NCDS: Tom Hankins, Asst. Coach - Oral Roberts ("Battle in the Badlands")

By: Tom Hankins, Asst. Coach - Oral Roberts

Coaching here at Oral Roberts University for the past 13 years has been more exciting than I ever imagined it would be.  Not only have I been able work for two of the best people in college basketball, but I have had the opportunity to travel all over the country and to some parts of the world that I never dreamed I would go.  I have had the privilege to work with some quality talent and play in some adrenaline laced games, reaching the NCAA tournament three times. Along with all these great perks, there have been a few trips that have not been quite so enjoyable.  Last week we had one of those not so enjoyable ones.

The original plan was to fly out of Tulsa on Wednesday, December 30th to play a game in Brookings, South Dakota against South Dakota State on the 31st.  Then, we were scheduled take a three hour bus ride to Fargo for a game the next day versus North Dakota State.  This is historically one of our more difficult trips, a gut check before the gut check - they don't call that region the badlands for nothing.

The difficult trip we had grown accustomed to was soon to become a little more trying. Bad weather was expected in Tulsa on the day we were scheduled to fly out, so it was decided that our party of 25 men,  most of them over 6-foot-2 would leave on a bus a day early and spend one night in Omaha, Nebraska on the way.  Everything went according to plan, an eight hour bus ride to Omaha followed by a very productive two hour workout at Creighton University.  Snow was on the ground in Omaha and the temperature sat at the five degree mark.  The next day, we moved on to Brookings, South Dakota for another good practice and temperatures hovering around 2 degrees.  We went up against South Dakota State that night, losing a lead late in the game and dropping the game by two agonizing points.  Ouch.

Our team then mushed on three hours north to Fargo, North Dakota, 165 miles from the Canadian border, where we were greeted with the coldest weather we had ever experienced, 30 below zero!  No one was quite prepared for this deep of a freeze, except maybe Damen Bell-Holter, our big Alaskan freshman.  After spending two days battling sub zero temperatures, we were able to play well enough to win against the Bison.  

The longest part of the trip was the fifteen hour bus ride home.  With only one bus driver, we had to break the return trip up into two parts.  A five hour ride immediately after the game to Sioux Falls, Iowa and then ten hours the next day home to Tulsa.  Winning our second game made the bus ride much more bearable, especially since we hadn't won in Bison Sports Arena before.  And our guys came home tested, in more ways than one.

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