Editor's Note:  This is hopefully the first in a series of stories shared, by Gorillas to Gorillas, as we all embark upon this new "season" in our lives. These certainly are unprecedented times, for young and old alike. Our hope is for Gorilla student-athletes, past and present, coaches and members of Gorilla Nation to read this piece, awaken their Gorilla memories and then compose their own story to share with us. There is strength in numbers.
 
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I had this great idea:  we could all share our own thoughts and stories in this crazy time we've been thrust into. Get new, unique views through the eyes of a Gorilla – a couple new ones a week, perhaps, if everyone buys in. The Good Lord knows we all have time on our hands now, why let our minds wander other places? Share happy memories from Gorilla Nation or tell our stories for what we had hoped for the spring of 2020. Laugh, cry and heal together; draw strength from one another.
 
But then, I realized, all of this meant I would have to take the first crack at writing so we have a starting point; and certainly to let future writers veer off other directions from where I steer this. It's a little daunting, so please bear with me…
 
All of my adult life is wrapped into Pittsburg, Kansas, Pittsburg State University and being a Gorilla:  thirty years worth of it. (Yep, I'm getting old.)  I came here as a freshman in the Fall of 1990, graduated in May of 1994 and began working full-time in the Athletics Department immediately afterwards.
 
Sometimes I take for granted the thrilling events, amazing plays and impressive achievements I've seen on campus and across the MIAA as well as the wide range of people I've met and befriended along the way.
 
I've been to every Pitt State national championship football game in Florence, Alabama, all five of them. I watched Jerry Paul Boone make "The Stop" a yard outside the north end zone at Carnie Smith Stadium against North Dakota State in the 1992 playoffs; and, I witnessed first hand almost every single one of Chuck Broyles' and Tim Beck's 280 combined career coaching wins from 1990 to 2019.
 
The night Marc Eddington dropped 40 points on Northwest Missouri in 1996 to help launch Coach Gene Iba's era in men's basketball – I was up in Maryville, Mo., watching him pour them in. The next year, we made the Sweet 16 and two years later cut down the nets on our first MIAA title at John Lance Arena. Last month, I watched Coach Kim Anderson's Gorillas battle SO hard in two tremendous MIAA Tournament games. I'm excited for their path forward.
 
I witnessed Jenni Miller make more 3-pointers than any woman in the history of Division II women's basketball. Coaches Steve High and Lane Lord both blessed us with so many great teams and memories over the years. And, Amanda Davied hasn't missed a beat, either.
 
I watched the 1999 Gorilla baseball team claim the program's first MIAA title and ultimately finish a game away from reaching the DII World Series. For all the great games and road trips, the fishing trips with Coach Steve Bever and either Brad Buckley or Brad Horky to Farlington Lake and to Coach Beve's mother's farm pond may have topped them all.
 
I think both the 1993 and 1994 Pitt State softball teams could still win the MIAA today, and the conference is pretty darned good. The players who came back to see their teammate Kim Erickson go into the PSU Hall of Fame last October were vocal (loud) enough at the banquet I think THEY believed they could still win it!
 
I shake my head often thinking of all the eye popping individual performances we've seen from Gorilla track & field and cross country athletes over the years, not to mention the two recent team national championships! All the conference titles (too many to count); the time-honored tradition of excellence Coach Russ Jewett and his staff have carried on year-in and year-out. Simply amazing.
 
Even an avid Red Birds fan like me could appreciate the impact Dina Wathan had on Pitt State volleyball in the early 2000s. Man, did she elevate Coach Ibraheem Suberu's program! (I don't know why she liked me enough years later to personally get David Freese to sign one of his game bats for me, for my son, but bless her heart!) And, man, did Tommy Riggs and I like to pick on her teammate Gloria Ilariogun (she also worked in our office as an intern back in the day). The "Big Man Upstairs" broke the mold after he made both Gloria and Tommy, God rest his soul.
 
And so I think about all these things, and it strikes me:  what I am missing now? There were more great memories coming this spring. It's hard not to feel cheated. I know I'm not alone.
 
How highly would the track teams have placed? Who would have broken a record or won a coveted national title? I was looking forward to seeing the softball team make its home debut. Coach Ashley Balazs' team had played 28 games on the road to start the season and the next game would have been over on Rouse Street. The baseball team was starting to come into its own. Coach Bob Fornelli's boys looked poised to do great things. Spring football was just getting started and Coach Brian Wright and his new staff had the Gorillas looking sharp. I know Coach Jen Gomez and the volleyball team were eager to get back on the court, too.
 
And now we live with the word of the day:  quarantine.
 
Quarantine has created a whole new "season" for all of us. It has robbed us of so much. We turn, when we can, to seek out the blessings it has brought. And, we all wonder how long this season will last?
 
There's a passage from the Gospel of Thomas that says, "If you bring forth what is within you, what you bring forth will save you."
 
To me, those words ring true today, Gorillas. Bring forth what is within you. This season will pass as they always do. And our new seasons that are reborn will be glorious, and soon.
 
Dan Wilkes
 
Dan Wilkes is the Associate AD for Communications at Pitt State. He's a native of Neodesha, Kan., and he resides in Pittsburg with his wife, April, and children, Blake and Bailey.
 
 
Please share your own personal stories/thoughts via email to dwilkes@pittstate.edu. We ask that you limit these to 750 words or less. (PSU Athletics reserves the right to edit content for space and appropriateness. We cannot promise to publish every submission, but we will do our best.) Thanks Gorilla Nation!