November 9th.
The seats in Illinois' home arena were filled to the brim with students, and outside spectators. The venue was heaving, cheering, and trembling with emotion since their home school was going to start their NCAA journey tonight.
It doesn't matter to them if their opponents were a nationally ranked team. As long as their team is fighting, they will fight too, in full support of their endeavors.
Today would be the starting point of Tremaine Mills' career.
Or at least it was supposed to be.
Inside the home locker room, Tremaine was wearing the uniform of a healthy scratch… which is pretty much just the varsity jacket and jogging pants. All five of them who did not make the opening roster were wearing the orange and white jacket of the Illini.
The only freshmen who made the thirteen man team was five star recruit Jaylen Mitchell, and his four star best friend Deshaun Richardson— albeit at the end of the bench.
However, all things considered, Tremaine was a healthy scratch. He was the fifteenth man in the fifteen man roster.
Kristian Geis was the fourteenth.
He might not be able to play against #24 ranked University of North Carolina Tar Heels, he had passed his unbreakable will to his friend, Deshaun.
He even pleaded to Deshaun and Emily to abstain from sexual activities last night so that Deshaun can focus on basketball alone tonight.
Sometimes, even he himself was surprised at how good a friend he was.
They have a front row seat at what's going to unfold tonight. For them rookies, this would be the first time they are seeing their team in full action live, if they haven't seen them live before. It would be enough to make them jealous, for sure.
After the ten minute shootaround was over, both teams returned to their respective huddles to finalize everything they had planned.
"Welcome everybody, to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, for NCAA Men's Basketball tip-off, I am Mart Albert, alongside Steve Burr, your two commentators for tonight's matchup."
"Both teams are coming off Sweet Sixteen appearances in last year's March Madness, and yet both also entered this year with wildly differing expectations, don't they?"
"Well, the Tar Heels only lost three players from last year's team, and albeit one of them was their captain, their new senior captain could easily pick up the slack. However, for the Illini… captain Legend Stone was coming back from a major shoulder surgery, and a vacuum in the 2-guard position is clearly known." Steve analyzed. "Thus, the Illini would be a massive coin flip team for me. Their bench is shallow and not many proven contributors are there. Unlike the Heels, whose rotation could go a solid ten deep."
"Now you see the starting line ups for both sides, for the home side Illinois we have: Ryan Brown, and Lamont Harris at the backcourt, highly regarded freshman Jaylen Mills, expected first rounder Khalil Ogwuzeni on the forward spots, and captain Legend Stone Jr. rounding out the five." Mart announced. "For North Carolina we have…"
At the Illinois camp, Coach Mike was giving his final instructions to his boys.
"Don't give up easy points. Don't force the issue. Don't turn the ball over." His orders were brief, but it underlines the strengths of their adversaries well. "Let us start the season our way."
The battle hardened coach looked at each of his starters with trust.
"Win."
"Yeaaahhhh!"
The opening of the game was explosive, to say the least.
However it was not on the way the Illinois home fans would like.
The Tar Heels raced out of a blistering 18-0 run within the first 2 minutes of action. They charged through, attacking the basket, drilling threes at will, and stifling the Illini offense like it was nothing but a random Division II team ready to get demolished.
The crowd was hushed by the disgusting Heels' onslaught.
Coach Roughan was undeniably livid as he called a timeout.
Everyone huddled around the bench, in hopes that their team would calm down in the end.
"What do we do if we fall to a big lead early?" Coach Roughan was livid, but his voice was calm beyond expectations. "We do everything it takes to cut it down, with the aim of retaking the lead in the end."
"Contest their threes, jump the passing lanes, switch faster on defense. Don't be desperate." Legend took over with his inspiring voice. "Let's all do our best to weather the storm, then we'll bounce back."
Coach Roughan was not going to speak anymore.
"On offense, we attack the same way they do. No fear, no holds barred." Khalil was smiling, raising their spirits to its peak once more.
"Let's do it!" Khalil stuck his hands out, and everyone slowly followed suit.
"1… 2… 3… Illini!"
With renewed spirit, the Illini will fight on.
Jaylen Mitchell was specifically instructed by Coach Roughan to run the offense tonight. Not only because he was the best recruit the team had in several years, but also because he was a playmaker with a higher ceiling than point guard Ryan Brown.
Ryan himself was not against it, as he knew it would only be better for the team to do an experiment like that earlier in the season.
So, it was freshman Jaylen Mitchell facing off another top freshman at the top of the key.
'I don't think you're better than Dwayne.' Jaylen thought in his mind.
Legend arrived with a bruising screen, eviscerating his man, and allowing Jaylen to attack the basket without worry.
'Should I just spread the defense?'
His vision was moving side by side, checking for possibilities as he neared the basket.
'Eh, fine. Let's do this.'
Jaylen Mitchell was not particularly that wide open, because someone else tried to cover for him, which was precisely the reason why he was thinking of either making a tough layup, or kicking it out.
'Oh, you're jumping with me?'
Jaylen had always been a decisive fellow.
He kicked it out to the spot the defender had just left behind.
Lamont Harris had a short window to shoot, and that window was quickly slammed shut by another defender closing in.
He astutely swiveled it to another wide open man, and this time for sure, he had all the time in the world to shoot.
Khalil Ogwuzeni fired away, and turned away without seeing the result.
He believed that real men don't look at explosions.
Bang!
"Illini finally scores their first points of the season, and that was a well worked offensive set let me tell you."
Look out, Heels, the gap is closing. It's now 18-3.
***
Extras:
A Japanese man with a sturdy frame, wearing a Harvard cap, tight-fitting polo shirt and massive circular glasses entered the arena with a smile. He was emitting a deeply intellectual, gentlemanly vibe. Finally, after a long time, he felt as if he had returned home.
"Tadaima."
After taking in the voracious atmosphere in the stands, and the humid air of the arena, he finally saw the all-important scoreboard, and he almost spat out his soda.
"18-3? What the fuck are these fools doing?"