The first week of March signifies the end of college basketball careers for seniors across the nation. Some, such as North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough, have enjoyed illustrious tenures, while others have been super-glued to the bench for four years.
Some of these seniors will go on to star in the NBA and others will have to find other ways to fill up their bank accounts.
Nevertheless, as these players take the court for their final home games, senior blankets, flowers and other traditional gifts will be divvied out in pre-game ceremonies.
Utah Valley was no different as the Wolverines celebrated the final home games for seniors from the men and women’s basketball teams, most notably Ryan Toolson and Robyn Fairbanks. And unfortunately, these two stars, who basically rewrote the UVU record books, have gone largely unnoticed, not only nationally, but locally as well.
Former Wolverine and current Jazz player Ronnie Price laid out the red carpet for Toolson with his success at Utah Valley, and yet, students still avoided the McKay Center like it had some kind of infectious disease. Fairbanks blazed her own trail by dominating opponents and setting the record in nearly every Wolverine statistical category. The senior center led the nation in scoring for much of the season, and currently sits in second with a 26.7-point average.
Those privileged enough to have made the effort to behold the majesty in the McKay Center throughout the careers of these two special players have not only been entertained, but may have witnessed the future of professional basketball. If desired, Toolson and Fairbanks could each find their way onto pro rosters whether overseas or in the United States.
As the Toolson-Fairbanks era draws to a close at Utah Valley, the future appears uncertain as to whether players like these will ever set foot on the court as Wolverines again. Hopefully, for UVU fans, the legacy of the superior basketball players at Utah Valley will continue to pay dividends in recruiting the next superstar.
Hopefully, the superstars to come won’t mind going unnoticed.
