. As a lifelong sports fan I find myself passionately defending players on my favorite teams, but I think even the truest and bluest Knicks fans will have their hands full defending this one...one handful, anyway.

The months leading up to the 2012-13 UAlbany men's basketball season were supposed to be filled with buzz and excitement as the 19 win team returned every man on the roster in hopes of making an America East title run. While the chance of hanging a banner above the home court at SEFCU Arena is still a legitimate possibility, you can pretty much forget about the pomp and circumstance leading up to next winter. This past week the basketball program at UA suffered two immeasurable losses when a pair of would-be seniors, Gerardo Suero and Logan Aronhalt, announced that they are leaving the program. Suero has decided to forgo his senior season in order to play professionally in the NBA or overseas, while Aronhalt's decision comes based off academics and the fact that the University at Albany doesn't carry the major of his future Master's degree. Before I dive in I'd like to preface the fact that I don't ever try to disguise that I pull for the Great Danes. How could I not? After all I called nearly every possession of every game this past season, I'm employed by the university, and I work side by side with the program staff almost every day during the season. In doing this I became immersed in the program and found myself looking forward to next year's broadcasts as if I was the one playing the games. That being said, when I found out that both players were leaving the school it felt like a punch to the gut (make that two punches to the gut). This offseason I had continuously boasted how Albany was 1 of 9 division I teams in the nation to not have a senior and thus returned every contributor next winter. Jump forward a few scenes and skip the press conference wishing Suero and Aronhalt the best of luck moving forward and that same Great Danes squad is now missing 50% of its offensive firepower from the year before. Suero wound up finishing this year as the 7th leading scorer in division I basketball, averaging 21.5 points en route to breaking the programs all-time single season scoring record previously held by a truly "Great" Dane, Jamar Wilson. And while Aronhalt wasn't a top-10 scorer in the country, he was a top-10 scorer in the America East (13.8 ppg) and had already cracked the list of top-25 scorers in UA history without ever playing a game of his senior season. So with both all-conference selections and leading scorers parting ways with UAlbany, how can the Danes make that up in order to have a successful campaign in 2012-13?

The answer, I believe, is a tricky one. Firstly, Albany won't try to make up the offensive production of Suero and Aronhalt, because they can't. Gerardo Suero was a once in a generation scorer for Albany and Logan Aronhalt, until a left knee injury kept him out of the final 8 games, was as consistent of a scorer as there is in the America East. He went for no less than 12 points in the first 24 of 25 games this past season. UAlbany, with the possible exception of point guard Mike Black, who can go for 20 on any given night, doesn't have players talented enough on the offensive end to come close to matching what Suero or Aronhalt were capable of. But did anyone ever say that simply outscoring your opponent was the single and only way to win? Never! The losses of Suero and Aronhalt shouldn't be understated, but I can almost guarantee that the Great Danes will be a much better defensive unit this coming season. I also don't want to lose sight of the nucleus that will still be on Albany's campus this Fall. The aforementioned Black, a second team America East selection, will bring all of his 80 starts experience to the table for his senior season, and he's not alone. The front-court of 6'9 soon-to-be senior Blake Metcalf and a healthy 6'8 soon-to-be junior Luke Devlin have combined for over 100 division I starts and will look to bring a hard nosed defensive presence this season that lacked at times in 2011-12. If the 6'10, 275lb soon-to-be junior Jon Puk can consistency bring it in 2012-13 the way he showed in glimpses this past season, he'll give the Danes a true "big man" post presence that is lacking conference wide. I can't forget about the continuation of the Jacob Iati story that will have another chapter titled "Senior Year" after he averaged double figures over the final 8 games of the season and received the final America East Player of the Week award in 2011-12. I expect that with Iati now comfortable in the playing group and ready to contribute over the course of a season, he'll continue to stretch the defense and give Black's penetration a reliable kick-out option when sucking in other perimeter defenders. Mix in one of the better athletes in the conference in Jayson Guerrier, who started the final five games of the season and averaged double figures over that time and wouldn't you know, you've got yourself a contender. Now the devil's advocate will say that I'm only choosing to highlight the positive and that Albany doesn't have someone who can bail the team out in the closing seconds of games the way Suero did a handful of times, but I beg to differ. The Great Danes went 9-7 in conference in 2011-12 and I think they'll finish with the same record, if not better, partly because of the way the conference has graduated talented seniors and is wide open this coming season. In the two games against Binghamton, UMBC, UNH, Maine and Hartford, I expect UAlbany to be somewhere right in the ballpark of 7-3. If the Danes can split the games between the typical contenders of Stony Brook, Vermont, and Boston, you're looking at another 9 to 10 wins within the America East conference. Now I'm not going to come on here and say that this team overall will be better because of an addition by subtraction theory, but the fact that Albany will be committed defensively this season only helps their chances during the conference tournament when every single possession is a grind due to the heightened importance of an NCAA tournament berth. I tend to be a positive person by nature so pardon me if I'm not tweeting that the sky is falling on head coach Will Brown and his staff. But you know what? The same way as if Suero and Aronhalt weren't leaving Albany, the Great Danes will have to go out and play each game anyway and earn it just the same. And when that time comes next winter, I'll be there calling it as I see it.

You can put three more regular season games in the books for the Albany Legends as my first year of playing for the semi-professional basketball team has yet to experience a loss. Over this past weekend (April 13-15, 2012) we ran our record to a league best 5-0 by beating the Lansing Capitals on 3 consecutive nights. The undefeated start has us perched at the top of the IBA (Independent Basketball Association) standings with eight other teams around the country looking up. Not that I'm getting ahead of myself, but 5-0 feels pretty good. Our team has shown even through the first few weeks of the season that it can fight through adversity and step up to a challenge. The first challenge of the season being the setup of the schedule. Because the teams in the IBA are so spread out in states such as Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and Massachusetts, we play any particular team two and three nights in a row to cut down on unnecessary travel costs. It's really not that much different from other sports' playoff series in a sense that you're seeing the same opponent continuously and after awhile you understand key players, tendencies, and what makes one another tick. They say it's tough to beat a team three times...well try three times in three days! I give a ton of credit to my teammates for showing consistency both mentally and physically on back-to-back-to-back nights against a solid Lansing team that came into the weekend with a winning record. Another challenge our team has had to face is an early season coaching change. The Legends management decided to move in a different direction than originally thought by hiring John Coffino to lead the team for the rest of the season. Coffino has a stellar resume with head coaching experience in the NBA's developmental league, overseas, as well as D-1 college experience as a MAAC assistant at Iona, St. Peters, and Niagara. We meet the new coach this week, but in the meantime our General Manager Nick Dean lead us as an interim head coach to our three wins this past weekend. When he does get here, Coffino will be our 3rd coach this season. The coaching game of 'musical chairs' would be an easy excuse to let our guard down, but to our organizations credit we've got through it. On a personal level I happen to be playing good, consistent basketball. My best game over this past weekend probably came on Saturday night when in 19 minutes I scored 18 points (7-9 shooting) and grabbed 4 rebounds in our 140-132 win. I have to keep reminding myself not to get too caught up in the numbers, but per minute I'm one of the most efficient players on the Legends. For example, through five games I have 40 rebounds (8rpg), just 2 rebounds away from our team leader with 42...but I only average about 19 minutes per game, so my rebounding average PER 48 minutes would be 20-plus boards a game, by far the highest production on our club. That's really what I need to stay focused on is not the season averages, but rather what I do for my team with the minutes I've been given, and then hopefully the minutes will grow. Regardless of the minutes and stats though, it feels good to be a legitimate contributor on a winning team. Reading my name in the paper or a watching a highlight on the news for on court performance at 25 years old is something that I really didn't think about until it happened, but now that it has it makes me a little more hungry for continued success. I feel like I owe both Legends owner Steve Miller and our GM Nick Dean my best effort for believing in me on the pro level, and that's exactly what I plan on continuing to deliver.

For Los Angeles Lakers fans sake, could someone please put Andrew Bynum down for a nap? Maybe after some rest he'll wake up and remember that he's 24 years old, not 12, and he can stop costing his team much needed wins. As a lifelong Lakers fan I'm through with sticking up for the adolescent behavior of our 2005 first round draft pick. For five years now L.A. fans have waited patiently while Bynum's gone through NBA growing pains and a number of injuries in hopes that our young center would blossom into the All-Star we believed he could be. Now in his 6th year and first all-star caliber season, Bynum has fans like me wondering if we're more prepared to handle his superstardom than he is. The Lakers center's newfound attitude is hard to miss. In my eyes the mean streak seemed to start last year in game 4 of the second round of the NBA playoffs when Bynum gave Mavericks guard J.J. Berea a forearm shiver that knocked Berea out of mid air after the game had already been decided. The gutless move precipitated the league commissioner David Stern to rule him out of the first four games of this season. This wasn't the first time Bynum was disciplined by the league, but it was the first time Bynum was on a big stage and couldn't handle it. After he was ejected in Dallas, he ripped off his jersey and exited the court like a thug. As a fan of the game I naturally hated the cheap shot, but it was the way Bynum cost his team in the future that really set me off. The Lakers were without Bynum the first four games of an already shortened NBA season, a large factor in the Lakers starting the year 0-2. You would think a dramatic event like the one in Dallas (given the games and money lost) would give some sort of significant lesson for Bynum, but you'd be wrong. Instead, Bynum matched his terrific play in 2012 (and it has been terrific) with equally awful judgment all while having a hand in costing the Lakers wins. Take the game against Houston on March 20th 2012 when Bynum picked up his second technical of the game for continuously jawing at the officials. The Lakers at that point in the game lead an inferior Rockets team 77-71 in the third quarter, but after the ejection ended up on the wrong side of an 36-27 Houston run and eventually gave the game away losing 107-104. A 3-pt loss to a conference opponent...Think the league's second best center could have made up some of that ground? Further showing his immaturity, only 7 days after the Houston ejection during a game against one of the leagues worst, Golden State, the Warriors were on a 10-0 run when Bynum took the 9th 3-pointer of his career with ample time on the shot clock. After he was benched for the final 9 minutes of the game and the Lakers squeaked by Golden State, Bynum was not only unapologetic, but actually defiant: "I don't know what was bench-worthy about the shot, to be honest with you." You didn't know what was bench-worthy? Really Andrew? For starters, how about you're a center who just took a three pointer! (By the way, Bynum is 11% for his career from beyond the arch). How about you just spoiled a win for your team 7 days prior with junior high decision making, only to pull a sophomoric trey bomb while one of the worst teams in the league is on a 10-0 run. Are these reasons good enough? Between this incident and blowing off a sit-down with Lakers GM Mitch Kupchak, Bynum was eventually fined by his own team! Lesson learned? Hardly. Last week against the Clippers Bynum was seen acting like a fool by making "oh gosh, that must suck" faces when his own teammate, Pau Gasol, was dunked on by Blake Griffin. To pile it on Bynum also disregarded his coach and sat out of a team huddle during a timeout last week and claimed he was "getting his Zen on." All of this crap I was watching Bynum do was building up in my head but I didn't really want to write about it because, well, I love both Bynum and the Lakers...but the straw that broke the camel's back came this past Friday when Bynum was ejected against the Rockets (again) after he spent the games first two hours complaining about clean fouls, running his mouth to opposing players, and then finally yapping at the Houston bench and coaching staff after a layup. The Lakers lost that game at home by 5 points, 107-112. Bynum would later say he "has no regrets." Still? Not one regret? In the six years I've been watching Bynum I've never seen him take his act to this degree of 'punk' for this long, and I'm not any closer to getting used to it. Why now? Is it because he's producing and 'feeling himself' a little too much? Is Los Angeles finally getting to him? Is it the lack of Phil Jackson's guidence? Whatever the reason, I'm hoping that Andrew Bynum can straighten up his act and stay on the court not only for a playoff push, but to remind me why I liked him so much in the first place.

The first two games in my first season with the Albany Legends are in the books, and things for me on the court have gone from good to better. But before I dive into our season opener, let me get you up to speed. The last time I posted here a little more than a week ago I had just found out that the coach and general manager of the Legends wanted to not only put me on the semi-pro roster, but sign me as a paid player. Moving forward in the days following that news, we went into full training camp mode. General Manager Nick Dean and Coach Ben Smith had us practicing on a daily basis, not only giving us a chance to get to know one another which is obviously instrumental for chemistry purposes, but to also get us in shape. I had been working on my own for some time before ever stepping foot into the first Legends tryout, but practicing every day? I hadn't done that since college! Reviving my basketball career in this way was bitter sweet: My competitive mental state loves looking forward to four o'clock practices to go toe to toe with elite players every day, but my body was singing a totally different tune. The day to day grind was taking a serious toll on my muscles and joints (especially my knees!), and I'm still getting used to the pounding. All the hard work pays off on game day though. This Friday (3/30/12) we played our first game of the season on our home court of CBA high school against Battle Creek, a team based out of Michigan. Our first game on Friday night had a high level of energy due to the nearly packed house, along with newspapers and cameramen. Take it from me, nothing excites players more than the press. We ended up winning the game 129-102 and I played particularly well. Coach Smith used me as the second player off the bench and I made the most of my playing time. In 19 minutes I finished with 4 points and 8 rebounds. There's a revealing stat called PER48 where you take the players scoring or rebounding total, divided by the minutes played, then multiplied the full game length of 48 minutes to gage your production with the time you've been given. 8 boards in 19 minutes would be around 20 rebounds PER48, which is fantastic. On Saturday against the same team Coach brought me off the bench as the 8th man and I again totaled the same 19 minutes of action, only this time I was as productive as any player that day. When the final horn sounded I had racked up 11 points and 12 rebounds for the teams first double-double this season! The best part about my performance in the 113-98 Legends win was that the rebounds were badly needed. For whatever reason as a team we weren't giving our full effort on the glass, so coached Smith called on me, and I delivered. At one point in the first half I pulled down 3 consecutive rebounds. I've always been told by my coaches that rebounding is the one stat in basketball where you can be greedy. There's no downside to gobbling up boards, so as long as I'm able I'll try to eat my fill. It felt good to be a standout in a win, and when the GM came and handed me my game check after the 'W' he said "you earned this." That meant a lot to me. There's no better way to start a season off after 2 games other than 2-0, so hopefully both the team and I can continue to move forward, one step at a time.

I've taken on a steep new challenge. No, it has nothing to do with broadcasting or anything on the sidelines for that matter, but rather between the lines. I'm the newest member of the capital regions only professional basketball team, the Albany Legends. Crazy, huh? At least it's still crazy to me. Let me explain how this entire thing came about. Originally I wanted to take my crack at making the team last spring but because of an extremely stiff knee and neck I had to withdraw from the tryout. You would think that last season only being removed from college basketball for less than a year that I would have been in better shape but that just wasn't the case. I had taken some time off after having knee surgery and really never got fully back into playing shape. The shock of stepping back onto the court and attempting to play at that level while not being in tip top shape threw my whole body off. My knee was hurting and it seemed like every stride I'd take a new found pop would introduce itself. At the time I just chalked it up to 'hey, I tried'. But I really didn't fully commit myself to trying which over the coming months would really bother me. I knew that not only could I broadcast games at a high level, but I could still hang up their as a player too. So I got back in the gym. I lifted weights, did sprints, and worked on my skill set just like I was preparing for a college basketball season...all while covering a college basketball season. When the first set of tryouts came I felt great and performed well. I was rebounding the basketball and hitting shots well enough to make my way past the first cut. The powers-that-be sliced the original group of Albany Legend hopefuls from 40 to 20. The 19 other called-back players and I were then to play in two separate exhibition game against one another the following weekend. Those games were meant to replicate a realistic game scenario with three certified officials, a scoreboard and a live crowd. This setup was a little tough because everyone is trying to showcase their individual skills but at the same time attempting to play as a group and win the actual game. It's a fine line: Show you can be a team player while also setting yourself apart. The first Friday night I played well, but my biggest impact came on Saturday when on my birthday in front of friends and family in my home town of Scotia I scored 16-second half points. I missed my first 3-pointer of the second stanza but then went on to make 4 straight. I felt like I was high on adrenalin for the next 24 hours. After a week of deliberations (3/23/12) I was told that not only did I make the Albany Legends roster but I was one of the paid players. If you gave me a lifetime I couldn't really explain what this meant to me. At one point in time I thought that earning a athletic scholarship was out of my reach, and when I eventually received one from the College of Saint Rose I felt like I could breathe easy for the rest of my life knowing I accomplished my ultimate goal...but this, this is totally different. At this stage in my life to be playing at this high of a level and getting paid for it seems surreal. I've been informed by the GM that things could change at any time and my contract is game to game like everyone else's. I understand as players become available returning home from overseas someone could possibly shake up the finances of the team, but for right now I'm just relishing the moment. I feel like through this experience I proved a lot to myself. Proved again that hard work pays off and that just going for it is usually the right answer. Big thanks to the owner of the Albany Legends Steve Miller, Nick Dean the GM and Ben Smith the head coach for giving me the opportunity to play! Stay tuned for season updates...