Marshall University Athletics
BOGACZYK: Middle Schoolers Grill Herd Hoops Pair
10/31/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
By JACK BOGACZYK
HERDZONE.COM COLUMNIST
BARBOURSVILLE, W.Va. – It wasn’t exactly one of those tough "60 Minutes" interviews. In reality, it was about 50 minutes.
It was a question-and-answer session at Barboursville Middle School. For me, it was a memory-lane trip in the roots of a sportswriting career, taking me back fiftysomething years … one of those "You have to start somewhere" deals.
For five classes of sixth graders in the school auditorium on Friday, Marshall basketball forward Shawn Smith and guard Devince Boykins stood from 8 a.m. until early afternoon in press conference mode and answered questions from inquiring minds, kids armed with pens and notebooks.
This wasn’t some Halloween trick-or-treat, in-house field trip session. It was an assignment right out of Connie Alfrey’s Language Arts class.
The students – about 60 at a time -- were doing interviews and on Monday they’ll be writing a sports story on Boykins or Smith.
The students had to use a microphone when asking the questions, to advance interaction. And the 6-foot-6 Smith and 6-4 Boykins didn’t duck much, except when they were asked if they could sing.
They did much better answering a question about Herd Coach Dan D’Antoni.
Smith called their new coach "real down to earth, a great coach to be around." Boykins said D’Antoni "knows a lot about basketball … and wants the best for you not just on the court, but when you’re done playing."
And the aspiring scribes – I do hope there were at least one or two there – did get some answers from the Herd hoops pair that real journalists might not. For example …
"Do you have a nickname?" one student asked.
After a sheepish pause, Smith responded, "Well, my mom has always called me ‘Shawney-Poo.’"
The laughter echoed off the auditorium’s walls.
"They asked, ‘What was your favorite moment in basketball,’" Boykins said of the first session. "What was our biggest moment? Ever hit a buzzer-beater, 3-point shot?
"Do you have pets? Dogs? Cats? How many siblings do you have? There was one, ‘When you have kids, what will you name them?’"
Smith did a similar session last year for Alfrey’s Language Arts class. His girlfriend and fellow California native, Taylor Conley, is a Marshall education major and student teacher working with Alfrey at BMS. This time, Alfrey expanded the session to involve all sixth graders at the school, and Boykins joined Smith on the hot seat, so to speak.
"This actually gives the students a real experience of what a journalist is," Alfrey said as the second session ended with students crowded around Boykins and Smith for a meet-and-greet and autographs. "We do a lot of writing in my classroom.
"With the new common core (curriculum) this year coming to Cabell County, they want the students to be able to cite sources, so the students have to actually use quotes in the writing. They won’t be just made-up stories. It’s where they have to use primary sources, and so I think this is an awesome example for our students. They actually have to report dialogue.
"We’ve been working on that the last couple of days in my class … How do you report dialogue and then use that actually in a news article? They get to experience what it’s like. On Monday, they’ll write a news article about one of the gentlemen who spoke today. Pick one and write it, and they’ll write captions on photos they find to go with the stories."
Alfrey had a list of assigned questions for the students to ask – full name, jersey number, age, hometown, position, statistics, past schools, height, weight -- and once those were answered, the sixth graders could delve into other subjects.
Shawn Damar Smith and Devince Marquise Boykins enjoyed the time spent, too.
They revealed their heroes. Smith said "Batman … because he never folds under pressure … and he helps people."
They revealed their favorite NBA teams. Boykins said he didn’t "really have a favorite team, but I guess it’s the (Charlotte) Hornets, since I’m from North Carolina."
Both players also said they detected a shoe fetish among the Barboursville students.
"We got questions about shoes," Smith said, as both players revealed their favorite brand was Jordan, not the Nikes they were for the Herd. "I don’t know, my mom swore at me so much about shoes when I was a kid, so I didn’t worry about shoes."
Boykins said the kids "were pretty concerned about shoes, how many pairs we had (Smith said 40, Boykins "about 10"), what was our favorite brand. I don’t think I was really that concerned with my shoes at that age, but I guess the generations are changing. I was kind of surprised with that."
Asked one of the best things about playing college basketball, Smith talked about "meeting people you otherwise might not get to meet." Boykins said he’s "getting to go to places you might have gone to if you weren’t playing … You learn a lot."
The Herd pair met a lot of people they otherwise wouldn’t meet and went somewhere they otherwise wouldn’t go on Friday at Barboursville Middle School.
Those sixth graders? They learned a lot. And they’ve got plenty of quotes to write those stories.
A word of advice? Remember to use short paragraphs.
