Richard Hyatt: For the love of basketball

For those of us who love college basketball, our holy weeks are about to begin.

We watched conference champions cut down nets last weekend, but deeper experiences are coming and for that we are grateful.

This is the only time of the year that I wish I could be a young sportswriter with a company credit card, hopscotching the nation for headlines.

Only once did I follow an area team to the Final Four, and it was joyous. I covered Georgia Tech in New Orleans and then at the 1991 finals in Denver. The Yellow Jackets lost to UNLV in the semifinals, and two days later the Running Rebels beat Duke by 30 to win the title.

On the Sunday between games, the NCAA operated a special train that hauled coaches and writers to a ski resort. I wrote my column with a view and then saw big-time coaches and big-name columnists in gurneys and wheelchairs being loaded on to the train. They braved the slopes. I stayed near the fire.

As a college student, I watched Georgia State University give birth to its NCAA program. My classmates were among the original scholarship athletes. They practiced at the YWCA and like gypsies played home games at high school gyms all over Atlanta.

I wish I could say it was the start of something big, but since 1963 Panther teams have had only 14 winning seasons. Mostly they've been horrible.

There were moments. Under Bob Reinhart they made a token appearance in the NCAA tournament in 1991 and were routed by Arkansas. Lefty Driesell engineered two postseason victories in 2001.

Last Sunday, Georgia State earned its third invitation to the Big Dance. They edged Georgia Southern in the Sun Belt Championship in a game that was anything but pretty.

R.J. Hunter, the coach's son, hit two free throws to seal the win. As the final buzzer sounded, Coach Ron Hunter was on the floor with a torn Achilles tendon.

On Facebook, Associated Press sports writer Paul Newberry -- a GSU journalism graduate -- noted that Hunter's injury proved that Panther coaches have never learned how to celebrate.

Georgia State plays Baylor University Thursday afternoon in Jacksonville, Fla. Ryan Harrow, their leading scorer, has a serious hamstring injury and the head coach will have a cast on his leg. But they're still playing.

I'll eat wings and watch games at my favorite sports bar this week picking out sentimental favorites along the way.

I'll wait for upsets and see the usual lineup of coaches work their magic.

Maybe Georgia State can pick up a win. Maybe Mark Fox can get his first postseason win at Georgia. It all begins Thursday (not counting the first round) and I can't wait.

I'm sick of brackets and tired of Dick Vitale, but I'm ready for some basketball.

Richard Hyatt is an independent correspondent. Reach him at hyatt31906@knology.net

This story was originally published March 17, 2015 at 10:25 PM with the headline "Richard Hyatt: For the love of basketball."