The celebration began at the same time as the final buzzer, and that owed, perhaps, to the significance stitched into the moment, glorious as it would be. This was the Virginia Tech women’s basketball program. This was the NCAA tournament. This was the team that had never been to the Final Four clinching its first berth.
They knew what the moment meant, all of them, as the buzzer sounded and the band boomed and the Hokies players dashed toward school officials with arms outstretched. They wanted those regional championship hats, made trucker style, with black bills and white backs. They wanted those maroon T-shirts announcing the magnitude of their achievement. They had earned those; had fought doubt and elite conference opposition and injury; had upended tradition, both in how they played and how well, in a sport where tradition tends to separate, to matter, in order to obtain wardrobe enhancements.
Yes, this moment meant pretty much everything. Almost. But as Virginia Tech’s players and coaches donned their new gear, took pictures and gave themselves a confetti shower near mid-court, before snipping at the only basketball net they’ve ever wanted to cut down, their team mascot stood nearby. The reaction from this “HokieBird,” known on campus and beyond as, simply, Gobbler, provided another pertinent signal. He celebrated, just not that much. He clapped. He shimmied. But he knew what the team knew. The moment from Monday was great, historic even. But don’t confuse that with the overall goals. The Hokies are not done yet.
