The heaviness. The pain that comes with a cruel twist. The tossing and turning with regret. Chico State's men's basketball players and coaches would not be experiencing any of it without the years of effort, the magic they made together, and their audacity to dream bigger than any Chico State men's basketball team before them ever truly did.
 
The Wildcats lost to Augusta 81-69 in overtime in the Elite Eight Tuesday night at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. It was a game they had a great opportunity to win, leading by six mid-way through the second half, by two with 69 seconds to play, and then getting the ball in a tie game with a chance to win with 19 seconds remaining.
 
Instead, a contested Colby Orr 3-pointer and desperation Malik Duffy put-back attempt were missed. Overtime was all Augusta. 
 
In the postgame press conference, Wildcats Head Coach Greg Clink expressed regret about the final play of regulation in his opening statement.
 
"I wasn't real pleased with what play I chose to run," he said. "So, I'll be thinking about that one."
 
It was the kind of integrity and accountability that he expects from his players. Traits like that helped the Wildcats make the Elite Eight for the third time in the last seven full seasons. And in the Elite Eight, pain is the destiny that awaits all but one contender.
 
But as the pain wains, the pride rises. And the 2021-22 Wildcats have a ton to be proud of. They finished 22-5 after nearly a full year without practice and propelled the program another step forward. And they took an Augusta team riding a 17-game win streak to the brink.
 
"We didn't shoot the ball well, but we did some things, some gritty things, some competitive things to stay in the game and give ourselves a chance to win it in regulation," Clink said. "So, I'm just proud of the group and how much belief they have. Not just this game but the whole season.
 
"It's been a tremendous group to coach. I don't know if I'll go through my career and coach a group this special again, but I hope I do because it was one of the most enjoyable experiences of my life."
 
This marks the end of the collegiate playing careers of five Wildcats: Duffy, Orr, Isaiah Brooks, Kevin Warren, and Joshua Curls. However, they'll forever be revered by the Wildcat Family for sticking it out for a full season when the California Collegiate Athletic Association announced the cancelation of the 2021-22 campaign after already experiencing the cancelation of the 2020 NCAA Championship Tournament on the eve of the first round.
 
Duffy—the program's first ever Regional Player of the Year, fourth All-American, and sixth Conference Player of the Year—finishes as one of three Wildcats ever with career totals eclipsing 1,100 points and 600 rebounds. A three-time All-CCAA selection, Brooks is the fifth player in program history to dish out 300-plus assists. Warren is the program's first ever CCAA Scholar Athlete of the Year and a CoSIDA Academic All-District selection. All five have cumulative GPAs of 3.0 or better and either graduated or will graduate this spring. 
 
Clink spoke highly of each of them.
 
"These five seniors are as good of people as you could ever want to be around. They are the epitome of what it means to be a student-athlete. All of them excel in the classroom... They are high character people with great hearts. Selfless. I can go on and on and on about just what a tremendous group they were. Their leadership was great… You've got Josh Curls that didn't play very much but was the most positive and selfless guy maybe that I've ever coached. Colby Orr — certain nights he just put us on his back. Just the completive level that he had. To do that coming off the bench. He just bought into his role and never complained about anything. Isaiah Brooks and just how much leadership he gave us throughout the year and just how much he pushed all the guys to be great. Kevin Warren — I keep saying the epitome of a student-athlete. This is a guy who is a 3.9 grad student and great player. And then Malik Duffy: I mean just a tremendous human being, player, student. 
 
"We've had a lot of great senior classes. When it comes to a group of guys that are the epitome of high-character people we want to be around. We built this program on recruiting really good players that are great people and this senior class exemplifies that perfectly."
 
Duffy, who finished with a team-high 23 points after being named All-America Tuesday morning, described his experience as without regrets.
 
"It's been unforgettable. Coach Clink's going to be a lifelong friend of mine. More than a friend: A mentor. I'm just super excited that I had the opportunity to come back and play for him and the team. It's something I'll never forget, and I'll cherish for the rest of my life."
 
That mentorship is already rubbing off. Duffy sounded like a man who sees the big picture when describing his message to his teammates in the locker room. 
 
"The first thing I told them was I love them no matter what," he said. "Lifelong friends. We're going to communicate and be in touch the rest of our lives. And I'm excited for that."