‘Happy I was able to put the jersey on.’ Khalif Battle’s time at Gonzaga was short but meaningful

[ad_1]

WICHITA, Kan. – Sitting at a locker at Intrust Bank Arena, Gonzaga guard Khalif Battle held an iPhone in his right hand. Resting beneath the mobile device was an NCAA name placard taken from the news conference from which Battle had just returned.

Before long, the guard was stripping the walls of Gonzaga’s temporary locker room in Wichita. Granted permission by a team manager, who told GU players they could keep the locker room decor, Battle first detached a styrofoam Bulldogs head, then removed a velcro bracket and finally a March Madness logo.

“I’ve got to start grabbing some stuff because this is my last year,” Battle said. “That’s why it hurts so bad, but besides that I have no complaints.”

Khalif Battle was ripping everything off the wall in #Gonzaga’s locker room after tonight’s loss.

Battle: “I’ve got to start grabbing some more stuff because this is my last year. That’s why it’s hurts so bad, but besides that that I have no complaints.” pic.twitter.com/fVcVMvZJiT

— Theo Lawson (@TheoLawson_SR) March 23, 2025

Battle wasn’t short on mementos or memories when he left Gonzaga’s first- and second-round NCAA Tournament site, not regretting much other than the final outcome of a 81-76 loss to top-seeded Houston.

“You’ve got to give Houston a lot of credit,” Battle said. “They sped us up a little bit. Of course, I wish we could’ve had those first four minutes (back). But like I said, a lot of the players we didn’t expect to score stepped up big time and they had big games.”

The ball was in Battle’s hands as the game clock wound down at Intrust Bank Arena. With less than 10 seconds remaining, Battle curled around a screen set by forward Graham Ike, momentarily lost his handle and ran into a wall of white jerseys as he arrived in the left corner. Raising up for a 3-pointer, Battle was stuffed by Houston’s Ja’Vier Francis, effectively sealing the Cougars’ win.

One of the game’s lasting…

[ad_2]
Source link : http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2025/mar/29/happy-i-was-able-to-put-the-jersey-on-khalif-battl/

Author :

Publish date : 2025-03-30 02:05:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.