It's already been a long season for Southern Illinois. The Salukis are just 4-11, with only 3 of those wins coming against Division 1 competition. Head coach Barry Hinson also had a hilarious rant about his team's toughness, and, in much heavier news, lost a son-in-law late last month.
Last night the Salukis had some more team-wide problems. After SIU's game against Illinois State, the Salukis attempted to drive home on Interstate 57, but thanks to the winter storm of the century, they got stuck. There was some concern that they might not be able to get towed out, due to a policy from the Illinois DOT, but they made it after the tow ban was lifted.
SIU ended up sleeping in a church, while assistant coaches did manage to find a hotel room.
Of course, with the weather forecast as it was, why did the Salukis attempt to brave the snow in the first place, when classes don't begin again for another week?
“Quite frankly the only reason we came home, we called before to make sure 57 was going to be open and they said 57 was going to be open the entire way,” Hinson said. “That’s why we we went ahead and came home, we felt like on the interstate would be OK. What happened it wasn’t so much the bad roads but visibility of the snow and the wind.”
Yikes. As someone who lives in the midwest, SIU is lucky all they got from this adventure was a rough night and a funny story to tell to their grandkids.
