Most who know me know that I love the Kentucky Wildcats. I did not know that Cam Thoroughman was a Clay High School product. I was sick the night that WV took down my Wildcats in the NCAA Elite 8 game to prevent UK's Final Four appearance and possible Eighth National NCAA Championship. Congratulations to the fine young Portsmouth man who continues in Clay's lineage of Carol and Clay Vice in making Portsmouth proud of the Cultural Center of Our Universe!
This article is from the Portsmouth Daily times
sign in Catching up with Cam: Time to ‘shine’
by Chris Dunham9 days ago
West Virginia’s Cam Thoroughman sits at midcourt in Lucas Oil Stadium after a practice earlier this week. The Mountaineers face Duke tonight.slideshow Following Monday's NCAA national championship game, a new version of the popular song "One Shining Moment" sang by Jennifer Hudson will be released.
In the 120 game minutes of the college basketball season, it will be up to those who take the floor to produce those shining moments.
Cam Thoroughman, a 2006 graduate of Clay High School and member of the West Virginia basketball team, will be one of those players at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis tonight for a national semifinal contest against Duke (33-5).
The Mountaineers are anxiously awaiting the opportunity to take on the Blue Devils.
"We're excited. We're ready to play," Thoroughman said. "We've been preparing for them and practicing for them for a week so we're ready to go."
All eyes were on the Mountaineers (31-6) on Friday afternoon as they took the floor at Lucas Oil Stadium for an open practice session. Following Butler, the team essentially playing the role of host school, WVU was on display in front of thousands of eyes.
"There were a lot of people there," Thoroughman said. "I heard as many as 30,000 people, but I'm not sure. It was definitely crazy. We practiced right after Butler, so a lot of the people were still there from that practice."
Thoroughman and his teammates were the center of attention off the court as well. When out with teammates De'Sean Butler and Joe Mazzulla on Friday, they were spotted by basketball fans in Indianapolis.
"People were walking up to us trying to get autographs and pictures and everything," he said.
In spite of all the distractions, the team tried to settle into a normal day-before-game routine in preparation for WVU's first Final Four contest since 1959.
"It was pretty much all the same," Thoroughman said. "We did the same stuff. Coach (Huggins) tried to keep everything the same so there's no difference for us."
Things will surely be different once the team takes the floor tonight. Lucas Oil Stadium is reportedly set to hold up to 71,000 fans for each of the Final Four contests.
"That's a lot a lot a lot of people," Thoroughman said. "It will be crazy for sure. It's going to be the most people I've ever played in front of — or anyone on the team I think."
Two years ago, the Mountaineers upset Duke 73-66 in a second round contest. Thoroughman had four points and as many rebounds in the win and will again be ready to do his part when his name is called tonight.
"I just want to go in there and do what I'm supposed to do," he said. "As long as we win, I'm happy."
Thoroughman knows there are a lot of people in the area happy for him and the Mountaineers as they continue their tournament run. He wanted to thank those who have been keeping up with the Mountaineers and those who will be tuning in tonight.
"I appreciate all the people following us and cheering for us," he said. "It definitely is good to know that people back home are rooting for me and West Virginia. I just really appreciate it."
West Virgina and Duke will tip at approximately 8:47 p.m., a half hour after the Michigan State-Butler contest concludes on CBS. The winners of the two games will play Monday night with a national title on the line.
Sadly, WV was taken out in the semi final game of the Final Four - Sam Kegley.
No comments:
Post a Comment