By Paul Meyer
www.rmucolonials.com
Feb. 23, 2011 

Meyer on Morris Link

Moon Township, Pa. - Gary Wallace early last week thought ahead to the final days of his last regular season as a Robert Morris University basketball player.

"It's going to be a fun two weeks,'' he said.

However, he didn't know how fun they would be, or how neat at least the first week would be.

When the Colonials played in New Jersey last week, Wallace's father, mother and two sisters attended the games at Fairleigh Dickinson and Monmouth - per usual.

"My family always comes to watch me play in New Jersey,'' said Wallace, who's from Montclair, N.J. "It's exciting for them to be there. But I got a big surprise last weekend.''

The surprise was that another member of the Wallace family was in attendance, someone who had never seen Wallace play in person.

"I was checking into the game (at Fairleigh Dickinson) and I sat down in front of the scorer's table and kind of glanced into the stands and I saw my grandfather sitting there,'' Wallace said, his smile growing as he recalled that evening. "I was so happy. I felt like a kid in a candy store.''

Ben Wallace, 83 years young, had made the trip from Everetts, N.C., which is about a three-point attempt from Greenville. Wallace's parents, Harriett and Gary Sr., had paid for a train ticket so Ben Wallace could watch his grandson play in two of his few remaining games.

And, in the process, give his grandson an incredible lasting memory.

"It was a big shock,'' Wallace said. "I kept my cool. I didn't want (coach Andrew Toole) to see that I was looking into the stands. But I was like, 'Oh, my goodness! My grandfather's here!' I had so much adrenalin. Energy just started running through me. It was a great feeling.''

Harriett Wallace did a good job of keeping Ben Wallace's presence a surprise.

"I call everybody in my family before the game to say hello and get a nice little word of encouragement,'' Gary Wallace said. "My mom was worried my grandfather was going to say something in the background when she picked up the phone, but it all worked out. He was so excited. My sister said he was probably more excited than I was.''

After the game, in which Wallace contributed nine points and three rebounds in the Colonials' 74-50 victory, there was an emotional family reunion.

"There was so much love in the air,'' Gary said.

He learned that during the game his grandfather joined in the "DEE-fense!'' cheer for the Colonials. And he stared at a picture of his grandfather intently watching the game.

"He was so into it,'' Gary said. "I looked at the picture and I'm like, 'Wow! My grandfather got a chance to see me play before I graduated.' It was amazing. Those are moments you can't forget. You cherish them.''

"It was very special for Gary,'' Toole said. "It was very neat. And he played well for us in both games last weekend.''

The Wallace's, including Gary's sisters Sophia, 24, and Naomi, 15, also attended the Colonials' game at Monmouth two nights later. Again, Gary was a key contributor in RMU's 62-60 victory. He had three points, three assists, two rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal.

His sisters certainly could appreciate their brother's efforts.

Sophia ran track as a scholarship athlete at Rutgers. Naomi is a freshman in high school, where she also runs track and plays basketball.

"She's developing slowly, but she's getting there,'' Gary said of Naomi, who's 5'10''. "I'm real proud of her. I tell her, 'Just have fun every day and keep improving.' She texts me every time she has a game, and I talk to her after. I say, 'You know what? I'm proud of you. Continue to do what you do, and it will come.' She's real excited. She says she loves every minute she's on the floor.''

This weekend affords Wallace another opportunity to see his family, although Ben Wallace has returned to North Carolina.

Wallace will be honored before Saturday's game against Wagner on Senior Night at the Charles L. Sewall Center.

Without doubt, that will be an emotional experience for Wallace, the only player left from a four-man newcomer class in 2007-08.

He was a freshman that season which was the final year for seniors Tony Lee, A.J. Jackson and Freddie Harris.

"I remember when Tony Lee and those guys were (on their Senior Night),'' Wallace said, "and I'm like, 'Man, my Senior Night's not for another three years. It's going to be such a long time.' And now my Senior Night is just days away. Where did the time go? It certainly does not wait for anybody.''

That incoming class in 2007 included junior college transfer Bateko Francisco and freshmen Khalif Foster and Will Royal.

During the years since, Foster transferred to Division II West Chester University, where he's averaging 9.8 points per game, and Royal transferred to Division II Shippensburg, where he's averaging a team-high 12.6 points per game.

However, back in the day, all four were together at Robert Morris eager to begin their Colonial careers.

And now only Wallace remains, although he will be joined in the Senior Night ceremony by senior student manager Kim Waiters.

"It feels weird,'' Wallace said. "I was talking to Will and Khalif last week and told them how much I miss them and I still wish they were here to graduate. I would have loved to have had Khalif and Will here with me. But it feels good to have Kim here and other people I've gone to school with and some of the (senior) cheerleaders like Cassie Fisher and Courtney Lee. (But) it will be bittersweet.''

Wallace paused, thinking back to the fall of 2007.

"It seems like the flash of a camera,'' Wallace said as he recalled that fall and all that's transpired since. "I remember when I came on my (recruiting) visit and talking to coach (Mike) Rice when he got the job. I remember the first day I moved in on campus. I remember the first preseason conditioning practice we had. It feels like it was yesterday.''

Another pause while Wallace thought about current Colonial freshman Anthony Myers and about how much he's talked with Myers.

Wallace's message to Myers goes something like this: "Enjoy this because you think your freshman year went by fast? Man, your next three years are going to go by so fast (that) you're going to be like, 'Oh, my goodness.'''

During Wallace's career, the Colonials have won two outright Northeast Conference regular-season championships and shared a third. They've won two NEC Tournament championships. They've played in the National Invitation Tournament and two NCAA Tournaments. They will play in the Northeast Conference Tournament for a fourth straight year next week and certainly will play their first-round game at home March 3 if they beat Mount St. Mary's Thursday night and Wagner on Senior Night.

When Wallace plays in that NEC Tournament game, he'll have played in more games than any other Colonial. He enters his final regular-season weekend having played in 129 games. Mezie Nwigwe, a senior last season, played in 131 games.

Wallace's recruiting class has played a part in 56 NEC regular-season wins, the most of any class in Colonial history. And this class's winning percentage in NEC games (.800, 56-14) is the highest of any class. Add in a 7-1 record in the NEC Tournament the previous three seasons and those figures jump to 63-15 and .810.

Overall, Wallace's teams have produced 87 victories, three short of the Colonial record of 90 held by the Dallas Green-Jimmy Langhurst-Nwigwe group that finished last season with 90 wins. And Wallace's teams' winning percentage of 66.4 (87-44) is just shy of that trio's percentage of 68.2 (90-42).

Bottom line? Wallace, who's averaged 5.1 points per game over his career, has been a solid contributor to a great run by the Colonials.

"Gary's meant a lot to this program,'' Toole said. "He came in as the only playing freshman in our first year here as a coaching staff and was kind of thrown into the fire. As the year went on, we realized that Gary was a player we needed to have on the court toward the end of games because he was a stabilizing force. He's kind of grown each and every year since then.

"There's never a time where you question Gary's motives or intentions. He always has the best interests of his team, his teammates, his program and his coaches in the forefront of his mind. He's definitely created a great legacy here for himself in terms of all the wins he's had. And he's so well known on campus. He's so well loved by everybody he comes in contact with. I think he's clearly made the most of his four years here as a student-athlete at Robert Morris.''

Wallace said last week he decided to come west from New Jersey and attend Robert Morris because he thought the experience would help him grow as a person.

Would he make that decision again?

"I think I've had more opportunities here than most people probably would have at any other school,'' he said. "Some people might (ask me), 'Why would you come here again in terms of basketball? (Why not go to) somewhere bigger? But I look at it like a lot of those other major Division I programs don't even make it to the tournament, and I've been to the tournament twice and we've been successful winning the NEC.

"And there's the family I have here from the coaching staff and my teammates and the friends I've made. I wouldn't change anything in the world. I think it's helped me grow not only as a player on the court but also as an individual off the court. It's really helped me mature to a level that I'm not satisfied (with) yet, but I'm certainly happy with the results.

"I think the same thing would have happened anywhere else, but I think on your journey and the people you meet and the things you go through, it really tests your character in ways you would never think possible. I think about having those tests with Rice and having him push me every day and the same thing with coach Toole and all my assistant coaches and teachers and friends. It's really opened my eyes to more than just basketball, to what life's really about and the life lessons you learn every day, whether they're big or small, and about the ways you might encourage somebody else (that) you just never (realize). Just you showing up or smiling at them might brighten their day, so I think coming out here was a positive step and the right move.

"I think if I'd have stayed in Jersey I would have grown. But I think being on my own and being able to make decisions on my own and not having maybe my sister or my mom always being there right in my corner to help me figure things out (has taught me) how to take action and take responsibility (and) has molded me into a person who I think anybody would love to be around.''

So what's next for Wallace? What will he do with his degree in sport management with a concentration in business?

"I'm not 100 percent sure yet,'' he said, "but I'll sit down with my coaches. I've always been a person who wants to travel the world. I've never been on a vacation or to a different country. I would love to maybe go overseas and play for a couple years just to kind of experience a different culture, experience how other people live and different lifestyles people have. And then come back to the United States and possibly go to grad school and get my masters. If that doesn't work out, I wouldn't mind coaching, but I think everything will kind of fall into place.''

Where does he see himself in, say, five years?

"I would love to see myself probably in the coaching world, probably below the college ranks, maybe in high school or lower,'' Wallace said. "Every year I go back home and we have summer camps at my high school, and the interaction with the little kids is just phenomenal. Like the way they say, 'Coach Wallace.' It's funny. I see some of the kids that some coaches aren't able to deal with and sometimes you just have to kind of bring them to the side and talk with them a little bit and just kind of interact with them.

"I've had some parents come up to me and say, 'I don't know what you did, but my son had never played a day of basketball in his life, but he's had the best time of his life this week, so thank you.' Just to have that feeling and seeing the smiles on their faces and how you can make their day is very rewarding. So that's where I would see myself in five years.''

Wallace paused once again, then continued.

"And who knows?'' he said. "I might not be doing that. I might still be playing somewhere or something crazy might happen. I would never shy away from any opportunity.''

All of this makes one think that Ben Wallace is very proud of his grandson.

And really happy he got to see him play.