When it was all over, after he tossed the ball upward in celebration and shared a short — yet triumphant — embrace with his teammates, Kent State senior Jimmy Hall navigated his way to the far end of the court, past a group of stunned Akron fans, and toward Quicken Loans Arena’s four-foot high hockey boards that served as the divider separating the court from the stands.
At the same time, Hall’s mother — wearing a white T-shirt that had “Hall, J.R.” printed across the back — left her seat in the third row, rushed to the boards and held her son while she repeated, “You’re a man.