Sophomore walk-on Keegan Biggers wasn’t able to attend Tuesday’s celebration for the Pima College men’s basketball team. He recently started working at a Tucson restaurant and, because of the last-minute plans wasn’t able to request the shift off.
But Camille Gannon still wanted to support Biggers — and her beloved Aztecs.
Gannon is Biggers’ grandmother. She attended every home game the last couple of years and couldn’t be kept away from the West Campus Gym on Tuesday night.
A few hundred fans welcomed the team back from the NJCAA Division II national tournament, where the team finished in second place. Chancellor Lee Lambert, athletic director Edgar Soto and coach Brian Peabody all spoke during the hourlong ceremony, and Aztecs players were presented with T-shirts.
“I’m going to miss it,” Gannon said. “I’m thinking that, Keegan is finished up here, but he has several good friends that I’m thinking I’m going to have to continue coming to these games.”
The Aztecs advanced to the national title game, a program first. They won a program-record 31 games; the previous mark was 24, set in 1989.
The support from fans wasn’t just visible at Tuesday’s ceremony. Peabody said he received more than 500 texts, emails and encouraging messages from ex-players, fellow coaches, fans, relatives and friends during the national tournament in Danville, Illinois.
Top-seeded Triton College held on to beat the No. 2 Aztecs 89-85 in Saturday’s title game.
Freshman Jeremiah Bailey, who came to Tucson after playing high school ball in Alaska, said the support from the community helped him feel at home.
“It means a lot, not having a family here,” Bailey said.
As far as plans for next year, Bailey said he’s already set an important date into his calendar: March 24.
That’s when the 2019 NJCAA Division II national tournament is set to start. And Bailey said he wants to make sure he’s ready.
“I just wanted to make sure I remembered what I’m working on during the offseason,” Bailey said. “I want to be able to see that’s my progress, that’s my motivation.”
Peabody said the consecutive trips to nationals and the college’s second-place finish this season proves Pima belongs among the top teams in the nation.
“There’s no losers in this whole deal,” Peabody said. “You get to that point in the national tournament, and that’s an accomplishment.”
Rim shots
- Peabody began his speech with a recognition of his redshirts. He said the group was responsible for the future of Pima basketball in the next couple of years.
- Kennedy Koehler, a senior at Coronado High School in Las Vegas, was in attendance Tuesday. Koehler is considering Pima.
