Lion Hearted: A Legacy of Greatness

BY IAN TASSO
EDITORIAL. PHOTOS BY AP NEWS


The first organized basketball game was played in 1891 at Springfield College in Massachusetts.


Since then, the sport has meant many different things to many different people.

To some, it doesn’t mean much at all. To others, it’s just a game.

But to a handful of athletes who have graced the hardwood in their lifetimes, it’s much more than that—the jersey is a part of your skin, your teammates a part of your family and the court a home away from home.

Nothing was more apparent following the Lions’ heart-breaking 85-71 defeat at the hands of Albertus Magnus College in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference tournament final, where the passion and emotion on the Emerson sidelines could be felt for miles as the final minutes ticked off the scoreboard.

It was there that three Lion seniors—Jeremy Shannon, Bryan Rouse and Tim McGhee—sat sinking on the Emerson bench as they watched their final campaign come to a close; the numbers 11, 35 and 15 stitched proudly to the back of their jerseys, the title ‘Emerson’ woven permanently on the front.

But through all the blood, sweat and tears of a valiant and final effort by Emerson’s three seniors in their closing season, one thing is clear: their’s will be a legacy of purple and gold—everything it meant to be a Lion, everything they did to carry that title and so much more.

“Obviously, on the court, they accomplished great things,” said Emerson head coach Hank Smith, who spent all four years with the three seniors. “But I remember way more—every day in practice, how they competed in games, and how they did it the way I would like the team to be represented. You just don’t get three kids of that quality very often.”

THE COURT

Inside the arena, it will be a legacy that has seen over 3,000 points between the three athletes, one first-place regular season finish over four years, three second-place finishes and 76 total wins. And at the end of it all, both Shannon and Rouse find themselves in the top-five of Emerson basketball’s all-time scoring list.

As one, Emerson’s three-headed monster has helped power the Lions’ consistent run at the top of the GNAC, reaching the playoffs every single season since they arrived back in 2006, nearly hoisting the championship trophy twice in four seasons.

Separately, however, they are each unique entities within the game.

Rouse, Emerson’s six-foot-five-inch center, features a solitary skill set that is suited only for dominance—in the paint and under the hoop. The Lions’ 2010 overall scoring leader has wreaked havoc down low on opponents since day one, being named to the GNAC All-Conference team as a rookie back in 2006 and netting a school record 56 points in a single game against Daniel Webster that very same season.

“Rouse is the best skilled low-post player I’ve ever seen,” said Shannon, an entrepreneurship entertainment major, of his co-captain. “I’ve played with Jeff Adrian, who went to UConn, and I’ve played with a couple other guys that have gone big-time Division-1 and some to the NBA. But as far as footwork and touch and moves in the post—I’ve never seen anybody with the type of skills that Rouse has.”

Shannon’s own game, however, centers around his speed and quickness, constantly making plays and creating opportunities from all over the floor. The Emerson standout was heavily recruited by Division-1 schools back in high school, but an injury derailed his hopes of competing at that level.

Instead, the 2010 GNAC assists leader declined a scholarship from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst, and brought his athletic arsenal to Emerson College, where he nearly led the Lions to two conference titles, reeling in three GNAC defensive player of the year awards along the way since the award’s inception in his sophomore season.

Meanwhile, McGhee has been just as instrumental to the Lions success, proving to be an invaluable scorer off the bench, leading the Lions’ in shooting at a 59 percent clip in the 2010 season.

Set back by countless injuries and other off-court issues, ‘T-Mac,’ described by his coach as “one of the great teammates anyone could ever ask for,” saw his college career culminate on an emotional senior night, where he shot a perfect 5-5 and posted a career best 12 points in 14 minutes.

“He’s like my brother,” said Shannon of the marketing communication major. “What Tim went through with basketball—it just shows what type of person he is. He never really had a chance to consistently play, and he could have quit, but he just fought and fought through it. Taught me a lot. I definitely couldn’t have made it here without him—there’s no way in hell.”

THE CONQUEST

The three wasted no time in making their presence felt in the purple and gold, as they helped assist former Lion greats and ESPN The Magazine’s All-District Team members Ben Chase and Will Dawkins (‘08) post a 16-10 record in the three’s inaugural campaign with the Lions.

The 2006 finish was good enough for second place in the GNAC, but the dream was short-lived, as the Lions were bounced out of the tournament in the first round, blowing a 23-point halftime lead over the Suffolk Rams in a crushing 80-75 loss to their cross-town rivals.

The bitter defeat would serve as determination for the Lions the following year, however, as Emerson rebounded with a 23-win season that saw them lock up the GNAC’s top spot heading into the post-season.

Just as the year before, it was Shannon and Rouse serving as more than able-bodied wingmen for Emerson’s trio of talented then -seniors Chase, Dawkins and Joe Boylan. And thanks to 74 total playoff points from the two Lion sophomores, Emerson soared into the GNAC Championship game for a collision with Lasell College.

But despite a 26-point effort by 2008’s GNAC player of the year Jeremy Shannon, Lasell got the best of the high-flying Lions, who came crashing down with an 86-72 loss that awarded the Lasers the tournament crown.

“It was hard,” said Rouse, a marketing communication major. “For me it was a lot harder than losing this year, because when I got to college, [Chase, Dawkins and Boylan] took me under their wings and did everything for me—so I wanted to see them win it. We thought we had it—but we just fell short.”

For the Lions, it was an opportunity missed.

But for Shannon, Rouse and McGhee, it was a torch that had officially been passed.

With Dawkins, Chase and Boylan all graduating at the close of the 2008 semester, it would be up to Emerson’s trio of juniors to help lead a team that at the time only featured two other upperclassmen, seniors Anthony Remias and Sam Newman-Beck.

“After those three left it was kind of like...it was our team,” said Rouse, a four-time All-Conference first-team member. “We had Ant and Sammy, but it wasn’t the same as having three players and leaders like they were to this team. We knew we had to take a lot more responsibility for ourselves and get it done.”

Before the 2009 season began, Rouse and Shannon received co-captain honors as juniors, and with that led Emerson to yet another top-seeded GNAC finish, locking up the number two spot in the tournament with a 17-8 record in their third year as Lions.

But again, Emerson would slip in the first round, as an injured Rouse and an upstart Albertus Magnus team put an end to Emerson’s season with a 78-50 beat-down in the Lions’ den.

And then came 2010, the final run for Emerson’s heavily decorated seniors.

Much like in 2008, the Lions surged into the GNAC championship game, vindicating their previous season’s early playoff upset with blow-out victories over Lasell College and Norwich University in the first two rounds.

But this year, almost out of the same book as two seasons ago, Emerson would be turned away at the championship gates, their three seniors heading back to Boston empty-handed after a fourth and final fruitless tournament run.

“Sitting there and watching them receive the trophy—it hurt,” said the six-foot-two-inch McGhee of Dover, Del. “First off, you never want to lose. Secondly, you don’t ever want to lose the championship game of your senior year. But the three of us knew, even though we lost, in the end, we were about to do even greater things with our careers after that game.”

THE LEGACY

Some things in sports can’t be quantified with simple numbers and statistics; and the legacy that Shannon, Rouse and McGhee leave behind certainly falls into that category.

Their four years of powerful GNAC championship runs is a testament to their will as players. Their countless records, awards and accolades are a corronation of their perseverance as athletes. And the impact they had on their teammates, their school and each other is a result of their resilliance as men.

“It’s going to be tough to replace them as players, obviously,” said junior guard Tom Messinger, who has spent his entire three-year career with the soon-to-be graduates. “But it’s going to be impossible to replace them as people.”

And while it’s equally impossible to predict how Emerson will fare without the trio of Shannon, Rouse and McGhee, one thing remains clear: when the Emerson basketball team takes to the hardwood in the winter of 2010, it will be without three of their most potent and influential players.

But because of those players, it may not necessarily be for the worse—which is a testament to the three of them that couldn’t have been expressed through any number of victories, league-leading statistics or GNAC championships.

Instead, it’s something that to the players they’ve impacted means so much more; and to the school they leave behind will never be forgotten.

Because while roster spots can be refilled and records can be broken, legacies stand forever.

“They’ve always said that when they leave, it’s going to be my team to lead,” said Messinger, a marketing major. “And they’ve definitely done that by showing me what it takes to truly lead a team. Now it’s on us to carry the success they’ve built on and maintain their legacy after they leave.”

this article was also published in the Berkeley Beacon