After the victory, the team lost no time and changed their clothes rapidly before leaving through the players' exclusive access door to rest and prepare themselves for the game that would be played in two days against NKU.
Despite the fact that the game had already ended, the euphoria that surrounded the group had not diminished in the slightest, with the majority of players conversing about the best moments and plays they had made during the game.
Despite the fact that his phone was located in his pocket, the screen of Aaron's phone did not stop illuminating in a constant manner, showing an endless line of notifications and alerts from social networks that did nothing but confirm the stir that his official debut had just caused in the entire landscape of NCAA college basketball.
Turning a deaf ear to the murmurs of congratulation that Julius Randle kept letting out at his side, Aaron pulled his phone out of his pocket and searched rapidly through his inbox until finding the only name that really mattered to him at that moment. Without thinking twice, he pressed the call icon and placed the receiver to his right ear.
"Hello?" the soft and slightly agitated voice of Hannah was heard through the telephone line, causing a smile of total tranquility to appear immediately on Aaron's features.
"Hey, Love," Aaron said with a low and paused tone of voice once the line connected with the person who was located on the other side of the line.
Upon hearing his words, a small smile placed itself on Hannah's face from the other side of the line, followed by the dull sound of some sheets of paper being sorted over a wooden table.
"In fact, I'm leaving the library, already returning home," Hannah responded before continuing with a much more enthusiastic tone. "But that doesn't matter now! Aaron, you were incredible on television! I swear to you that I couldn't concentrate due to the fact that I was totally concentrated on the game," Hannah finished saying, while in the background the sound of a door closing was heard.
Aaron let out a small chuckle between his teeth, perfectly imagining the scene of his girlfriend losing her composure in the middle of the strict and silent environment of Columbia University.
"Well, I had to make sure to give a good show," Aaron joked, "Although I admit that I didn't realize the triple-double statistics until Coach Calipari mentioned it to me in the locker room. I was so focused on the game that I didn't react until I was buried by my teammates."
"A triple-double is no small thing, it's making history," Hannah corrected him with a marked tone of pride in her words that made all the physical wear and tear of the weekly training sessions worth it for him. "The social networks don't stop repeating your name and comparing you to the best centers of recent years," Hannah kept talking rapidly, remembering all the tweets she saw about the game.
The conversation continued in a fluid manner for several minutes, with Hannah giving him details of how the first days of the semester were being lived in New York and of the demanding physiology classes of Doctor Johnson that kept her awake until late hours of the night.
"I think I have to cut you off now, I'm close to the subway and you know that the signal is not very good there," Hannah responded with a tone of apology in her voice, with a tinge of resilience from not wanting to end their conversation so fast. "I miss you," she could not help but let out at the end upon thinking of the distance that is between them.
"Me too, Love. Rest and send me a text when you get home," Aaron said goodbye before hanging up the call and storing the mobile device in the pocket of his sports sweatshirt.
While the group kept walking through the campus, little by little the group was reducing, with each player heading straight toward their residences and dorms until only Julius and Aaron remained, who were heading toward the same direction.
Without any of the players realizing it or burying it, the main sports news segments and experts already spoke about the performance of the Kentucky Wildcats and of the comfortable victory they got against the Asheville Bulldogs.
On the screen, the main analyst of the network, a middle-aged man in a grey suit, was gesturing with strength toward the camera while the best moments of the match between Kentucky and Asheville reproduced in a loop on his left side.
"What we witnessed today at the Rupp Arena was not a simple opening game of the regular season, gentlemen, it was an authentic statement of intent on the part of the University of Kentucky," the ESPN analyst said with a tone of voice full of admiration and respect. "Many experts had doubts about Coach John Calipari's decision to line up five rookies as starters in this start of the year, fearing that the lack of experience would take its toll on the actual field of play of the NCAA."
At the next second, the screen changed to show the first technical breakdown of the night. Yellow digital lines began to be drawn over the virtual hardwood of the studio, analyzing a specific play that occurred halfway through the first half.
"But pay attention to this movement in particular," the analyst kept saying while the video stopped on an offensive possession of Asheville. "The Bulldogs attempted to break the perimeter pressure with a direct screen at the top of the key. The Asheville point guard beats Andrew Harrison's mark and believes he has a free path for a short floating floater over the free-throw line. However, observe the defensive placement of Aaron Reed in the corner of the low post."
The screen advanced frame by frame, showing how Aaron not only read the play with anticipation, but used his enormous lateral stride to close the opening in the blink of an eye without committing a personal foul.
"This is basketball IQ in its purest expression, gentlemen," the second analyst intervened in the studio, pointing with a pen toward the digital screen. "Reed didn't jump wildly seeking the spectacular block immediately. He keeps his feet firm on the hardwood, extends his arms in a perfect manner, taking advantage of his physical wingspan, and forces the shooter to alter the parabola of the ball. The shot hits the front part of the rim, and it is Aaron himself who jumps in a clean manner to secure the defensive rebound with both hands at the highest point of his jump."
The images kept flowing on the screen of the television studio, showing now the rapid transition that originated immediately after that same defensive play under the locals' hoop.
"And here is where the boy from New York completely destroys all the traditional schemes of the center position in modern basketball," the main presenter enthusiastically exclaimed while the digital graphics showed the trajectory of Aaron's pass. "Instead of looking for the point guard to deliver him the ball in a secure manner, Reed raises his head immediately after securing the rebound and launches a lofted pass from coast to coast of more than seventy feet straight into the hands of James Young, who was running solo along the opposite sideline. The precision of the pass was milimetric, falling right on the chest of his teammate for a comfortable layup in rapid transition that put all the Rupp Arena on its feet to shout with strength!"
"It's crazy, the technical arsenal of this first-year rookie," the second analyst added while the screen showed another play from the final stretch of the match, where Aaron Reed received the ball with his back to the hoop against the center DJ Cunningham. "Look at the footwork in the low post of play. Cunningham attempts to push him using all his physical weight to get him out of the restricted zone, but Aaron absorbs the contact in a perfect manner, performs a quick pivot toward his left shoulder feigning a short hook shot, and then changes the gravity of the movement with a clean step-back that leaves the defender floating in the air. The movement finishes with a subtle bank shot that went clean into the net, demonstrating that he is not only brute force and height, but that he possesses an extremely educated mid-range touch."
What remained of the program segment was dedicated basically to compliments for Aaron and to a detailed analysis of all the plays that had been performed in the match, while both analysts kept saying that Aaron was what would be the transition toward a new form of center, in which the tactical role of this position would become more important than solely defending the post and fighting for rebounds.
Villanova, Pennsylvania
Thousands of miles away, in a room of one of the dormitories at Villanova University, a couple of students found themselves with their gaze fixed on the screen of the computer they had in front of them while they remained curled up on the dormitory bed.
"Of course he had to get a triple-double in his debut game," the guy in question said, looking with scrutiny at the screen on which was shown the segment in which the analysts found themselves analyzing the last match that had been played in the SEC.
"It was obvious," the girl in question said while she curled up even more against the chest of her boyfriend, seeking to be more comfortable while listening with scrutiny to the sound of her boyfriend's heartbeats.
Seeing how the interview was reaching its end and having seen what he had to see, the guy closed the laptop, causing the room suddenly to find itself in a comfortable silence between the two.
"In any case, you didn't do badly at all in your debut either," the girl in question said, breaking the comfortable silence that had installed itself between the two.
Upon thinking about that, Drew could not help but remember the game he had played a few hours ago against the Lafayette Leopards, in which they had managed to win with a score of 75-59.
As soon as he came out of the players' tunnel of the Finneran Pavilion wearing the blue jersey of the team and felt the atmosphere inside the venue, it was a whole new experience for Drew.
Of course he could not compare the 6 thousand seats that were in his own court with the more than 20 thousand that the Rupp Arena could accommodate over there in Kentucky, but even so, the sensation he felt was one that he had never before felt when he played for the Royals team.
As for his debut in comparison with Aaron and the rest of the players under the command of Coach Calipari, his own coach Jay Wright lined up several second and third-year players to play the major part of the match.
Despite that, Drew managed to enter in the second half of the match, managing to play the final minutes of play, getting a comfortable victory for the team.
Drew DeLuca (PG)
Points: 9
Assists: 4
Rebounds: 1
Steals: 2
Solid numbers, which did not pass unnoticed by Coach Wright, who took note of that and already thought about granting more minutes of play to Drew in the season, and even putting in danger the starter status of the team's point guard Darrun Hilliard.
"You're right about that," Drew told her while he turned his head until he encountered Sam's gaze, before leaning slightly to kiss Sam, who in response placed her hand on Drew's cheek.
What started as a chaste kiss little by little was converting into something more sensual, with neither of the two wanting to break the kiss.
At a given moment, Sam ended up sitting astride Drew until they had to separate due to the lack of air.
"What time did you say your roomie was coming back?" Sam asked him anxiously, while Drew placed his hands on her waist. "I think he said he had class until late," Drew responded to her while his gaze placed itself on the alarm clock he had on his nightstand. "I think we have 1 or 2 hours," he told her finally, while he began to distribute kisses on her neck.
"Perfect," Sam said with a smile while she took her hands to the hem of her blouse.
Authors thought's
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