Pride: We are Retriever Believers!

Retrievers Lose to Binghamton Bearcats, 61-51

View Photos from the America East Championship Game >>

“It’s amazing what you can accomplish when you put your mind to something,” UMBC Men’s Basketball Head Coach Randy Monroe shouted through a megaphone to the fired-up crowd. Monroe was referring to sixth-seeded UMBC’s improbable return to the America East Conference title game as the campus community sent the team off to Binghamton in style, but he could have been describing the whole season.

Like their 5’ 8” sparkplug point guard Jay Greene, the Dawgs were frequently undersized, overlooked and underestimated this year but never lost their fighting spirit. The Retrievers overcame adversity throughout the season, losing key members of last year’s AEC championship team to graduation and sometimes relying on just six players due to injuries.

While the Retrievers’ couldn’t quite cash in their opportunities against a tough Binghamton team, the foundation established through the hard work of All-America East Team honoree Greene, senior forward Darryl Proctor, Monroe and the team over the past four years has taught the entire campus community to become “Retriever Believers.”

Senior leadership was a key factor for the 2008-2009 team’s resilience and warrior attitude. Along with fellow All-America East Team honoree Greene, Proctor carried the team through many close games and big comebacks. Junior Justin Fry earned AEC All-Academic Team recognition, becoming the first Retriever men’s basketball player to earn that honor in four years of the award.

Through it all, they continued the UMBC student-athlete tradition of representing the university well, on and off the court. UMBC’s Class of 2008 featured 10 student-athletes who graduated with honors, including six Cum Laude and four Magna Cum Laude. Thirty-five were recognized on the America East Academic Honor Roll, with 18 earning a 3.5 GPA or higher during their competition season and nine posting a perfect 4.0.

“Because of the hard work and dedication of our student-athletes – both as scholars and as athletic competitors – we take great pride in their success and enthusiastically root for the Retrievers each year,” said UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski. “We also recognize that the sacrifices our student-athletes make are at the heart of our tradition of academic and athletic excellence.”

Next season, as Monroe likes to say, “Let’s do it again!”