By: Chiney Ogwumike

We are crossing into the first few days of April, which is a major bummer for college hoops fans because that means March Madness is almost over. But have no fear, it’s not over yet! The last chapter of the 2014-2015 college basketball season is about to be written. It’s time for the Final Four.

What is it like playing in the Final Four?

I was fortunate enough to play in three Final Fours during my time at Stanford. Looking back, each one has a special place in my heart.

Freshman jitters. Freshman year is a roller-coaster. Everything is new. Emotions are on over-drive. At times you are completely on survival mode. As a newcomer to the Final Four, the lights are brighter. The crowd is louder. And the game is bigger than ever. We knew we had a special squad that year, one that would eventually produce seven professional players.

I remember being too amped up for the game, playing so hard each and every possession that I could barely catch my breath. But in the blink of an eye and with a slight flick of the wrist (Chedda voice), the game slipped out of our grasp. If you know me, you know I absolutely hate to cry. I will walk out of a movie (Titanic) before I start to tear up. After our loss, I was a wreck in the locker room. Absolutely inconsolable. My sister even laughed at me during her media interview, pointing and saying, “It tends to hit freshmen hard.” Let’s just say, that experience served as motivation for me to work as I could to get back to another Final Four.

My “Senior” Sister. My second Final Four was super fun. I had been teammates with my sister from AAU all the way until college and that experience was coming to an end. At the start of her senior year, we made a promise to each other to have as much fun playing together as possible because we didn’t know if it would ever happen again. One of the products of that promise was a nerdy music video. Another was a Final Four.

We had a tall task ahead of us (pun intended), but decided that regardless of the outcome of the Final Four, we would enjoy our last moments as teammates. I will never forget that final hug we shared when Nneka approached the Stanford bench for the final time rocking that uniform. It felt like she was passing a torch. She’s always been my inspiration, but don’t tell her that!

The “Final” Final Four. My favorite moment of my senior season was not the final game of our season, but the game before it. Nobody, besides our parents and close friends, really expected us to make it back to the Final Four. In comparison to some of the previous Stanford women’s basketball teams, we were sort of a band of misfits. But as the saying goes, ‘We may not have it all together, but together we have it all.’ Our Elite Eight game was magical madness! From playing our final game as seniors on our home court of Maples Pavilion to receiving an impromptu pep talk at halftime from my big sister; it was crazy.

The game went down to the wire and ridiculous plays were made left, right and center. After all was said and done, I remember staying in the gym after the bleachers had been pushed back, lights were off and everyone had gone home. I lied down in the middle of the court with my Final Four tee, looking up into the rafters just feeling blessed!

May the Odds Ever Be In Your Favor

Unfortunately my squad never survived the Hunger Games; we never stood as the last ones dancing. One out of 64 are extremely difficult odds. The anticipation, nerves and excitement are all building up for not only the players but also for family, friends and fans. Whether you’re rooting for Notre Dame, South Carolina, UConn, Maryland, Kentucky, Wisconsin, Duke or Michigan State, please remember that simply making it to the Final Four is a remarkable achievement. It is college basketball’s one shining moment. The song says it best… “But time is short and the road is long, in the blink of an eye that moment’s gone, and when it’s done, win or lose, you always did your best cause inside you knew, that one shining moment you reached deep inside, one shining moment, you knew you were alive.”