Larry Micheaux, Michael Young and Benny Anders.
I bet you don’t know who they are, but if you are a Keyser player or fan, I am sure you know how they felt.
“It wasn’t supposed to be.”
If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard that this week I would be a rich man.
I’m sure that’s how Micheaux, Young, and Anders felt too.
Crushed.
Downright devastated.
But you don’t remember any of them in the grand scheme of things, and I am sure they are doing fine, just like Jeremy Green, Taige Redman, Joe Amtower, Preston Hartman, and Matt Wilmer will be next year when they are playing on Saturdays.
Like Clyde Drexler and Hakeem Olajuwon did.
If that hint didn’t jog your memory, you might remember someone on the other end of the scenario, an unforgettable image burned into your psyche.  One that has become more Americana than sporting history. That image being the late North Carolina State (And this is coming from a Tarheel folks) great Jim Valvano running around looking for someone, anyone, to hug after Lorenzo Charles took a Derek Whittenburg wish out of the air and slammed it home fittingly ending what was “supposed to be” Phi Slamma Jamma’s title hopes.
Houston had entered the 1983 NCAA tournament with a swagger and rightfully so. They were a group of high fliers who were dubbed Phi Slamma Jamma. There was Akeem Olajuwon, Clyde Drexler, Larry Micheaux, Michael Young and Benny Anders. The Cougars were big and athletic and they could sky like no team before.
“We figure the team with the most dunks will win,” said 7-foot center Olajuwon, a native of Nigeria and the team’s focal point.
Houston arrived at the Final Four with the top ranking in both wire-service polls and a 25-game winning streak, the longest in the nation. Of the 52 teams invited to the NCAA Tournament, none appeared capable of stopping Houston.
Houston’s opponent in the national semifinals was Louisville. The Cardinals not only were ranked second nationally but had won the NCAA title three years earlier with a team known as the “Doctors of Dunk.”
It was assumed the winner of this game would win it all, as the other semifinal matched two surprise teams: Georgia, which had stunned top-seeded St. John’s and North Carolina in the East Regional, and the other was NC State.
The Wolfpack had 10 losses on the season but swept the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament, staggered past Pepperdine in two overtimes and finally squeezed past Virginia, 63-62, in the West Regional final.
Houston’s efforts in the national semifinal were even better than advertised.
In the second half, Houston overwhelmed Louisville and pulled away for a 94-81 win. The Cougars scored 58 points in the second half alone — 22 which were the result of dunks, most of the dazzling variety. Olajuwon had 22 rebounds and 21 points. He sealed the win with four dunks alone down the stretch.
They looked unbeatable, especially when paired against the unheralded Wolfpack.
Sound familiar?
Folks, you are right, Keyser might have had the best talent in a decade on this team, and maybe collectively that pool was greater than Magnolia’s, but the best talent does not always come out on top.
And, unless you are Larry Micheaux, Michael Young and Benny Anders - most folks don’t feel a hell of a lot of pain when the “team of destiny” goes down.
Admit it, you love that NC State story.
Heck, I bleed Carolina Blue and I gotta admit it.
Luckily I could fill out the Carolina application and didn’t have to resort to living in Raleigh, but even the folks in Chapel Hill had to be pulling for the pack in ‘83.
(And you didn’t have to be  - god forbid - a Dookie to appreciate what the team in the wrong shade of blue did to Jerry Tarkanian, Larry Johnson, Stacey Augmon, Anderson Hunt, and Greg Anthony in 1991. That team was not only considered at that point to possess the top talent in 1991, it was argued to be the best ever quite possibly. But I still hate Christian Laetner.)
Drexler and Ojajuwon went on to great NBA careers, in a nutshell they moved on.
Kids are resilient, they’ve moved on too.
Now it’s time for the adults to do that as well.
Magnolia came ready to play that night, the referees didn’t take anything away, there are always a few “bad” calls on both sides of the ball, there is no conspiracy, “the man“ does not live in Charleston nor Cumberland for that matter, and the Blue Eagles deserve to be playing in the title game Friday against Grafton.
Keyser was beaten, fair and square, and who had the most talent is irrelevant.
It was a great run, but it’s over, and disappointment is a part of life we all have to live with.
It’s part of sports, but as in life,  there is always a new season.
And even luckier for me that season involves a round ball.
These same kids, many of them, will be playing basketball in a few weeks.
Maybe there is not as much hype surrounding their destiny, but who knows, maybe this time they’ll be more like Whittenburg, Charles, Sydney Lowe, and Thurl Bailey.
And we know you loved that story.