Way back before the Cougarwalk was even remotely a thing, the players literally just walked over from campus and headed into the locker room. My parents and grandparents had season tickets, starting in '83, but dad was Bishop and lived 6 hours away. This usually meant my grandparents would use the tickets. On this particular occasion, they took my brother and I down to a game and got there super early--so we could try to get autographs from the players. Grandpa liked to tell the story of sitting down in his seat (probably an hour and a half before kickoff) and being the only one in the stadium--it was quite a late arriving crowd back then. Again--a different time.

Anyhow, there was always a poster in the middle of the program. This particular week, it happened to be White, perched on the hood of a diesel truck. They may have personalized the plate to say "Leon," or "White" or something. Grandpa had told me that Leon was supposed to be a really nice guy. My brother and I positioned ourselves near the locker entrance and kinda just sat around hoping.

I cannot remember how many players may have come and gone beforehand, but sure enough, at some point, I saw Leon White approaching. I asked him for his autograph. Hopefully, I said "please." He knelt down, gave me a smile, and said "Sure" in the nicest way he could, then signed my poster (and that of little brother too), and was on his way.

I know we bumped into several players. Of them, I only remember that Robbie Bosco kinda ran in, and in hindsight, may have been late. As a starstruck kid (who was on a bit of a roll with players signing my poster), I asked him for his autograph anyway--which he hastily gave.

Anyhow, White was a terrific player. Think of a stronger Bryah Kehl--an all-time great, and already one of my very favorite Cougars ever at that age. This was only solidified by my brief interaction with him.