McKillop watches the season...and remembers

As Davidson prepares for what might be its final game of the season -- its NIT first-round game at South Carolina Tuesday night -- Wildcats coach Bob McKillop is doing his best to savor the moments of this time and of this team.

"Sometimes it goes by so quickly that you don't get a chance to soak it in and smell the roses," he said not long ago. "I've tried more recently to do that. I talked to the team about being a kid and going to Coney Island in Brooklyn. I used to love to go on the Cyclone, which is the great roller coaster ride there.

"I'd spend the whole day thinking about going on the Cyclone. And all of a sudden, I'd be on the Cyclone -- I'd spent the whole week thinking about it -- and the Cyclone ride was over.

"And I told the team, 'Fellas, I'm on a Cyclone right now and I'm not going to let this ride be over. This is a time period that I'm going to relish every second I'm with you. I'm going to enjoy every moment, because this team will never be this team again.

"At the end of this year, we are not going to be the same team; we're going to go our different ways with our three seniors leaving. This is the Cyclone for me, and it hasn't been a roller coaster ride at all. It's been one that I've really enjoyed.

"I've looked at the scenery and looked out on the Verezzano Bridge and seen the parachute jump in the background and the steeplechase, saw a couple of Nathan's hotdogs stands."

McKillop, in other words, is savoring moments that won't come again.

--Stan Olson