Although it hasn't been pretty for most of the year, right now you have to give our men's basketball team all the credit in the world.
Sure they have beaten four of the lower seeds in the league, but anytime a team can win four in a row, especially to end the year, the feat is impressive, and it appears the Eagles are getting hot exactly when they needed to. Barring a shocking event, they should be able to handle Colgate tonight, as I don't think Andre Ingram (a.k.a. A.I.) would ever let his career end with a loss at home.
With that said, the play of Andre Ingram has actually made me even more upset at AU.
Why? Is Ingram taking too many jump shots instead of driving in the lane? Does he lack confidence at the end of games? The answer to both those two questions is a resounding 'no.' Rather, my anger at AU stems from the fact that we have recruited so few "Andre Ingram"-like players, when this area is already ripe with talent.
For those who don't know, Ingram was one of the players of the year in Virginia when he came to AU, and if you look at the record of the guys in the NBA, such as Delonte West, Steve Francis (OK, he used to be good), Juan Dixon and Carmelo Anthony (Baltimore), it is obvious that the D.C. area is ripe with talent.
Now I'm not crazy enough to say we'd get these guys, but this area has so much talent that there will always be guys like Ingram who slip under the radar.
Next year, it's time for AU to use its "home field advantage" to find the next Andre Ingram.
American is uniquely positioned as the only Patriot league team to be situated inside a major metropolitan area, and with all that this team has done to go overseas to find forwards who at times are more comfortable shooting three's than playing down low, you can't seriously tell me that this team would be any less good by taking a larger look at the pool of talent from area public and private schools.
In this case, some of the best talent comes from places that are just under your nose and the play of Ingram is proof of this.
Now I would be remiss, and in fact a hypocrite, if I didn't note that AU does have two players with area ties, as Brian Gilmore and Travis Lay both played in the area. However, I would argue that while Gilmore and Lay are both solid players who give a decent effort every night, both are still hustle and boards guys, who are more suited to be role players than as the leader of a team.
Next year, it times for AU to use its "home field advantage" to find the next Andre Ingram. Otherwise, you won't even see this team even flirt with a .500 record next year.
Finally I want to note that I am not na've here, or one of those delusional fans who thinks that AU doesn't face any disadvantages when recruiting against other schools. As much as it hurts to say, AU will almost never get players who are also in line and heavily recruited by the big local powers of Georgetown, George Washington and Maryland. Telling a kid that your parents might be able to catch you on ESPNU twice a year, isn't the same as being told you'll be in the national spotlight.
So instead AU needs to find that guy who's been dissed and dismissed by the major schools, and use the local angle to land him. It's a hard task indeed, but that's why those guys get paid to do it, and why I, for absolutely no money, get to call them out when they don't.
