Kevin Hanes still has three seasons of college basketball
eligibility remaining.
That’s three seasons in which he can fulfill any number of
personal goals. Three seasons in which Hanes will bunker down on
road trips with his teammates, ride the rollercoaster of wins and
losses, and work tirelessly toward becoming the absolute best
basketball player he possibly can be.
Yet no matter how perfectly the next three years unspool for
Hanes, there is little chance anything will eclipse the experience
he enjoyed with the University of Northern Colorado basketball team
this past spring.
Hanes, a Monument native and a graduate of St. Mary’s High
School, had a courtside seat as the Bears made history by earning
the school’s first berth in the NCAA tournament, while bringing a
rare touch of March Madness to the Front Range.
“It was unreal to make history like that. It’s something you’ll
never forget,” Hanes said. “It definitely was a cool experience and
a dream come true. As a kid, you always dream of playing in the
NCAA tournament.”
While Hanes was not one of UNC’s primary contributors — he
appeared in only five games, averaging 2.2 minutes and scoring a
total of six points — that did not diminish the experience of a
lifetime. As the Bears rallied late in their Big Sky Conference
tournament finale against Montana, eventually recording a
five-point victory that clinched the league’s automatic NCAA berth,
Hanes could only sit and watch as the excitement slowly simmered to
a boil.
Once those final seconds finally ticked away, the enthusiasm
finally boiled over. The UNC faithful, who watched the scene unfold
on their own campus, stormed the court in a scene of joyous bedlam
Hanes can only recall in bits and pieces.
“That entire game you could tell the whole arena was wondering
if this was going to happen or not,” Hanes said. “With about five
minutes left, we all felt like there was no way we weren’t going to
do this. We really picked up our play. From two minutes left on the
clock through the end of the night went by like that. It was unreal
and so much fun.”
UNC’s dreams of a Cinderella run through the NCAA tournament
ended with a 68-50 loss against second-seeded San Diego State in
Tucson, Ariz. Although the remarkable run ended prematurely as far
as Hanes and the rest of the Bears were concerned, it did not
prevent them from reveling in the perks of the experience.
There was the chartered jet the team took with the school’s
cheerleaders, faculty members, and fans to Arizona. Not to mention
the police escorts that accompanied the team to and from the arena.
Looking forward, UNC will have to replace some of the key figures
from that remarkable run, yet Hanes and his fellow underclassmen
feel ready to fill the void.
The bar has been abruptly set much higher in Greeley, yet after
experiencing the thrill of March Madness, that suits Hanes and the
other returning Bears just fine.
“We had a meeting a couple days before school let out for the
summer and none of the (graduating) seniors were there,” Hanes
said. “Coach (B.J.) Hill said with the new recruits we have coming
in — and it will be easier to recruit now and get good players —
there is no reason we can’t make it past the first or second round
of the NCAA tournament. We have an understanding that we can, and
will, do it again.”