More than 1,000 career points and it’s still hard to get the girl.

A fantastic achievement, that point total was. But beyond the numbers, how does Troy Hailey define his time as a Bearcat?

In a candid interview conducted after the Bearcats’ emotional victory on Senior Night last Thursday, Hailey sized up his time in the green and black. He covered everything from his arrival from an auto parts store to his departure as the program’s all-time leading scorer. He talks about the ups and downs, his past and his future. He looks back on his time in Vestal, talking about topics both on and off the court.

THE BEST

Pipe Dream: What was the best moment of your time in a Binghamton uniform?

Troy Hailey: It has to be just hangin’ with the fellas. Seriously. I mean, the basketball was good; the wins, the losses, I mean, I take it all in. But just playin’ with the boys; in snowstorms, on the road, in the hotel ‘ there’s nothing to do. But you hang out with these guys, so ultimately they become your brothers. It’s basically just the 12 guys on the team man. Love ’em to death.

THE WORST

PD: What was the worst?

TH: Fracturing my foot, fracturing my other foot, breaking my finger ‘ I mean, it really slowed my career down. I mean, that really hit hard. Once I broke my foot I wasn’t able to do the moves that I used to do, I lost two steps, everything was so much harder; it was a real frustrating time when I broke my foot. It really was.

SAY WHAT?

PD: What’s one misconception that people have about you, basketball or otherwise?

TH: It’s basically like the whole athlete thing. It’s like, the girls don’t want you because they think you’re a player. So you have to try extra hard to get the girl you want. You know, it can be frustrating sometimes.

PD: Is that really true?

TH: Yeah, basically.

THERE’S A HERO ‘

PD: Who’s your hero?

TH: My hero ‘ People love to say political figures and other people, but I don’t really think so. I think it’s just everyday people who have always been there. My father’s always been there. All my uncles have always been there for me. I have a ton of older cousins, I lost one of my favorites a couple of years back, he died ‘ so I’m going to say basically my father, all my uncles and my older cousins.

PD: Who do you model your game after?

TH: When I was younger, I used to always try to have Tim Hardaway’s cross over, the Ray Allen jump shot, the Steve Francis bounce and the quickness of Stephon Marbury when he’d blow by you ‘ I remember, I’d be outside workin’ on all the moves. But right now, I don’t think I model my game after anybody, I mean, with the foot problems, the back problems, everything’s a step slower. So if anything I’m going to say Damon Jones right now.

PD: Who on the team were you closest with?

TH: I’m going to say Gio. Gio and I came in in the same season; we’ve been roommates ever since. And Gio, his folks are in D.C. It’s Gio without a doubt.

PD: What’s your relationship like with Al Walker?

TH: It’s off the wall. We’ve bumped heads at times; sometimes we talk all the time, other times we don’t talk at all. That was mostly in the past. He counseled me to show some senior leadership as far as being vocal and leading the way. But now it’s good.

We’re not in the position we’d rather be, but [given how the season unfolded] we’re in the position we want to be, out of the play-in game.

Al counts on me a lot. He wants me to be a leader as far as me being one of the oldest, one of the strongest mentally, just stepping up.

PD: Is this what you expected?

TH: You always look back, you know, say if I had made this shot, or did this move, we’d have won this game. But you’ve got to take it all in. Take the good along with the bad.

When I look back on it, I’m sure as hell glad I went to college. Not really doing school work but the overall ride. I wanted to have a good time here.

PD: What’s next for you?

TH: The plan. This is the plan. The plan is to keep playing basketball as long as possible. That’s the plan, hopefully overseas, as long as I keep playing ball. I have a degree ‘ I can always fall back on that. But my first passion is ball.

If I can’t play ball ever again, I don’t know what I’ll do ‘ When it’s time to work, I’ll be there.

PD: One word to describe your time here.

TH: Unbelievable.

Surreal.

It really is a dream. To tell you the truth, I didn’t think I was coming to college. After high school I went straight to work. I wasn’t working out anymore, I wasn’t playing basketball.

PD: What would you be doing if you hadn’t come to Binghamton.

TH: I’d still be working ‘ I was working at Rick’s Auto Parts. I was working long hours man, seven days a week. Honestly I’m glad that was it.

PD: Any chance your hair is going to get cut?

TH: YEAH. I’m cutting it. Mark my words. Before graduation time, this boy will have a skin head.

I told my mother when I graduate college I’m cutting my hair. I was supposed to do it last year.

Guess Steve Proctor better break out the Kleenex.

After the interview was over, Hailey jogged away from the scorer’s table toward the locker room to change out of his home Bearcat uniform one last time. As he headed for the corner, the words ‘Strictly Business’ appeared written across the back of his black warm-up jersey, his hair obscuring the words a bit, at least for now.

On his way out, Dwayne Jackson yelled down to his teammate from the bleachers, which had been filled with the BU Zoo less than an hour before.

Jackson screamed down, ‘Yo, man, you comin’?’

Troy replied, saying, ‘Yeah, I’ll be there in a little bit.’

Wherever ‘there’ was, it meant just a little more time with the brotherhood.