Clayton Fuller

Past Entries

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Entry 5

Entry 6

February 9, 2004

I have come to realize that the true joy of playing basketball is often overshadowed, ironically, by basketball itself. The basketball experience is often defined by records and statistics but as the years pass both categories often blur into oblivion whether they be marked by success or mediocrity.

As I walked the shimmering and frantic streets of Times Square with four teammates after a tough loss to NYU, I realized our bond was not in our record or the individual grains of some leather ball, but in the inevitability of our walking that street in that moment of time.

You see, there are unknowable forces that have been enacted since the beginning of time to place all of us together on this team. Perhaps no other city in the world can make you understand that more than New York.

Last year after a big win against NYU, I had the potential to meet any number of the 12 million that reside in that great city, but some force led me to meet one. Through the love of the girl that I met that night, I am able to understand what truly defines a team.

In Latin it is known as omnium gatherum, or a gathering of all sorts, but for me it is the joy of basketball. The Emory basketball team transcended time in its very square. There we stood, taking a seemingly insignificant picture, not realizing the sheer incredibility of our being together. The picture is of a team of a miscellaneous assemblage, haphazard, but yet at the same time, inevitable.

Someday, this season will fade into oblivion, but that picture will remain and remind me of the true joy of basketball. Joy that was walking with people that I will interminably love and through some unknowable force I was fortunate enough to be gathered with.

Clayton Fuller is a junior from Sautee-Nacoochee, Ga. He would love to answer e-mail questions from Emory recruits and fans.