Davidson Wildcats Exhibit Grace Under Pressure

It's going to take more than hot dogs and expletives being hurled by opposing fans to rattle the Davidson Wildcats.

The Davidson Wildcats came to Charleston on December 29 to play their southern conference game, got the job done, and went home to prepare for their next game.

Another day at the office.

Don't misunderstand me.  It was a thrilling game in Charleston's beautiful new basketball arena. A sellout crowd was on fire and dying for an upset.  Every time the Cougars scored the crowd erupted and were on their feet as if it were the NCAA finals.

Never before have I understood quite so well the meaning of "Home court advantage."

The electrifying energy of the crowd seemed to uplift the Cougars and they rallied twice to overcome 11 and 12-point deficits. The last one with only a couple of minutes to play brought the Cougars to within two points.

I was one of about 30 Davidson fans in attendance and our cheers could not be heard. I was nervous.

Surely the enthusiasm, the fever pitch of the crowd would give the Cougars all the juice they needed to make it happen. In the last minutes of the game the momentum seemed to be with the Charleston team and their fans would simply WILL them to victory. Everyone has seen it happen before.

And then I looked at our guys closely.

Stephen looked a little tired.  Andrew and Ben, our big guys, had been sent to the bench with fouls.  But none of our players looked the least bit rattled.  Or frazzled. Or frustrated. Or scared. Or nervous.

They looked calm and confident.  As if they couldn't even hear the crowd.

The College of Charleston students threw hot dogs and other debris onto their shiny new court in protest of a questionable call.  Stephen fired off a perfect free throw facing a crowd of students screaming "BULLSH#*,BULLSH#*!"  (Earlier, screaming fans had suggested that the player guarding him should punch him in the face).

The taunting "OVERRATED!" yelled every time Stephen missed a shot or made a turnover seemed not to phase him either.   The whole team played with amazing grace under pressure.

The Davidson Wildcats know that in their conference especially, they are not the darlings. They are the prize.

Stephen said in a post game interview "We know its going to be like this everywhere we go this year in the Southern conference. We're going to get everybody's best shot and we've got to be prepared every game."

Well, what doesn't kill you only makes you stronger...  It's going to be a helluva season.

After the game there was a group of kids in College of Charleston sweatshirts waiting down by the court. They weren't waiting for the Cougars. They were waiting for Stephen. Apparently, they didn't think he is overrated or want to punch him in the face.

They just wanted his autograph.