Thanks for the memories

I’ve been following Cal Poly hoops pretty closely for about six or seven years, but about four years ago, things went up a level. That was the year I started going to pretty much all the games at Mott Athletics Center. It was also Brian Bennett’s and Joel Awich’s freshman season.

Along with David Nwaba and Reese Morgan, Awich and Bennett played their final game in a Cal Poly jersey last Thursday in the first round of the Big West Tournament. Since I’ve watched so many of their games at home, away, in the Big West and NCAA Tournament, etc…, I thought I’d share a lasting memory I have of each of the seniors.

Joel Awich’s athleticism and versatility were always worth the price of admission. By Owen Main

Joel Awich

My best Joel memories are both from games against UCSB. My first is how well he played defensively against UCSB’s Alan Williams on a number of occasions, especially in the 2014 Big West Tournament’s first round. It was kind of sneaky, but instead of going at Al with big bulky guys, Joe Callero tried to use Awich’s length and athleticism as a change of pace on defense.

The other big move was late in a UCSB game at home when Awich took one dribble from 17 feet out and jammed it on two Gauchos. Joel always had that in him, and it was one of the things that always kept Cal Poly games exciting.

Joel ended his career as Cal Poly’s third-leading shot-blocker all-time.

Brian Bennett had four steady seasons in San Luis Obispo and was always fun to chop it up with. By Owen Main

Brian Bennett

In just his fourth game as a Cal Poly Mustang, Brian Bennett’s team beat a ranked UCLA team in Pauley Pavilion. The Mustangs were down by double-digits, but it was Bennett’s steady inside play that kept them even as close as they were. The freshman played the second-most minutes for Cal Poly that night, scoring 16 points, pulling down four rebounds, and dishing three assists.

I have two specific memories of Brian from this game.

1 – The Dunk.

It was I think the only time I saw Brian jam it in a game in his whole career. It was some kind of busted back and forth fast break. He made the shot, and he’ll probably deny it, but I remember he got close to missing it.

2 – The postgame

As the team’s second-leading scorer in the game, Bennett was one of the two players the media interviewed post-game. I Bennett’s exuberant comments after the game. It was something like “This is why I came to Cal Poly.”

Talking to a freshman and seeing the look on his face after his team beat UCLA was something I’ll definitely not forget. I always thought he looked like Ivan Drago when he first came. By the time he left, Brian was second all-time in appearances at Cal Poly and one of only 10 Mustangs with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.

The “Threenicorn” got through his entire senior season without a major injury. His shooting was a reason it always seemed Cal Poly had a comeback left in them. By Owen Main

Reese Morgan

Reese was a Parade All-American whose college career was marred by injuries.

After hurting himself his first season, it seemed like Morgan was turning a little bit of a corner in his redshirt freshman year (2012-13). In a double overtime game at UCSB as a freshman, Morgan dropped 26 points, including 7-11 from the three point line.

If you didn’t know that he actually aggravated a prior knee injury during that game, you’d have thought it was a harbinger of things to come. I never saw Reese as that dominant of a player again at Cal Poly. When I think of that night at the Thunderdome when Joe Callero and Bob Williams shouted each other down, I have super mixed feelings. I’m thankful I got to see Reese dominate that game and at the same time super sad that his physical limitations robbed us of what maybe could have been.

The second Reese memory for me is Cal Poly’s only-ever NCAA Tournament victory, when they beat Texas Southern in Dayton. That season was technically Morgan’s sophomore season. He only played nine games that year. His knees were still healing. Joe Callero was trying to take it easy on him.

In front of Reggie Miller and God himself, Morgan came off the bench for just ten minutes that game, but knocked down three three-pointers and contributed to one of the most meaningful wins in Cal Poly history.

After the game, I asked Chris Giovanetti, Cal Poly’s Sports Information Director for basketball, if I could talk to Reese. He said he’d do his best. I caught up to Reese for 3 minutes in the hallway as Cal Poly went to get back and catch a flight for St. Louis. His comments were great.

About a half-hour later, my phone rang. It was Reese calling me because Chris told him to. He knew he’d talked to me but 1) he wanted to make sure, cuz that’s the kind of nice kid he seems like he is and 2) props to Givo for getting me the guy I asked for amidst all that was happening.

The wonderful, joyous, pandemonium and rolling chaos that embroiled that team and that eight-day stretch is something I’ll always cherish being in the middle of, for the small part of it that I was.

David Nwaba’s ability to impact a game with his tenacity at both ends of the floor was a reason to go to Mott Athletics Center. He could give you a generational highlight play any time he touched the ball. By Owen Main

David Nwaba

The first time I saw David Nwaba dunk in a game, I had to think hard. Is this a kind of athlete every Division I team has?

The answer, clearly, was no.

Dave was the kind of player a photographer drools over. Actually, I’ll partially blame him for the escalation of my photography gear during his time at Cal Poly.

One game at Fresno State I traveled to, I got two amazing dunk photos of David within the first eight minutes of the game. They were not photos I could do any better and Cal Poly was getting blown out, so I kind of just stopped that night. That’s the kind of photographic opportunity Mr. Nwaba provided.

When Cal Poly hung with Arizona for a while and Oregon for a bit, early Nwaba dunks were exclamation points that not even the Pac 12 Network could stifle.

I’ll always remember David as being the most soft-spoken college athlete I think I’ve ever interviewed off the court, but was one of the most fierce on the court.

After that game in Fresno, Nwaba was the guy I wanted to talk to. I don’t really remember what he said. I do remember how quiet and determined his answers were. With a player as explosive and determined as Nwaba, Cal Poly fans could always imagine a scenario where the Mustangs could go on a run at any time.

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I said this on Twitter, but I literally never had a bad interaction with any of the four seniors this year. David always had a smile. Reese kept a positive attitude in press conference-after-press conference this year. Joel was quiet, but once you got him talking, he was a pretty insightful guy

And Brian. Well, Brian I interacted with the most. In the offseason, he worked security for other kinds of games. At baseball games, shooting the action from the top of the dugout, I got to talk Chicago sports, school, and other non-basketball things. Who better than a guy who looked like a real-life Ivan Drago to try to keep the student section at Cal Poly-UCSB soccer games in line. He wasn’t working it this year and things went haywire. Coincidence? You tell me.

I’m sure they all wish they could have won more games this year, but this group of seniors is cemented in the record books as part of the first Cal Poly team to go to the NCAA Tournament. Congratulations on great careers guys, and on whatever comes next.