Air Force Academy – Matt McCraw can’t pull rank, but he is doing most of the talking right now when he and roommate Chris Sutton, a senior cornerback and a captain on the Falcons’ football team, take time out from studies to talk sports.
McCraw and the AFA basketball team (6-1) play Wake Forest (5-0) at 7:30 tonight at the World Arena in Colorado Springs.
“I’ve been doing most of the talking recently because we played six games in nine days,” said McCraw, a senior guard.
The Falcons came through the busy stretch 5-1, but haven’t played in a week.
Wake Forest brings a rich basketball tradition to the Front Range while the Falcons are trying to build an impressive résumé to reach the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four seasons.
AFA coach Jeff Bzdelik said his team held up well through the grueling stretch, but without practice time the players got careless with fundamentals. He pointed to the first half of a 71-56 loss to Duke in Kansas City, Mo., as the only downside.
“Our play in the first half might have been my fault,” Bzdelik said. “I think I have a tendency to build up an opponent too much and we over prepare. I’m trying to adjust that.”
While the basketball season is taking off, the football Falcons (4-7, 3-4 Mountain West Conference) finish Saturday at Texas Christian (9-2, 5-2).
“Getting away from football is going to be hard, but I have a couple of practices and a game and I have to live it out,” Sutton said. “I have mixed emotions. I wish we could have ended up with a better season. I still have TCU on my mind. I love playing, but there’s also a time for me to move on.”
Sutton wishes he had more to say in his discussions with McCraw. But being from Longview, Texas, he’s getting a chance to go “home” for his final game.
“There will be a lot of family and friends who will be coming to the game,” Sutton said. “I want to play well and go out on a winning note. I try not to look back. If I could change it, I’d change it.”
After football, Sutton will focus on his classroom work and point toward Feb. 20, when he learns whether his next assignment is pilot training in Wichita Falls, Texas, where he hopes to become a fighter pilot.
“The football team hasn’t been getting that many wins lately,” McCraw said. “I try to keep (Sutton) motivated because he’s the captain of the team. He does the same thing for me after we’ve had a hard practice or a disappointing game. We’ll take 10- minute breaks some time while we’re doing our classwork. It eases the mood.”
Footnotes
AFA football coach Fisher DeBerry was direct in saying that he wouldn’t discuss his situation in terms of coming back for a 24th season. “The only thing I’m focusing on is trying to help us win a football game,” DeBerry said after the Falcons’ practice Tuesday. … The Falcons will be short some players Saturday against TCU. Senior linebacker Joey Keller and junior strong safety Julian Madrid aren’t expected to play. Austin Randle, a junior, will start at linebacker and sophomores Aaron Kirchoff and Hunter Altman are listed as co-starters at strong safety.
