They're thinking big at little school
DAVIDSON, N.C. - The main athletic events on Davidson College's 450-acre campus on a chilly, early spring afternoon were a Southern Conference baseball game against Wofford and a women's lacrosse game against Navy.
Normally at this time of year, that would be enough to entertain the student body of 1,700, almost half of whom play either a varsity or club sport.
But this has not been a "normal year."
It hasn't been since last weekend, when the Davidson men's team stunned the basketball world with a 74-70 upset of No. 2 seed Georgetown in a second-round NCAA Midwest Regional game in Raleigh, N.C.
That prompted a lot of attention for the little school that could and added another tale to the mystique of the tournament.
Another chapter was added Friday night when Davidson did the same thing to No. 3 seed Wisconsin in the regional semifinal, knocking the Badgers out of the tournament with a 73-56 win in Detroit.
That set up today's meeting with No. 1 seed Kansas.
What we have here is a Southern version of "Hoosiers."
Whether the story continues on to San Antonio for the Final Four next weekend (the Davidson bookstore has a backlog of orders for "Road to San Antonio" T-shirts at $19 to $21) will be decided today, but yesterday the excitement generated by this improbable run was palpable on campus, despite the fact that 380 students took advantage of the administration's offer of free transportation and lodging in Detroit.
The Davidson campus - located 20 miles north of downtown Charlotte - looks like a Hollywood set with manicured lawns, students walking down Main Street (the actual name), elegant dorm rooms, frat houses, and stately brick school buildings.
With the temperature 30 degrees colder than Friday's sunny 77, the Davidson union was a web of activity, centered around the campus bookstore.
Normally open 10 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturdays, the store extended its hours as two cashiers handled a steady stream of customers looking for any kind of Davidson souvenir.
Meg Baker, a freshman from Naples, Fla., stood just outside the store and laughed when she was asked if it was usually this busy on a Saturday morning.
"Everything here is crazy," said Baker, who was on her cellphone trying to wrap up weekend plans, which now include the possibility of a trip to Detroit.
"I got the e-mail too late and I missed out going [for the Wisconsin game]," said Baker. "But they just sent out another e-mail. They are sending six more buses up there tomorrow. We have to reply by 3 p.m. and the buses will leave at 3 a.m.
"The buses will get there right before tipoff, and then come back right after the game. The only problem is that they are doing it by lottery. But since a lot of the students are already up there, I feel I have a pretty good chance of going. I want to go so badly, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity."
Baker said the campus was crazy after Friday night's victory.
"Everyone was yelling and screaming and running around singing 'Sweet Caroline,' " she said. "It literally didn't quiet down until 1 in the morning."
Across campus in front of the Baker Sports Complex, which houses the athletic offices, the school's Sports Hall of Fame, a swimming pool, and Baker Arena, the home court for coach Bobby McKillop's Wildcats, a marble statue of the Davidson wildcat stood guard, but someone had put a toy Badger in its mouth.
McKillop, who almost certainly will be the "hot" candidate for every big coaching opening, has been at Davidson for 19 seasons and lives across the street from the campus. He has a 5-minute walk to work.
Yesterday, his house on Concord Road had a "Congratulations Cats" banner draped on the hedge.
For Davidson, which proudly promotes its scholastic accomplishments and its 23 Rhodes Scholarships as well as its diversity in education and opportunities for students, the spotlight yesterday was on sports. The focus was clearly on a basketball program that is one victory away from the Final Four.
"I will definitely go to San Antonio if we win," said Baker. "There won't be any stopping me. And I think that's true for most of the students here."
