By Billy LiggettEditor, Campbell Today
I’ll begin by saying I’m not a huge college basketball fan.
I know … how have I not been chased out of North Carolina by now?
As a native Texan, though, it’s been all football, football and football for me. But since moving to the Tar Heel State seven years ago, I’ve been fortunate to catch a few UNC and N.C. State games each year (Duke tickets are a little harder to come by). And as a fan of sports in general, I agree with the notion that college hoops are best experienced in this part of the country.
On Saturday, I took my wife, my 4-year-old daughter and my 2-year-old son (pictured below) to their first Campbell basketball game — the nationally televised ESPNU game agaist Coastal Carolina. We’ve attended football and baseball games here, but inexplicably, this was our first basketball experience in Buies Creek since I came to Campbell in 2011.
And I realize this may be sacreligious to write — but the Campbell experience for me blew the doors off of all other basketball games I’ve attended in the last seven years. The packed house, the great game, the loud fans who stood up for most of the game, the band … it didn’t hurt that, unlike those other games, I had a dog in this fight, too. I’m not a Campbell alum, but working here has moved me to pull for them on any and all occasions.
So thank you, Campbell, for my first true college hoops experience in North Carolina. I assure you this won’t be my last one in Buies Creek.