TOWSON, Md. - Planning for a basketball game on a normal Saturday is never a simple task. It's more than just rolling a basketball out on the floor and letting the two teams go at it.
From the National Anthem to the performers at half-time to security at the game, it takes a team to coordinate all the events that will take place within the Towson Center.
Now add the knowledge that the President of the United States is attending the game and this becomes anything but your "normal" game.
In the future, when you go back and look at past results and check out Nov. 26, 2011, you'll see a 66-46 loss at home to Oregon State. But, there should be an asterisk placed next to that loss because that date signifies a victory for the Tiger men's basketball program, the Department of Athletics and the University as a whole.
The fact that President Barack Obama was coming to a Towson game was not a huge surprise considering his brother-in-law, Craig Robinson, is the head coach of Oregon State. According to Director of Athletics Mike Waddell, the planning started on Friday.
"We had our first meeting last Friday, so it was about eight days out," said Waddell. "I met with the folks from the Secret Service and White House staff. We kept in constant contact for eight days leading up to the game."
While some people had an inkling that the President was coming during the week or before, Towson couldn't put out the official word until the night before.
"There are security issues," said Waddell. "If anybody was around campus last week, they probably got an indication. Unless they were not paying attention on Friday when Marine 1 and 2 came through and did some practice landings [near the lacrosse practice field behind the tennis courts], the people in Rodgers Forge had a pretty good idea.
"We had clearance to get the word out on Friday night," Waddell added. "With the way we communicate though social media, we knew we could get the word out. The Secret Servcice and White House staff were very good to help us out. They are the number one communications outlet in the world, so they got it out. That was a good thing."
Fans were told to arrive early because of the security measures and the fact that the President and his family were scheduled to arrive at around 1:45 p.m. Other luminaries in the crowd included Congressman Dutch Ruppersberger, former Congressman and college and pro basketball player Tom McMillen, former Towson hoops star and current San Antonio Spurs guard Gary Neal and actor Bill Murray, whose son, Luke, is a first-year Towson assistant.
"The best moment was looking around at our fans really engaged in basketball and having a great time at a basketball game," said Waddell. "That's what it's all about. Our first priority from Day One is making basketball on the women's and men's side our first priority in terms of developing a constant revenue stream. We have to get back to entertaining our fans."
Waddell added, "Coach [Pat] Skerry and Coach [Joe] Mathews' teams both play entertaining styles of basketball. We have to bring great opponents in here along with what we already have in terms of CAA teams. If you can make it the place to be, it will be a little easier to convince some people to make it worthy of their entertainment dollar."
Despite the distractions, Towson actually played well to open the game. The Beavers started wearing down the youthful Tigers with halfcourt pressure and took command of the game in the second half. Sophomore Marcus Damas had a career day with 18 points and 10 rebounds while showing no signs of nervousness. Maybe the early games at Mchigan and Kansas prepared him for playing in front of 3,100+ fans, including the President.
"We have a brand new team and coaching staff," said Waddell. "It's going to take some time for them to get to know each other on and off the court, especially in game situations. This coaching staff has never coached together before. Everything is built towards those days in March at the CAA Tournament. Pat has been very direct in saying that he never wants to use the word "rebuilding." I get his mentality on that.
"We're going to do things the right way on and off the court," Waddell continued. "These kids are establishing themselves academically and that's critical. That's not always been something we've delivered on, especially with some of the transfers that came in. We weren't graduating kids the way we should. We're paying attention to that. Building those great championship habits that will pay off just like that has for football."
But this was more than just a basketball game. The Department of Athletics received some positive feedback from the White House and Waddell credits his staff, including Senior Associate Athletics Director Mike Harris.
"They gave us very high marks," said Waddell. "They said the staff here from the University to Athletics were some of the best people they ever had to deal with. I think they might try to hire a few people away. We're very blessed here on the athletics side.
"Mike Harris is our point person," Waddell added. "When we were at Cincinnati together, they had come through a few times on the campaign trail as Ohio is a real battleground state. We've dealt with campaigns and things like that before. He has experience and that really pays off for us."
The publicity received from the Oregon State game was invaluable. The name "Towson University" was everywhere.
"I was talking to [incoming] President [Maravene] Loeschke this morning and she called me to congratulate us for a great day," said Waddell. "And I talked to [former President] Robert Caret via e-mail as well. I said this might have been the most visibility in any one event in the 146-year history of Towson University."
Waddell followed that by saying, "When a picture from one of our events on campus is in the London Daily Mail, The Huffington Post, on CNN, etc., that's a big deal. There's no reason why we can't have big deals on this campus and it's all about expecting to be big-time and expecting success."
Somehow, the football team stole the show on a day when basketball was supposed to be the center of Tiger Universe. But, this whole year so far revolves around the pigskin. When the Towson football team arrived in their uniforms (sans pads) at the Towson Center en masse right before the Obama family arrived, they received the loudest ovation of the day.
So, when the team showed off their CAA Championship trophy in front of a big crowd, you knew it wasn't going to be your average celebration. They ended up surrounding the President, attempting to shake his hand and wound up posing with him and the trophy in a picture that will probably live in media guides and pictures in the Field House forever.
"I asked [Coach] Rob [Ambrose] what his practice schedule was," said Waddell." I said 'Why don't you have the guys come up in their jerseys?' We knew we were going to have a big crowd.
"You want to use the biggest stage to promote your best things," added Waddell. "That was a natural. It was an amazing moment just watching our kids smile. It was like Christmas morning for them. It's a way to re-focus them. Immediately after that, he had them down on the field and they got back after it on Sunday. It's time to get ready for Lehigh."
As for the family, t-shirts and stuffed animals were given to the kids, Sasha and Malia, and President Obama received a football jersey with 44 on the back and a white basketball jersey with 44 on the back.
"He said thanks for having us here for the basketball game as he was leaving yesterday," said Waddell. "I said 'Don't worry. We'll be back down to see you at your house in a few months with our national championship football team' and he got a chuckle. He was a very down-to-earth guy and was very approachable.
"His wife couldn't be more engaging," the Tigers' second-year Director of Athletics added. "He outkicked his coverage with her as most of us do."
Waddell and Tiger Athletics have another extremely important home game to prepare for - one that has a chance to go down in history right next to November 26, 2011.
On Saturday afternoon at 3:30 p.m., the Tiger football team faces Lehigh and as of Tuesday, there are tickets available. There won't be as many well-known politicians and actors, but probably a lot of former football players and coaches who have paved the way for the Tigers in NCAA FCS (formerly Division I-AA) along with those who played on playoff teams in Division II and III.
"We will see how much football means to our campus this week," said Waddell. "When you have a national playoff game and our students have to drop an Abe Lincoln to be able to come to a game, we'll make it a great experience for them and the team needs them. We have an above average sales for the general public. But, the key for us is the students. We also have to be able to take advantage of this right now and springboard that into 2012 season ticket sales. We have to more than double what we've done in season ticket sales and start to get this pointed in the right direction."
You can overstate each game as being "the most important" or the "biggest ever." There is no doubt that the week of Nov. 26 to Dec. 3 has been unmatched in the history of the program in terms of important on-campus events.
The football team, which went from 1-10 in 2010 to 9-2 this season, earned a second-round home playoff game against Lehigh and a bye in the first round.
"It's an outstanding tribute to what Coach Ambrose has done and to our sports medicine and strength and conditioning programs," said Waddell. "Especially the young people who have put in those hours. But, you need to support this. It's kind of like going to your first-ever bowl game. You want to establish credibility."
Waddell added, "One of the reasons why we didn't get one of the top five seeds is because we've never been here before because there wasn't that respect. We can earn that respect if we peel off a few wins and maybe even get to Frisco, Texas. It's down to 16 teams and it's a puncher's shot. I like being in the Sweet 16. One play at a time, six seconds - it's been Rob's mantra and we'll continue to preach it."
