Student-athletes play role in healing process

DEKALB -- If life truly were normal at Northern Illinois, Jake Anderson's Geography 101 class at 9:30 a.m. today would be held at Cole Hall 101.

Yes, the same lecture room we've come to know too intimately in the last 12 days.

Instead, for the rest of the semester, the redshirt freshman guard and his classmates will convene at Faraday Hall a few blocks away.

That's one of many acknowledgments it won't be business as usual at NIU any time soon.

If life were back to normal for Huskies everywhere, there wouldn't be three times the usual media contingent prepared to cover the men's basketball team's 7 p.m. home game today against Western Michigan.

While ESPN won't be televising the game at the Convocation Center, just as it hasn't broadcast any NIU home games since the 9,000-seat arena opened in 2002, it will have a reporter on hand to offer frequent updates.

What can everyone expect to learn from the school's first athletic event since the shootings?

If Sunday's memorial service at the Convo Center was any indication, there will be a strong desire to bond and use the basketball game as a cathartic experience.

Anderson, who admittedly tried to walk a line between learning about the events of Feb. 14 but not too much, understands better after he and his teammates served as ushers at the memorial service.

"I really saw that this had a huge effect," he said. "Not only on this university, but it had an effect on the whole city and throughout the country.

"I think it's going to be a great atmosphere. I think it's just going to bring this community even closer.

"I think (people) are going to watch to see how we react. That's going to be the biggest concern, because we ARE students at this university."

Ordinarily at this stage of a season, especially on teams without legitimate postseason hopes, players are fighting to maintain their focus during a continual class-practice-sleep cycle.

They start with individual workouts shortly after starting classes in late August and don't let up -- aren't allowed to let up -- until March.

But Ricardo Patton's Huskies took an unheard-of five days off after the shootings, with most seeking refuge at home, to sort out their thoughts and feelings.

"When you're a student-athlete and you're in season, you're just kind of in this bubble," senior guard Ben Rand said. "You get to be kind of selfish where you just take care of yourself. I think something like this kind of puts things into perspective. You kind of reach out to the student body."

When the Huskies returned to practice Wednesday, Patton reached out to his players. He told them it was cool to seek counseling, fine to cry and rational to ask "Why?"

But he also tried to bring back a sliver of normalcy to their lives.

"I need to yell," Patton said with a laugh. "They need to hear me yell."

He expects his guys to play with a renewed passion tonight, to be appreciative of the opportunity. Aside from that, Patton has no idea what to expect. Like so many others in the NIU community.

"We're still in a state of finding out where we are," he said. "I don't know that we could clearly know this, this quickly. Sometimes athletes are trained to be tough, trained to play through pain. Sometimes they hide their true feelings.

"But the biggest thing I've noticed with our guys? They really, really are enjoying just being back together."

Western Michigan (16-10, 9-3)

at Northern Illinois (6-17, 3-8)

When: 7 p.m. at the Convocation Center

Radio: WSCR 670-AM

The skinny: The Broncos can clinch the MAC's West Division title with a win tonight, but that's the last thing on almost everybody's minds in DeKalb. The Huskies, playing their first game since the shootings on Feb. 14, will wear ribbons on their jerseys as just one of many heartfelt gestures to help the school heal. As far as the game goes, NIU believes it has improved steadily since dropping an 86-69 decision at Western Michigan on Jan. 5. That rise culminated in an 88-78 win at Akron a fortnight ago, which featured another breakout game by freshman guard Jake Anderson. He riddled the Zips for 24 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. The Broncos usually rely on bruising center Joe Reitz (15.4 ppg, 8.2 rpg) and reigning MAC West player of the week David Kool (15.3 ppg, 60 3-pointers), but they put five guys in double figures against NIU the first time.

-- Lindsey Willhite