SAME FEDORA-NEW CROWN?

[PointGuard]

Fred Aura’s first meeting with Attorney Shane Vorstadt:

Shane began by finding out what I knew about Renee McEntire. He then listened to my recollection of the police interview of me. He wasn’t happy that I had met with the police in a murder investigation without an attorney. And he was concerned about the detective’s remarks about finding my hat in Renee’s house.

He then said he saw the interview the the TV station before our last game. He said, “What they hell are you doing talking to the press about that? From now on, absolutely no interviews by the press. Understood?” When I told him that’s pretty tough due to my position as head coach, he said “OK if it’s about the game or your team, then answer, but if it’s about this s__t then say you have no comment and refer them to me. He added, “Actually, don’t talk to anyone about Renee McEntire or the murder.”

He also told me that if there is any followup by the police with me, it’s to be done with him in attendance. He said that in trying to eventually solve the murder the police are trying to tie in anyone they can as persons of interest for further investigation.

Shane’s going to begin finding out what he can about the police investigation to see if I’m being considered a person of interest and what concerns and evidence they may have.

[PointGuard]

Feb. 24, 2031: Pittsburgh Panthers (18-8, 11-6) vs #14 Boston College Eagles (20-7, 14-3) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA

RyReys Blog, Ryan Reynolds

Pittsburgh is a tough team as evidenced by their regular. They just had a 6-game win streak broken with a loss at Clemson but the Panthes

Rough start for both teams…sloppy play, missed shots, turnovers. 4-1/4 minutes before either team scored. BC scored first and it took Pittsburgh another minute to sink some free throws to get on the board. The Pathers didn’t make a FG until 11:45 remained in the first half. The Eagles finished the half ahead by a score of 32-28.

The Eagles held onto a very small lead in the early going of the 2nd half. It wasn’t until the midpoint of the half that BC was finally able to stretch the lead to double figures. They went on to beat the Panthers 68-53. The Eagles outshot Pittsburth 48% to 34%.

PG/SG Glen Robinson led the scoring for BC with 17 points with C Ben Schau and SG Corey Graham both scoring 14.

The win kept the Eagles atop the ACC standings, a mere one-half game ahead of 2nd place Notre Dame with the two teams meeting next week for the big showdown.

[PointGuard]

Coach Fred Aura

4 days after our win over Pittsburgh, Shane Vorstand contacted me to come meet with him again. He said he had about as much information as he could get from his contacts within the police department. He said he found out that there was no evidence of a break in or robbery at Renee McEntire’s house. She was bludgeoned to death in her living room but the police had not yet found the murder instrument.

After I arrived at his office, Shane said that while law enforcement begins by focusing on the husband and even more so on an ex-husband, that Gerald has a rock solid alibit since he was in Europe on pre-planned business the week of the murder. While the police were not ruling anyone out, that they were now expanding to look at anyone Renee knew or anyone she had a dispute or argument of business or any other relationship with.

He then said the police not only had found a hat of mine in her home, but that they also found BC basketball cup with my fingerprints on it on a side table in the living room. I nearly gagged when he said that. Shane asked if I had any explanation as to why that was in her home. I told him I had no idea at all and repeated that I had never been in her home. He then told me that the police had interviewed my staff and many others in BC’s athletic department and that an assistant coach (he didn’t have the name of which assistant) had told them that Gerald had spoken with him at a Eagles Soar get-together and had alluded to there being something between Renee and me and telling the assistant coach to give me a warning about being too close to Renee. Apparently the assistant either hadn’t taken Gerald’s comments seriously or had been hesitant about bringing it up with me. Again I blanched and said I had no idea what Gerald might have been referring to. I again repeated that the only real conversation between Renee and me is when she had come to my office about her cousin and that she’d subsequently left a crazy sort of nessage on our home phone, but that I’d decided to just ignore it.

Shane said its likely that the police would want to talk to me again, but that since I hadn’t been named as a suspect that I didn’t have to talk to them. But he said that would probably make them more curious so he recommended that I agree to be interviewed again…but with him present during the interview. I said OK, but this was a helluva bad time for all this since we had two big games coming up this week and then the conference tournament and then most certainly the NCAA Tourney. I left his office totally shaken by all that he had said.

[PointGuard]

March 1, 2031: #17 Notre Dame Fighting Irish (22-7, 15-4) vs #10 Boston College Eagles (21-7, 15-3) at Silvio O. Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, MA

Jason Braxton, BC’s Athletic Director

The Eagles beat Notre Dame 79-71 a month ago when playing on Notre Dame’s home court. The Fighting Irish PF BJ Ryan and SG Casey Johnson combined for 33 points and Ryan and C Giannes Polychroniou combined to grab 16 rebounds in that game so controlling that trio tonight is a big objective. SF Dwight Oliver is also a good scorer, averaging 11.2 ppg and hitting a high percentage of his shots this season. Notre Dame is a good shooting team and they’re riding a 6-game win streak. This is a big game since a win tonight by the Eagles would lock up first place in the ACC. Conte Forum is packed.

I’m worried about Coach Aura. He’s not been like himself lately. He’s seemed much more stressed this season, a lot quieter, and this past week rather unfocused. I’m hoping that a win tonight will help him become more relaxed. We need him on the top of his game if we’re going to go far in the Big Dance later this month.

The Eagles had a difficult time solving Notre Dame’s 1-2-2 zone defense in the first half, hitting just 39% of their shots. In addition our interior players (Schau, Cotton and Toliver) got into foul trouble. Late in the half Notre Dame took a 10 point lead. BC hit a few late shots to cut the half time deficit to 42-37.

The Eagles went on a 10-3 run to start the 2nd half edge out to a 2 point lead. The lead shifted back and forth until the Eagles finally began t pull away with 7 minutes to go. BC’s 2nd half defense was the difference in this game and the Eagles came away with a 79-69 victory that locked in a first place ACC finish.

PG Bobby Grannum had a big game, scoring 26 points. SG/PG Glen Robinson tossed in 15 points and C Ben Schau scored 10.

[PointGuard]

Coach Fred Aura

The day after the Notre Dame game and not long before we had to catch a plane for our final game against Florida State the next day, I met with police detective Margaret Merriweather…together with Shane Vorstadt, my attorney.

The detective began by asking me about my relationship with Renee McEntire and I again told her about the brief exposure to her and that we had no relationship other than her being a member of the Eagles Soar, coming on her own to my office to ask for us to scout her high school cousin, and a bizarre phone message she had left. The detective asked if we still had the message recorded and I told her that while I hadn’t erased it after listening to it, that Janeka may have. She said to be sure not to erase anything from that phone and that they would be by the house to check on it and may need to take the recorder. I told her we hardly ever use the home phone.

She then brought out a cup and asked if it was my cup. I told her it’s like one that I have but there’s no way for me to be certain it was mine. She asked why my fingerprints would be the only ones on the cup. My only response was that I had no idea why.

She then had me try to recollect any and all times I had seen or met with Renee McEntire After giving her my best shot at trying to remember any fo that, she asked where I was on the
afternoon of the murder. At first I said, I had no idea. I then checked my calendar. There was nothing on it for that time frame. I sat trying to refresh my memory about that day. The silence was deafening with the detective patiently waiting. Remembering how Janeka has called me to watch the TV news report about the murder, I then was able to remember that being when I was under a lot of stress and finally haltingly recounted that I had gone on a long bike ride that afternoon before going home. She asked for specifics and who I had been with or had seen. I told her I’d gone alone and that I was mainly on trails in a large park and since it was winter and cold, not many people were out there and certainly no one I knew or recognized.

After the interview, Shane took me aside and said, “You’re not a suspect, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they now consider you a person of interest.” When I asked about that, he said at this point just try to recall if anyone could corroborate my going on the bike ride.

With little time left before when I needed to get to the airport, I hurried home and finished putting my bag together. I didn’t tell Janeka anything about the interview since I didn’t was to worry her while I was gone to Florida. I’d give her the details when I returned.

[PointGuard]

March 3, 2031: #10 Boston College Eagles (22-7, 16-3) vs Florida State Seminoles (15-14, 9-10) at Donald L. Tucker Civic Center in Tallahassee, Florida

1st Assistant Coach Darrell Montgomery

This is a dangerous game. Not only because we’re playing on the road. But we’ve already guaranteed a first place finish in the standings. So hopefully our guys don’t have a letdown since it’s not a must-win situation. Florida State’s SG Evan Martin is averaging 16.2 ppg and he’s had 3 games that he’s scored 30+ points and 5 more games where he’s scored 20+. So if he gets hot, he can carry the Seminoles to a victory.

An 11-0 run as we approached the midpoint of the 1st half gave us a double-digit lead. Our guys continued to pad the lead and by the end of the half we were ahead 41-23. We held Evan Martin to just 3 points and the Seminoles’ shooting to 30%.

Our guys took care of business in the 2nd half and we got the win by an 81-69 score. So our fears about a letdown by our players were unrealized. But Coach Aura seemed to be on cruise-control at times.

Leading us in scoring was C Ben Schau with 16 points and he also had 8 boards. SG Corey Graham had 13 points, SF Maynard Gardner dropped in 12 points, and C Tim Cotton scored 10.

[PointGuard]

Fred Aura

When we returned to Boston, I sat down with Janeka and told her about the police interview of me a few days ago. She listened to my entire recollection of the interview without saying a single word. It was a rather eerie silence since I had expected her to ask a bunch of questions as I went through the questioning and my responses. When I was finished she remained silent. I guess she was letting it all settle in. Finally I asked if she had any questions. She said, “Fred, what the hell is this all about? Why really are the police continuing to their interest in YOU?” I could only say I just didn’t know. She then said, “I’m not understanding the police finding your things in her home. How can that be when you said you’ve never been there? Your hat is one thing, but a cup with your fingerprints on it? What went on, Fred?” I responded, “Janeka, I just don’t know. You have my word that I never was there.” “Fred, this is bad. Real bad. You need to get this resolved. Maybe your attorney needs to get a private detective checking into this. Otherwise this is going to get out and it’s going to affect our family. And people are going to believe the worst,” said Janeka. I agreed with her and said I’d continue pressing Shane to get to the bottom of this. “This is making me sick to my stomach, Fred. I just don’t understand what’s happening,” Janeka continued. I told her that makes two of us and that I realized this was tearing her up and I was sorry she was being put through it, particularly since her mother’s cancer had recurred. I said maybe it would be best if I took a leave of absence from the team so I could be more supportive. She said, “No! This is a critical part of the season. You need to be with your team. And if you were to leave, the police and the press would think that maybe you do have something to hide and are avoiding them. I’ll continue to help my mom and dad.”

[PointGuard]

FINAL ACC STANDINGS

Boston College…17-3
Notre Dame…15-5
Pittsburgh…13-7
Clemson…12-8
Duke…12-8
Georgia Tech…11-9
North Carolina…11-9
No. Carolina St…10-10
Virginia…10-10
Florida St…9-11
Miami (FL)…8-12…
Virginia…8-12 …15-16
Wake Forest…6-14
Louisville…4-16
Syracuse…4-16
Omari Aura

[PointGuard]

Omari Aura

In Georgetown’s final game of the regular season, my younger brother Malik had a really good game. He played 18 minutes and scored 10 points and had 6 boards, 2 assists, 2 steals and a block. I called him to congratulate him. He was more positive that he’s been at any point the past 4 months. Georgetown finished with a 22-9 record and is ranked #14 in the polls.

My team, Providence, has a 19-12 record. Our Big East record was just 10-10, good enough for 5th place in the 11 team conference. But we need to do well in the conference tourney to guarantee a place in the NCAA Tournament. I went down hard in our final conference game against UCONN and sustained a concussion. I’m hoping the team doctors will let me play in the conference tournament. Our starting SG James Young has a strained hamstring and may not play or at least will be limited. We really need to be at full strength, and I was the team’s second highest scorer and top rebounder and shot blocker.

[PointGuard]

ACC Conference Tournament

Day 1

#10 seed Florida State—73, #15 seed Syracuse—41

#11 seed Virginia Tech—79, #14 seed Louisville—61

#13 seed Wake Forest—75, #12 seed Miami (FL)—63