As the ceremony inducting a new class into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame in Kansas City unfolded, each inductee welcomed a chance to reminisce about their journey to immortality.
Calbert Cheaney, the all-time leading scorer at Indiana, recalled that he was a late-bloomer pushed to greatness by the firm hand of Bobby Knight. Shane Battier spun a similar tale. He said he knew he could play, but when opportunity arose at Duke, coach Mike Krzyzewski led the defensive demon to another level.
Ernie DiGregorio owned a different story. When asked about his trip from hours and hours of dribbling and shooting at North Providence’s Stephen Olney School, then starring for the hometown Providence College Friars, the ever-brash 68-year old didn’t flinch.