ESPN had reached out to Concordia about obtaining video highlights, so Drew Olson sensed some air time for his women's basketball program was coming on the biggest sports network.
But it didn't quite sink in until the moment Concordia made the show one afternoon, and a Concordia student tweeted at Olson.
"Hey, we're on 'SportsCenter' right now!"
For days, ESPN has been recognizing teams and seniors after seasons were canceled amid the coronavirus outbreak. On March 31, it was the Bulldogs' turn.
"That's like the highest form of media that you could really get in terms of the sports world, to be on 'SportsCenter,'" said Olson, the Bulldogs' coach. "To be recognized, I think that's a really cool honor, especially for the season ending the way it did."
🎥 | gets a shout out on 's .
— Concordia Bulldogs (@cunebulldogs)
It was a spirit-boosting segment for a very accomplished team, one that had its sights set on defending a national championship. The Bulldogs were preparing for the second round of the NAIA Division II Tournament in Sioux City, Iowa, when the sports world slammed to a halt on March 12.
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The Bulldogs were 32-2 and ranked No. 1 in the country. They had two of the NAIA's top players in forward Philly Lammers, who was 22 points away from becoming the school's all-time leading scorer, and Grace Barry, a can-do-it-all point guard from Lincoln East.
"Being a smaller NAIA school, you don't get a lot of those opportunities, so it was really cool ESPN took the time out of their day to give us a shoutout," said Barry, one of six seniors who were mentioned in the 30-second segment.
Lammers, Riley Sibbel, Mackenzie Helman, Colby Duvel and Taryn Schuette were the other five who saw their playing careers come to an abrupt close.
The news was heartbreaking for a team that had its sights set on defending its Division II national championship.
"The seniors, the first thing that comes to mind is just their competitiveness," Olson said. "Their drive to win was so much greater than any other group — we've had very special players and some really special groups — but for those six, they had so much fight and toughness in them.
"Everybody is going to look at Philly and Grace as our marquee players, which is understandable, but all six of them had their moments of showing that grit and fight."
Compacted by stay-at-home guidelines, there's been more time for reflection. Olson said this was a very impressive run for the Bulldogs, considering they had to replace Quinn Wragge (graduation) and Taylor Cockerill (season-ending knee injury in an exhibition game) in the starting lineup.
They swept the Great Plains Athletic Conference regular-season and conference titles for a fourth straight season and built a 137-10 record over a four-year stretch.
The Bulldogs typically hold an end-of-season banquet made up of dinner, smiles and laughs. Olson said the team still plans to get together, but it will have to be online. The setting will be different, social distancing and all, yet the players will be connected by the many high points.
"I definitely think we have embraced the great season we had, but I do think at times it's really tough because we didn't get that final endpoint, whether we won or whether we lost," Barry said. "I think that endpoint would have been helpful, but we're still just so thankful that we got to have a great season and be around great people."