March 14, 2000 will forever be remembered and cherished by the Embry-Riddle men's basketball family. It is the date the Eagles claimed the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics National Championship with a 75-63 win over College of the Ozarks in Branson, Missouri. 
 
March 14, 2020 was supposed to be a date remembered and cherished by the Embry-Riddle men's basketball family. The 2019-20 edition of the Blue and Gold had a breakthrough season, qualifying for the NCAA II National Tournament for the first time since joining the NCAA ranks. ERAU was slated to take on Nova Southeastern in the first round of the NCAA South Regional, but then Covid-19 happened.
 
Coincidentally, Nova Southeastern was the last team to beat Embry-Riddle in the 1999-00 season, a 77-74 Shark win in the regular season finale. What transpired over the next eight games for Embry-Riddle was special, unique, and unforgettable.
 
The national title game victory was significant for so many reasons for Head Coach Steve Ridder and his Eagles. It was a statement for an athletic department that had only been around for a little over a decade. It signified the start of more than 15 years of conference and regional dominance and national prominence by the Blue and Gold athletic department. It was the first of 31 National Championships for Embry-Riddle Athletics.
 
Over the next few weeks, we'll be presenting 20 short essays on the 20^th anniversary of the Eagles' 2000 National Championship to spark some of those memories, and perhaps introduce others to some of the moments and experiences of that 1999-00 ERAU Men's Basketball team.
 
We hope you enjoy…