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On The Floor: Injured Nwaoko takes floor late in state title game

Photo by Bart Isley

Nobody was sure exactly what Saturday held for Blue Ridge senior Andy Nwaoko. 

 

Including Blue Ridge senior Andy Nwaoko. 

 

“I didn’t think I was going to get on the court today and when the coaches told me, I was so happy,” Nwaoko said. “I can’t explain it, it was amazing.”

 

When he slowly eased his way, with the help of a couple of teammates, onto the court in the closing seconds of Blue Ridge’s state championship victory a little less than 24 hours after suffering a knee injury on the same floor in the state semifinals, it was an emotional moment for the entire Blue Ridge roster. 

 

“Right before the game ended, coach told me I was going to take the ball out and have a turnover so someone could get in the game,” said Kobe Jerome. “I didn’t even know it was going to be Andy, When I saw him go to the scorer’s table, I was just filled with happiness because it was just so sad yesterday. Giving him a hug before (he came on the floor) was jsut awesome.”

 

It was also an important moment, as one of the engines of their back-to-back state championship squads took the floor with his team, his program, one last time and was a part of the second-straight state title, the first time the Barons have gone back-to-back since 2001. 

 

Nwaoko went down on a breakaway trying to elevate for a finish in the middle of the fourth quarter in the state semifinal. He’d already yanked down six boards and scored six points when he got hurt and had to be taken off in a stretcher. The extent of the injury is still to-be-determined with a doctor’s appointment scheduled this week. But there he was Saturday at the end of the bench, standing at times and cheering on his teammates. 

 

“The whole time I was just thinking about my team and how we’re going to win states and this is my last year,” Nwaoko said. “From that point (the injury) I was just like I hope we win.”

 

The senior, who has emerged as a future college football player over the last two years as a defensive menace and is still trying to sort through his collegiate decision process, has provided some important moments for the Barons’ basketball program, including a game-finishing explosion of a block in last Saturday’s VIC championship win over Hagrave. 

 

More importantly, though, he’s become a part of the fabric of the program’s family feel, an international student who has found a home and a support system in St. George. The affection his teammates have for their 6-foot-4 super athlete in the post is clear. 

 

“You’re sad for him because that’s your brother and you never want to see your brother hurt,” Gray said Friday. “But we know he’s super strong and tough. He can get through anything.”

 

For Nwaoko, it was important that the Barons finished the journey they’d set out on back at the beginning of the season and it was clear there was no way he’d miss that moment. 

 

“This is a brotherhood, we spend almost 24 hours a day from practice to dining hall to classes together,” Nwaoko said. “They’ve been family away from family, I’m really going to miss them a lot.”

 

It’s generally good policy not to miss big moments with your family. Nwaoko made sure he didn’t miss Saturday’s.

 

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