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Big Red Hero
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
By: Anne Ju, Cornell Chronicle
With a barely perceptible limp, Khaliq Gant walked to center court of Newman
Arena on basketball's senior night, March 7, to be honored with other graduating
teammates.
He wished he could hear the announcer, but the audience had drowned the voice
out. Above him a banner read, "KHALIQ HERO FOR ALL TIME."
Gant has not worn a basketball uniform since a career-ending spinal cord injury
in January 2006. But he's been part of a team that went from just one winning
season in nine years to winning Ivy League championships.
"It's bittersweet," said Gant, a communication major. "Bitter
in the fact that obviously I want to be playing, and I feel I could have made
an impact playing with these guys. At the same time, I wouldn't be here now
if I wasn't injured."
Gant was eligible to graduate this past fall, but he decided to stick around
this year for one more basketball season, his fifth. He is now traveling with
the team as they face the University of Missouri in the first round of the NCAA
tournament in Boise, Idaho.
"It's hard to see him leave our program," said head coach Steve Donahue.
"I'm so happy things have turned out the way they did, but if I put myself
back in that situation and all that he went through, it's difficult."
To read Anne Ju's story on Cornell senior Khaliq Gant, plase click here.
