Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
One by one thy came over to pay homage and show appreciation.
There was an old, white-haired lady, two young black women, a guy in a ball cap drinking a beer, a father and his little daughter, a pair of former Wright State athletes.
They wanted to let Katrina Merriweather, the WSU women’s basketball coach, know how they felt.
Earlier in the day, Merriweather — like her counterpart, Raiders men’s coach Scott Nagy — had been named the Horizon League Coach of the Year. And just an hour earlier, her 25-6 team had roared past Oakland, 83-60, in a first-round conference tournament game played here at the Nutter Center.
Now – as the men’s team was in the process of dispatching IUPUI, 71-56, in a first-round game, as well — she stood near a black-clothed backdrop beyond the end of the court and relaxed.
And as different as all those people were who came up to her, they all left with one thing in common.
Each was smiling.
WSU Athletics Director Bob Grant had talked about the importance of that very thing a little earlier:
“We need positivity around this university right now. We need the university to gain footing and a positive momentum and to heal to a certain degree.
“There’s a reason athletics is emphasized in all kinds of places. Whether people agree or disagree, it is the front porch of the university. It can bring positive exposure and good stories to a university.”
And after a very tough year, Wright State University needs all the good stories it can get.
A 20-day strike by unionized faculty members ended less than a month ago. During that time, there were student sit-ins, some classes were cancelled and there was vitriol on both sides of the picket line.
That was just the latest blow to a school whose finances have been severely hampered by years of overspending. Meanwhile, donations and enrollment have declined and there was the threat the school would face a state-mandated fiscal watch.
When the strike ended Feb. 11, student body president Daniel Palmer tweeted:
“The strike is over, but now comes the hard part. We have a campus morale that now needs lifted.”
And that’s what happened Tuesday on what has to be one of the best news days in Raiders’ athletic history.
