Superhero Ali T

For this blog I would like to play homage to Ali Tobias or Ali T or Al or "A" as we lovingly refer to her. Around Christmas time, Ali came to the coaching staff with a dilemma. She needed to take a Praxis exam in order to graduate. The only dates available for the exam were the same dates we played games.

Now Ali is an amazing woman. She has more than once taken 21 credits in a semester and still achieved a perfect 4.0 GPA. Last semester she took 11 class hours while student teaching (a total of 29 credits) and playing basketball. Even with all her super hero skills, I did not know how she was going to take an exam on the same date we were supposed to be playing. This was a task even The Dynamic Duo would pass.

After consulting with the coaching staff, we agreed she could take the exam at Shepherd University on the morning of our game. In order to understand the magnificence of her feat, let me do a little history of the events surrounding the test.

We had just played four games in a nine day stretch against three opponents who had great records and ranked above us in the conference. Two of those games were on the road. On Thursday night, we played Wheeling Jesuit University at home where Ali played a significant role scoring 20 points. Friday morning at nine a.m. we departed for the long 5 1/2 hour drive to Shepherdstown.

Upon arrival at Shepherdstown, the team had about 45 minutes to rest before we met for an hour of scouting. At 5:45 p.m. we departed for practice, thinking our practice time was at 6:00. Since the practice time was actually 6:30, we were at the gym longer than we had anticipated, not departing until 7:45. Once back at the hotel, we went to eat which took over an hour and a half. There was no down time for the team. That night after watching more video on Shepherd, I brought Ali back into the room for a short 20 minutes session on some new things I had caught.

The next morning, Ali departed for her test at 7:00 a.m. At 1:25 p.m. as I was entering the extreme panic phase, Ali entered the locker room to get her uniform for the game. Without lunch or rest or her usual pregame warm-up, Ali had a short 30 minutes before tip-off.

Fortunately for the team, Ali in her silent but determined way, went about her business on the court as if nothing was out of the ordinary. It was just another day for a superhero. She scored 16 points, played incredible defense and led us to another tough victory on the road.

Thank you Ali for giving more than any coach has the right to ask.

ONE HEART. ONE DREAM.