Hazel Fui (#31) and the SLCC women's basketball team celebrate the Region 18 title in March.
It was a Thursday afternoon. There was ice cream. People gave speeches. And then basketball players on the men’s and women’s teams for Salt Lake Community College found out within the same hour of their big sendoff to the NJCAA National Tournament – their paths toward a championship would be postponed. There’s a pandemic. Go home, they were told, and enjoy your spring break. We’ll regroup in a week.
They scattered, all over the country and to places half a world away. What came next, in the middle of that break, crushed their spirits – there would be no tournament. That’s it. Season over. Oh, and stay where you are – and stay safe, they were told.
“Everything happened so abruptly at the end of the season,” Ashley Scoggin says from her home in Dallas, Oregon, a city of about 15,000 near Salem. She left her favorite bed, a lot of clothes and other belongings at a house she shared with other SLCC athletes in Taylorsville. “We went home and didn’t know when we’d come back. That was really hard. We thought we would have another month together. That all kind of came to an end quickly.”
It was Ashley’s final hurrah with the team, friends with whom she fought to a 22-7 season and a good shot at the big title. She’ll be off this fall to a four-year school somewhere. Someday, when it’s safe, she’ll come back to Utah for her belongings and her prized bed, content for now to sleep on a couch at home (her little sister took over her room back at home when she left for college) and finish out the academic year at SLCC from a computer.
The men's team had just won the Region 18 championship game.
Matt Gray flew more than 8,000 miles back to his home in Orange, Australia. When it’s safe to return, he’ll be off to UC San Diego to continue his academic and athletic journey. “Everyone was pretty sad and bummed that we didn’t get a chance to compete for a national championship,” Matt says. His team ended the season 29-4 overall with a perfect 12-0 in conference play. “On the flip side, we won everything and achieved all our goals that we could, given the circumstances. The last goal was to win a national championship – so, not being able to compete for that was heartbreaking.”
Matt Gray
As the global pandemic drags on and the days of spring meld into summer, the coaches are signing new players, finding transfer schools for sophomores and saying goodbye to those moving on. “I feel mostly for our sophomores, who won’t be back at SLCC next year,” says men’s coach Kyle Taylor. “The national tournament is a great place for our sophomores to get seen one final time in the spring and really increase their interest and offers from Division 1 schools. So, it really hurts from that standpoint.”
Like Kyle, women’s coach Marcilina Grayer was in her inaugural year as head coach – and, wow, did they each make a splash. She was just as devastated as her players when she had to deliver the sad news over the phone. “We told the girls that their safety is our number one priority and that no one could be prepared for what is going on in our world,” she says. “We told them to stay positive and continue to finish strong academically. There are no words to help everyone cope through this time of having to say goodbye to teammates and missing the chance to play with one another again, to battle for the title. All we can do is plan for the next steps while remaining positive.”
Hazel Fui (far left) back at home in Australia with her family.
That’s exactly what everyone is doing – trying to stay upbeat. Life in Matt’s world, 158 miles west of Sydney, is starting to return to normal – meaning, for him, gyms are opening up. He’s shooting around, working out and running, staying on top of his homework. “I think this is a good reality check on how much we take for granted on a daily basis,” he says. Being able to spend so much time with family, he adds, has been the best part of so much forced change.
Kyle checks in with each player every two or three days, seeing how they’re doing academically, making sure they’re staying healthy. “Every basketball gym in America is closed, and they have started to take rims and backboards off local park hoops too,” he says. “It’s a hard time for everyone – so, just regular contact and encouraging them is what I’m trying to do.” Five of his players don’t own computers, and with public libraries shut down, it’s forcing them to do schoolwork on their phones. “It’s a significant challenge,” Kyle says. “Hopefully, we can finish the semester well.”
Ashley (right) and her sister at home.
Ashley made a three-minute video recapping the season that she sent to her teammates. They keep in touch over Snapchat and a group text thread. She finishes with school each day around 3 p.m. and plays basketball at home with her family. A few days a week she helps out at the family business, Riverside Rock Products, scooping and crushing rock or operating heavy machinery with giant tires. “It’s good to be home and be together,” Ashley says. “In life, everything is busy. We’ve been able to take a deep breath and just enjoy each other’s company.”
Jalyn Van Dyke
Ashley’s teammate, Jalyn Van Dyke, who wears #24 on her jersey, will be back at SLCC in the fall. She’s taking general education courses and might go the business route as college continues. She was born in Logan, Utah, home to Utah State University. Everyone in her family, now living in Herriman, is a USU fan – so, she’s hopeful to play basketball there someday. She’s proud of what her team and coaches were able to accomplish this past season. “We had a great group of athletes that Coach Marci got together,” Jalyn says. “It was just a great group effort.”
Jalyn is the oldest of four. Her youngest brother has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. Dad was a basketball coach, and Mom coached volleyball – so, yeah, her parents got game, and they play hoops in the yard, along with her siblings. She takes her communications, humanities, criminal justice and three other classes remotely and keeps in touch with coaches and teammates through FaceTime and other electronic means. She’s figured out some things in life, such as it is right now. Other stuff, though, still seems uncertain. “Coaches are waiting to see what happens, what will reopen,” Jalyn says. “They’re just telling me to keep a ball in my hands and keep doing what I can to stay in shape.”
Jalyn catches (and kisses for good luck) her first fish this spring.
Photo credit: Region 18 championship photos by Taylor Munroe.