Ferrier limps on floor to start final game of college basketball career

While he seemed unable to play in the final game of his collegiate basketball career due to a sprained ankle, senior Colin Ferrier nonetheless was honored by the coaching staff by starting Chapman’s Feb. 25 game against Claremont McKenna College before being immediately substituted. MIA FORTUNADO photo editor

At 3:49 p.m., on the final day of his basketball career, Colin Ferrier sent a text. His ankle was feeling decent, but not in perfect condition. He was using crutches and a walking boot after a sprain he’d suffered in a game three days earlier. After treatment earlier in the day, the senior hoped to walk onto the floor of the Harold Hutton Sports Center one last time with his teammates. So, about three hours before the start of the Panthers’ final game of the 2020 season Feb. 25 against Claremont McKenna College, Ferrier sent a text to assistant coaches Dan Krikorian and Mike Molina. 

“So I think I want to try and suit up tonight,” it read. 

Krikorian knew Ferrier was “a tough kid.”

“(Ferrier) wanted to try to figure out how to get out there, at least for the tip,” Krikorian said. “As a staff, we thought it was a way to honor him and have his last moment in a Panther uniform be something special.”

On Feb. 22, against the California Institute of Technology, Ferrier rolled his ankle four minutes into the second to last game of his senior season. That injury would rob him of the chance to play a final game in front of friends and family, rob him of the chance to relish in his final moments of a sport he’d been playing since he was six years old.

“The realization that was the last game I was ever going to play hit me pretty hard,” Ferrier said. “A lot of emotions hit me during that day.” 

When 7 p.m. on Feb. 25 rolled around, after he and his family were presented with an encased basketball at midcourt, Ferrier sat on the end of the bench wearing his walking boot. His other teammates assembled in their traditional tunnel formation on the court, giving high fives to a starting lineup that, for only the fourth time in his Chapman career, wouldn’t be featuring Ferrier.

That’s what it seemed like. Then he unstrapped the boot. 

This was not the climax of an emotional sports drama. This was real life. There was Ferrier shuffling through the tunnel to greet his teammates with high fives before assuming his position at midcourt for the jump ball. As the referee blew his whistle and tossed the ball in the air, Claremont recovered the ball and the Panthers immediately committed a foul. Ferrier limped back to the bench with a small smile, shaking his head a few times in disbelief as a home crowd of approximately 150 gave him a standing ovation. 

When asked his thoughts on the moment having a movie-like quality, Krikorian said he thought there were many in the gym who felt that way. 

“I’d be lying if I wasn’t a little bit emotional about it, when he was limping off the floor,” Krikorian said. 

At halftime, when asked about this being her son’s final game, Ferrier’s mother Denise Ferrier’s eyes welled up with tears. She articulated her emotion through a Facebook post after the game, writing, “As a parent it is hard to see your kids have to work through [sic] disappointment. I guess that is a part of life. Nonetheless, we are super proud of his journey. What a ride it has been!”

After receiving Ferrier’s text asking to step foot on his home floor one last time, even if just for a few seconds, Krikorian and Molina relayed the information to head coach Mike Bokosky. Bokosky then informed the referees and Claremont’s coaches that he would start Ferrier, but then instruct his players to commit a foul so he could substitute Ferrier out of the game. Everyone involved respected his wish. 

“It shows how great sports and basketball are in general. Even though you’re competitors and you’re trying to beat the other guy, you always have that mutual respect for each other,” Ferrier said. “It’s  like the golden rule — treat others how you want to be treated.” 

After the game, an 73-63 loss to Claremont, Bokosky gave a speech in the Panther locker room. Part of the speech was dedicated to Ferrier, to whom the coach gave the exact same compliment he’d told me about over a year ago. 

“(Bokosky) said, ‘All I have is two daughters, but if I had a son, I’d want him to be like you,’” Ferrier said. “I was told later by Brandon Chan that he’s actually never really done something like that in the past to a player, which was really cool to hear. He was talking to me about my mentality, how I have that never-quit will within me, and that he was always very happy to coach me and he was proud of me.” 

Ferrier was angry on Feb. 22. But three days later, after the chance to take the floor one last time even for the briefest of moments, his attitude improved. 

“It was a lot of joy and happiness and the realization that it’s all coming to an end, but the happiness that I’m entering into a new chapter in my life,” Ferrier said. “I’m turning the page.”