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Message: [QUOTE="reedny, post: 1767925, member: 1423"] Just got home after attending the No-Huddle Alumni Dinner at Monroe Golf Club. As this photo shows, it's a great place to host an event like this ... elegant setting and excellent food. The room was packed with alum's, fans and SU dignitaries. My wife and I were at "Table 25" (coincidentally near the bar). I found Matt Park early to thank him for coming out to Rochester and bringing JB along after many years of absence. We both lamented that, because of commitments earlier in the day (Buffalo and an award presentation), there was no golf. Stay tuned on that for future years. The program started with some welcoming comments by Matt and then a tribute to Pearl, which was poignant. After the meal, Matt led Coach Babers and JB up to a small stage with Floyd Little. The four sat in bar-style chairs. JB started the commentary, moderated by Matt (smooth, as always). JB brought his dry sense of humor and seemed at ease talking about the trip to the final four. He highlighted how important it was for the team to believe in itself despite early season struggles and a slate of seemingly unbeatable tournament foes. He talked about the fortuity of playing Middle Tennessee State instead of Michigan State ... noting that he knew SU was going to win when MTS's best player (Giddy Potts) promised that the SU zone would be "no problem". JB brought up next year .. without going into recruiting specifics. He mentioned that we had a special shot-blocker and predicted that the team would be "very good" even without Malachi. JB rounded out his remarks by remembering Pearl and talking about how he was JB's first national recruit. Later during questions, he compared the effect that Pearl had on the program to what Dave Bing had brought to SU years before, and Carmelo years after. Floyd Little spoke. He was introduced as "Doctor", having received an honorary degree last weekend (he already has a doctoral law degree from U of Denver). He mentioned that SU's 2015-16 season had been one of the most successful academically and athletically in U history. Also talked about were the core values ("commitment and sacrifice") he imparts to players struggling with classes or doubting their ability to succeed at the college level. An unexpected example of this turned out to be Coach Babers, who had turned down an offer for more money after agreeing to come to Syracuse. From there Coach Babers took over. He was very personable, teasing Floyd that he (Babers) wasn't a "doctor" but he had a masters degree also. HCDB's then went into the process of building a program -- JB interrupted him, joking that "we'll give you a doctoral degree if you start winning some games". This got a round of applause. Coach Babers then talked about how he installed his practice habits with urgency, and challenged the players to return in August looking like they had been practicing all summer. Many comments returned to the theme of restoring the fan-base, "packing it in the Dome" to keep things rowdy for opposing teams. Coach spoke with great excitement about the SU facilities and academic support ... not only the IPF but the only "Domed Stadium in college ball", due to undergo a slew of big changes to make it state of the art. As with Coach Boeheim, Babers did not have time to get into specifics about recruiting, except to say that he trusted his staff's evaluations over the star ratings. In response to a question by Andre Fontenette, he noted that SU was hosting a camp 0r two in June (in NYS) that he hoped would kick off recruiting efforts to keep the state's best athletes from jumping to out-of-state programs. The evening concluded with the alma mater, supported by a singer (lovely voice) and some SU Marching Band members (I think there was even a tuba in the group). [/QUOTE]

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