Darby's Patience Pays Off

Darby's Patience Pays Off
by Peter Yoon, Los Angeles Times

March 15, 2007

Long Beach State has come a long way to make to the NCAA tournament,
emerging from the depths of consecutive seasons in 2002-03 and 2003-04
when the 49ers went a combined 11-43 to a 24-7 record this season.

Nobody knows better than Louis Darby, a fifth-year senior who has been
through it all.

Darby, a reserve forward, just shakes his head and smiles when he
thinks about going to Columbus, Ohio, to face Tennessee in the first
round Friday.

"In the beginning, I thought it was a bad decision on coming here,"
Darby said. "But I stuck it out and I've gotten to see the program
grow and that's pretty rewarding."

Point guard Kevin Houston and reserve post player Travon Free were
around for the 2003-04 season — they are the only four-year seniors on
the team — and thus have developed a special bond.

"We sit around talking about how bad we were," Houston said. "It's
pretty amazing to see where we are now."

Darby said qualifying for the tournament still seems surreal — almost
as much as when he held the ball in his hands at the final buzzer of
the berth-clinching victory at the Big West tournament.

"I didn't know what to do, so I just threw the ball in the air because
that's what I always see people do TV," he said.

Long Beach State University Athletics

Related News

Related Videos