10 I The Blue Banner I 3.28.2012
Featured Bulldog
Devon Cavanaugh
Standout play: Ca
vanaugh defeated her op
ponent Kelsey Copeland
from King College in a clean
sweep, 6-0,6-0.
Hometown:
Tallahassee, Fla.
Class: Senior
Q: How long have you
been playing tennis?
A: I have played competi
tive tennis since I was 14
years old.
Q: What’s your major?
A: Psychology
Q: What do you plan on
doing after college?
A: I was recently admitted
into the University of Penn
sylvania for graduate school
so I will be spending my next
two years in Philadelphia.
Q: Who has been an inspi
ration for you in your life?
A: My parents have defi
nitely had a huge impact on
the person I have become;
they continue to Inspire me
daily. My college coaches,
Lise Gregory and Tom Hand
have inspired me to be a
more competitive person and
have taught me many valu
able life lessons over the past
four years.
Q: What is your favorite
thing about UNCA?
A: My favorite thing about
UNCA is seeing familiar
faces everyday, and form
ing strong relationships with
people in the athletic depart
ment, teachers, and members
of the bulldog community.
Photo by Dustin Stuart- Photography Editor
The UNC Asheville basketball team lines up in the Justice Center before a game against Coastal Carolina on Jan. 20,2011.
History of the Justice Center revealed in new book
Randal Walton
rwalton@unca.edu - Staff Writer
The Justice Center shines in
the spotlight as Martin Nich
olson’s new book. Justice for
All! The History of the Justice
Center becomes the first book
of its kind to chronicle the his
tory of the 49-year-old building
and the people close to it.
“There is no competition;
this is the only book ever
written about the Justice Cen
ter,” said Nicholson, who also
serves as the Bulldog’s official
scorer. “Dr. (William) High-
smith wrote a book on the his
tory of UNC Asheville when
he was the president. There has
been nothing written about the
Justice Center, so it’s pretty
unique.” Highsmith was the
first president of UNCA.
Although the book centers
on the Justice Center, it was not
his original focus, he said.
“I came to the university’s
athletics department with an
idea to write a book on the bas
ketball team. I wanted to follow
them around last year, do a be
hind the scenes book explain
ing how they go about doing
everything for the season,” said
the blog sports writer.
The athletics department of
fered him another option: to
write a book on the Justice
Center, Nicholson said.
“It’s hard to write about a
building, per say,” he said.
The 2010-11 season marked
the last season of nien’s basket
ball played at the Justice Cen
ter, which led to a desire for a
collection of the building’s his
tory, said Mike Gore, the as
sociate athletics director for
external affairs.
“We wanted to do some re
search to see what happened
over the years,” Gore said. “We
thought it’d be an interesting
book and a fun thing to look
back at.”
Nicholson’s book compiles
an extensive history of the Jus
tice Center from its opening
in 1963 to its closing in 2011,
Nicholson said. Also, it offers
anecdotes from former players,
coaches and fans, which reveal
interesting and playful aspects
of the Justice Center.
“I got a lot of good sto
ries from the players and the
coaches. It was kind of fun to
hear some of their stories,” the
59-year-old said. “One girl,
Sheila Ford, who was the best
player on the championship
team, told me her most memo
rable moment didn’t happen on
the basketball court. They had
their picture taken on the roof.
There were a lot of things like
that that people don’t know
about.”
Other things most people
do not know includes some
famous visitors to the Justice
Center, he said.
“I talked about some of the
historical things that happened
there and some of the historical
people that played or practiced
there. Michael Jordan, for one.
He came over and practiced
there,” Nicholson said. “Of
course, Roy Williams, because
he’s an Asheville person. The
Harlem Globetrotters played
there. We had the Czech Repub
lic team who came and played.
It was their Olympic team.”
The people associated with
the Justice Center and its lon
gevity stand as a testament to
the university. Gore said.
“People like to look back at
histories,” the Buffalo, N.Y.,
native said. “The Justice Center
has been around for 49 years.
We played over thousands of
games at the Justice Center.
It’s fun to go back at what hap
pened at those games over the
years.
The main event of those
games was winning, since the
Justice Center provided a tre
mendous home court advan
tage, Nicholson said.
“The men, their winning per
centage over 47 seasons was
over 700 percent. They won
seven out of 10 games there.
That’s pretty remarkable,” he
said. “And the women were
over 500. If you compare that
to their road record, that’s just
phenomenal.”
Basketball endurance re
mains a positive reflection on
the university, Nicholson said.
“It represents athletics events
here,” the Arden native said-
“It’s the main sport people
come to. We’re getting 2,000
a game here, now. It’s been
around since the school started,
that’s why it’s the main sport.”
Most of the campus’ popu
lation turns their eyes toward
basketball, which makes the
Justice Center important to
UNCA, Gore said.
“We played basketball iu
there for 50 years,” the 49-year-
old said. “It’s been around long
time. There’s been great deal of
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