There was one big issue, however. Two big issues, really. Aldus Pope’s roster was suffering a little bit. The 15-player list was typically cut down to 10 for Drawkian schools going into international play, to help preserve health for players who were injury-prone or not fully developed, to save them the stress of travel when no play obligation was present. This was all well and good, except all 5 of the players to miss the NSCAA (and similarly, Archifel Invitational) roster were injured long-term. If any of the 10 regular roster players were to go down long-term as well, the Skyhawks would be in deep trouble. It’s one of those things that you just have to hope doesn’t happen.
The issue? It happened. During the semifinal game against Turbani Tech, backup shooting guard Zoe Lopez fractured her ankle when coming down from an awkward shot attempt in the second half. She hit the floor with a big thump, and the referees took a little more time before initiating the throw-in, allowing Zoe to be helped off the court. Team doctors confirmed the bad news after the game. Zoe’s right ankle was broken, and she’d be out of commission for at least the next two months. Normally, going into the late spring and summer, this would be the best possible scenario. Zoe would have all year to heal, rehabilitate, and reacclimate before the next DOCA basketball season. This time, it was a terrible loss. The NSCAA was starting just a week later, and now the Skyhawk roster was down to 9 members. The rest of the roster was out of commission, 5 injured players and a novatim center who would not be able to fill a guard position by any means.
Aldus Pope sat in his office, mulling over the dilemma. Nine players wasn’t exactly a death sentence. Sadeg State had the star power in the starting line and on the remaining bench pieces to punch with the best of them. Few college teams could claim such elite depth. Still, the expectation for Drawkian teams in the NSCAA, especially a blue chip program like Sadeg State, was the ceiling. A championship. Beating Western Randomcrapistan Law School in the conference stage is easy. Battling a Vanorian or Banijan outfit in the late rounds of the Ultra 64 is hard. To play for the title, you have to be fully locked and loaded. A nine-man roster is neither of those things.
So there Pope sat, slowly spinning in his office chair, wondering what to do. Could he rush one of his other guards back from their ACL recovery for the purposes of a glorified exhibition? Could he shift his current roster around to allow his novatim center a chance to play, at the expense of his other player’s positional efficacy? Perhaps even accept a temporary walk-on? Then, after a couple days of considering the propositions, the answer hit him. He didn’t really like the answer. Though he hated to admit it … it did make the most sense.
Reluctantly, Aldus Pope walked across the hall in the athletic department building. He knocked on the door of James Denton, the head coach of the Sadeg State baseball team. He had to ask a favor.
Brooklyn sat in her Economics 250 lecture, idly tapping notes on her laptop but mostly paying attention to the Sadeg Knights stream that she had in another window. The PBL season had started a couple weeks ago, and of course Brooklyn was closely tracking the progress of her favorite team. It was a divisional match against the Metropolon Engineers, being held in the indoor confines of Capital Park in Metropolon. Capital Park was (in)famous for the turf surface everywhere but the dirt diamond, and Brooklyn briefly thought about the classic turf vs grass debate in sports. Playing in college for both football and baseball, Brooklyn had played on a multitude of turf fields already.
Before she could organize her thoughts on it, an email notification popped up in the bottom right corner of her screen. Brooklyn frowned as she saw the preview. It didn’t look like anything she was expecting. She clicked on the notification, and it brought up the message in her inbox.
FROM: ad@ssu.edu TO: bebeck.3@ssu.edu SUBJECT: Athletic Physical Scheduled Dear BECK, BROOKLYN E; You have been scheduled for an athletic physical on [this date] by the Sadeg State Athletic Department. Attendance is mandatory and obligated by your participation with SSU Athletics. Please report to Room 220 at the Blaine Martin Athletic Training Facility (BMAT220) at 6:00pm for this appointment. You are considered exempt for any classes, practices, or other obligations by this appointment. If necessary, documentation will be supplied to confirm this exemption to university faculty or staff. Please be on time and bring appropriate attire. Thank you for your cooperation, Donald Hollis Sadeg State University Athletic Director |
“Hm,” Brooklyn muttered to herself. Usually this was the message she’d get a few days before preseason camps were set to go. The timing was the odd part. The DOCA baseball season had already begun, Brooklyn had done that physical a couple months prior. The NSCF season was coming up, but it was still a few months out, a little too early for this.
Out of curiosity, Brooklyn texted a couple friends on the SSU baseball team, asking them if they’d gotten a similar message. All of them said no. It was certainly a legitimate message, Brooklyn had learned how to spot a phishing email in the Introduction to Technology class she took her novatim year. Even though it would require missing baseball practice that day, Brooklyn figured it was probably more important to make it to this mystery physical.
So, at 5:55, Brooklyn walked into the training facility at SSU, took the stairs up, and found the small medical suite where the particular room was located. She was wearing her clothes for baseball practice and even brought her bat bag with her, as she assumed she’d have time to catch the tail end up practice after the physical concluded. At the very least, she could get a solid session in the batting cage.
It was almost a jumpscare when Brooklyn walked into the exam room. One of the athletic training staff members was there, who Brooklyn vaguely recognized. They were in conversation with none other than Aldus Pope. The moment she saw the basketball coach, it clicked her mind. Was he-?
“Oh, hello Ms. Beck. Glad you could make it.” Coach Pope nodded, his mouth a thin line. It almost looked like he was in pain.
“Thanks?” Brooklyn replied tentatively. “Why are you here?”
“Well …” Pope sighed, twisting his lips in distaste. “Unfortunately for me, Brooklyn, it seems fate is on your side. I am down a guard on my roster, and I have nobody left to fill in their spot.”
“Wait, you’re letting me on the team?” Brooklyn tried to keep her composure, even though her heart leapt in her chest.
“Pending this physical and a skills assessment, of course,” Pope replied quickly. “I am stuck between a rock and a hard place. You just happen to be the least egregious option at my disposal this time.”
“Thanks for the ringing endorsement.”
“My pleasure. I’ll take my leave now. If Dr. DeGarmo clears you, then you are to meet me at the practice gym immediately afterwards.”
“Yes, Coach,” Brooklyn said, trying her best to keep the smirk off her face.
Thirty minutes later, Brooklyn was striding into the practice gym at the athletic training facility. The physical had gone perfectly fine. After all, Brooklyn was the picture of health, already in shape for baseball season, and hadn’t had a major injury since messing up her left elbow during baseball season her freshman year of high school. This was going to be the tougher part of the evening, however.
“Let me make one thing clear,” Coach Pope called from across the gym floor. Besides him and Brooklyn, the court was empty. “Your inclusion on the team is not yet guaranteed. Even if I do let you on the roster, you will be an emergency option at the best. I have not the time nor the inclination to fully acclimate you to our system. Me and the rest of the staff are already busy enough with preparations for the NSCAA season, we don’t have time to babysit you. If you can hit open shots and play adequate defense, I’ll feel comfortable enough to let you get some minutes during blowouts in the conference stage. If not, then you’ll only see the floor in case of dire emergency. Don’t even think for a minute that you’ll get priority over any of the players who’ve dedicated all their energy to this program.”
“I understand, coach.” By the time Pope’s spiel was finished, Brooklyn was standing in front of him, right at the free throw line on one end of the court. “I’m grateful to even have that much of an opportunity.”
“Right. Let’s get started, then.” Pope took a few steps back to the baseline, where a fully loaded ball rack was already waiting. “Take a few free throws.”
Brooklyn nodded and made sure she was behind the line. This was going to be tough. She hadn’t played a serious game of basketball since high school two years prior. Pickup and some lighthearted shooting, sure, but nothing hardcore. She was confident in her rhythm, but doing it under pressure was different. Somehow, with Coach Pope’s individual scrutiny, it felt more pressurized than state tournament games with a whole section of students screaming behind the post during a free throw.
Coach Pope began bouncing balls across to Brooklyn, and she started tossing them up. They were just free throws, but Brooklyn was hitting them with adequate consistency. With each shot, Brooklyn felt a tiny bit of confidence return.
“Good.” Coach Pope pointed to a spot at a 45 degree angle from the hoop. “Midrange shot here. Let me see your jumper.”
Without a word, Brooklyn complied, jogging over to the spot. She missed a few more, but she was still hitting a majority of her shots.
“Baseline,” Pope pointed to a spot in front of him, halfway between the basket and the sideline. “Drive in for a layup.”
Brooklyn moved to the spot. She took a ball from Pope, dribbled forward to the basket, and layed a ball in. Pope passed her a ball on the other side, and she did the same thing back the way she came. No issues there. On her last pass, she hesitated, instead opting for an over-the-shoulder layup that fell in neatly.
“No showboating.” Pope admonished quickly but flatly. “Let’s see your three-pointer. Around the world.”
Brooklyn nodded, not bothering to apologize for the little flair on her last layup. The back-and-forth movement of the layup reps were starting to get her blood pumping. Pope started firing balls both in the air and bouncing on the ground to Brooklyn on the arc. When she shot one, hit or miss, she moved 45 degrees to the next spot on the arc. There was no time to watch the shot or think, a second after Brooklyn came down from a jump, Pope was firing the next ball to the next spot, forcing Brooklyn to get moving immediately. Even with the pressure and the mounting exertion required, she remained focused, knocking down more shots than she missed. It wasn’t up to her expected standards, but it wasn’t embarrassing by any means.
“Stop!” Coach Pope barked suddenly. Brooklyn looked over, taking her attention away from the board for the first time in several minutes. The ball rack was empty, and there weren’t any balls in arm’s reach for Pope. “That’s enough. Come here.”
Brooklyn jogged over, focusing on slowing her breathing and stretching out her muscles. It was a little more intense than she was expecting, but nothing she couldn’t handle (especially after the grind of two college football seasons).
“Your fundamentals are still there. You’ve got a decent shot. Pretty consistent from what I remember seeing in your high school film.” Pope sucked in a breath, appearing to consider something in his mind. “You will be added to the NSCAA roster. One of my assistants will email you the practice and game schedule. You must be present and on time for every team obligation, until the conclusion of the Ultra 64 tournament.”
“Yes, Coach.” Brooklyn said automatically. A thought then popped into her mind. “What about-”
“I have already talked with James.” Coach Pope folded his arms. “Took some convincing, but he agreed to allow you to prioritize the basketball team for the rest of the spring. At this time, I am told you are considered inactive on the SSU baseball roster. I will allow you to take one baseball practice per week to keep your mechanics up, as I know that’s very important for baseball players like yourself. You’re a freshman anyway, so I know you weren’t getting a lot of playing time as it is.”
“I’m usually getting a game or two in each weekend series,” Brooklyn clarified. Sure she was a freshman, but she was a well-rated prospect who was expected to get reasonable playing time.
“Coach Denton said he would allow you to play in one game during the weekend series, assuming there’s no conflicts with the NSCAA schedule, and that they’re home games. Since you won’t be able to travel with the baseball team for away games, that’s really the only opportunity you’ll have. And you should count yourself lucky that I’m even allowing an arrangement like this.”
“I appreciate it, Coach.” Brooklyn dipped her head in recognition. How desperate must Aldus Pope be if he’s willing to jump through all these hoops to allow her to play?
“Now,” Pope looked down at the watch on his wrist, “it seems that practice is about halfway over. My assistant coaches have been running the team practice so far. It’s time we both join them at the Arena. Speak with the equipment manager once practice concludes, so we can finish up some housekeeping.”
“Yes, sir.” Brooklyn grabbed the bat bag she’d brought, which looked now silly in the context of a basketball court, and jogged out to Skyhawk Valley Arena, where Pope had indicated the basketball team practice was being held. As she ran across the plaza to the arena, she silently marveled. She really was lucky. She had a feeling that Coach Denton wouldn’t be happy with her once the NSCAA was over, but if the Skyhawks put up another special run, it would absolutely be worth it.
