Over the last two seasons, I’ve had the honor of a lifetime being the Hofstra University men’s basketball team’s beat reporter, which has taken me to numerous different arenas that generate different storylines each game. I’ve stood in Washington, D.C. to cover the Pride’s early tournament heartbreaks along with a program-defining championship. I’ve made the trip to the snowy streets of Syracuse, New York, to cover the Pride’s second Atlantic Coast Conference win in a week. However, nothing compared to where the job took me this March, where the Pride punched their ticket to the biggest stage in college hoops: Tampa, Florida.
The journey to Tampa began in the nation’s capital, when Hofstra climbed the ladder to cut the nets after their first Coastal Athletic Association (CAA) championship since 2020. The 25-year March Madness drought finally ended.
Once the final buzzer of that last CAA game sounded, chaos ensued in the CareFirst Arena. Security fortified the hardwood as photographers rushed to the players, who were celebrating at center court. Everyone was trying to capture the first moments of elation as Hofstra was once again CAA champions. In the midst of it all, I was caught in the middle, dazed, with my head spinning, gripping my microphone, trying to ready myself for an interview with German Plotnikov. As he approached me, wiping his tears of joy, I was doing the same.
The sideline interview was ingrained with raw emotions, the kind that only came out with a moment of this magnitude. The emotions were radiating throughout the arena, and the joy was palpable.
As the celebration began, in the middle of madness, everything slowed down. I was standing there watching players and coaches embrace their families with tears streaming down their faces. In those moments, you realize you’re not just a part of a game; you are in a moment of history.
Once the tears were wiped away, it was time to ready myself for what came next. It was time to go dancing.
After Selection Sunday, a dream suddenly became a reality – a date, time and location – and an opponent was born: University of Alabama.
The preparation began immediately. Just moments after the matchup was set, it was time to get to work. Countless hours making it my mission to become an expert in Alabama basketball were underway. My goal was to understand what made the Crimson Tide tick.
After the matchup was set, something I never anticipated began to unfold. Podcasters and fellow reporters began to reach out to The Hofstra Chronicle to speak with me. These people wanted insight and interviews from the beat reporter. The same work I had been doing all season was now being seen on a larger stage.
These experiences were humbling. They were a reminder that this run wasn’t just elevating the program; it was elevating everyone connected to it.
Once we landed in Tampa, the countdown to the Big Dance began. The moments and memories shared with my fellow Hofstra reporters are what really set this trip apart from the rest. Dylan Brett, Calvin Wille, Sienna Olivares, Olivia Hillestad and I created a special bond – one that only the five of us can share. The dinner trips to Chili’s and Yard House may have seemed like ordinary dinners, but they turned out to be much more than that. Those nights became the ones that will stick with me for a lifetime – a group of five college students, hundreds of miles away from home, sharing laughs and soaking it all in.
We used to sit by the hotel pool talking about life and how crazy it was that we were all here together. Each night, we got together in a hotel room feverishly preparing for the days ahead of us. In those moments, we all became enraptured with our work, trying to produce the best work we could. In between the hard work and late nights, we still found time to laugh and smile.
Then came the real work. Walking through a March Madness shootaround, in and out of press conferences and locker rooms, through all of the behind-the-scenes access – it had all been the moment I could’ve only dreamt of when I first came to Hofstra. Right before tip-off, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath as the sound of thousands of fans cheering slowly faded out. The lights had never been brighter for both the team and me. In that very moment, I realized I had never been more certain that this is where I was meant to be.
Hofstra made all of Long Island proud that night but the Pride ultimately came up short. A five-month season was over, and so was my two-year stint as the beat reporter. Just like in D.C., emotions began to flood in, and I was left trying to soak it all up. However, I was left with one word that I couldn’t get out of my head: gratitude.
I have gratitude for all the editors who have helped me at the Chronicle, for every member of the basketball program that trusted me to tell their story truthfully, for all my friends and family who instilled confidence in me and pushed me to keep going. Most importantly, I have gratitude for the last two seasons. Tampa was only a chapter in a larger book for me, something that I’ll have for long after that final buzzer sounded.
