Longwood University Athletics

Christian Wilson is a junior forward and communication studies major on the Longwood men's basketball team. This is the first in a series of blogs he will provide to LongwoodLancers.com, giving an inside look at the Lancers' 2020-21 season and life as a Longwood student-athlete. Read more from Wilson on his personal blog at https://cwil1.blogspot.com/.
 
By CHRISTIAN WILSON '21
Special to LongwoodLancers.com
 
At the time of my last blog entry, there were still doubts that we would even have a college basketball season. Six months later and here we are, in the middle of a pandemic playing college hoops. It has been a roller coaster ride to say the least.
 
I knew from our first game down in Winston-Salem, that this season was going to be anything but normal. On paper, our first game of the season was against Wake Forest, but 18 games later, people may have forgotten we were scheduled to play the day before against Delaware State.
 
It was Thanksgiving Day and I'll never forget it. Walking out of that tunnel in Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, the lights were so bright and we were all happy to be back doing what we love. As we began to warm up, I started to get concerned as I had yet to see any of Delaware State's players take the floor. A few minutes later, I saw our coaching staff and trainers engaged in what looked like a serious discussion on the sideline. I knew immediately what was about to happen. We were then called into the locker room and told that our game had been cancelled due to a positive COVID test – not anybody on our team, thankfully, but it was unfortunate nonetheless.
 
From that day on, I knew we were in for a different kind of season.
 
My personal blog over the summer, "The Return," was highlighted by one consistent theme: Adversity. From that first game that was canceled to where we are now, with about eight games left in the regular season, that has been the story of our year. Adversity.
 
We started off the season with three key players being sidelined – two of those being Heru Bligen and DeShaun Wade, who now log 20+ minutes per game. With them on the sideline, many young newcomers were forced to step into huge roles that they probably weren't expecting. It was tough early on as we struggled to overcome our inexperience, losing about seven games by just three possessions or less. 
 
This year in particular, Coach Griff challenged Juan Munoz, Deshaun Wade and me to lead the way for our team. I'll be the first to say that being a leader is easy when things are going great, but when the odds are not in your favor, it is very hard. The harsh reality is that when you are called upon to be a leader, it is not just about what is happening to you but more so about what is happening to the team. It takes a level of perseverance, understanding that every day you will get challenged, even on your best days.
 
That remains true not just for sports, but life in general. Is it easy? Not one bit, and there is no magic formula to overcome hard times. All you can do is control what you can, make adjustments where necessary, and keep pushing forward.
 
I asked myself many times during the year, what can we do to overcome these losses? Then, one day Coach Griff challenged us to remove our focus from the result and just simply focus on the process. Man, I must say that doing that is a daily challenge. Especially for us between the ages of 18-22; all of our life we've been focused on what is in front of us. We collectively have had to change the narrative of our season and how we see ourselves, and essentially the focus of this program.
 
As a result, we have committed ourselves not to be result-driven, but process-driven. Every single possession, we are going to do whatever it takes to win that one possession, and that goes for every practice and every rep. By doing that, we know that we will not be perfect, but in the process, we are building something that all championship caliber teams must have: Consistency!
 
Winning three out of our last five games, we are starting to find that consistency that we had been hoping to obtain earlier this season. Things are starting to turn for us at the right time, and I couldn't be any more proud of my teammates going into this last stretch. I am not proud of them because of recent success, but simply because we chose not to back down in the face of adversity.
 
Every day, Coach Griff asks the team one simple question: "What will it take to break you?" Each and every time, there is only one word that comes to my mind: Nothing.
 
As I wrap up, I want to give a special shout out to the Lancer community. We deeply appreciate your continued support. It means more than ever during this time. Thank you, and continue to stay safe.

#GoWood