A combined 3,300 fans decked in white Brandeis shirts descended upon Red Auerbach Arena to watch the men's basketball team's senior core dispose of Lasell College and Bowdoin College in the opening rounds of this season's NCAA tournament. The scene was a far cry from the seniors' rookie season, when about the same number of fans represented the team's total attendance for all of Brandeis' home games.

"You can win a lot of games, but if you don't have someone to share it with, someone to come back to campus and talk about the game with, it's not as fun," Stephen Hill '08 said.

A week later, with the final minute of play ticking away in the men's basketball team's 65-55 NCAA Tournament Round of Eight loss to Amherst College March 15, Brandeis fans' chants of "Thank You Seniors" echoed throughout Memorial Hall in Plattsburgh, N.Y.

As the final buzzer sounded, the playing careers of head coach Brian Meehan's first recruiting class had come to an end; this would be the final time Joe Coppens '08, Kwame Graves-Fulgham '08, Florian Rexhepi '08, John Saucier '08 and Hill would don Brandeis jerseys.

"The end comes so quick; you lose, and you're done. As time goes on and [the seniors] reflect back on what they've accomplished, they'll be pretty happy with how everything turned out," Meehan said.

Just five years ago, the very idea that the team would be playing for a berth in the Division III Final Four with 300 students making a near-five-hour trek from Waltham to the State University of New York at Plattsburgh to cheer on the team would have been unthinkable.

The Judges were once the laughingstocks of the University Athletic Association. After former National Basketball Association head coach Chris Ford departed following the 2002 to 2003 season, the school turned to Meehan to resurrect its men's basketball program. At the time, Meehan had the highest winning percentage among active Division III men's college basketball coaches after seven successful seasons at Salem State University.

"There wasn't a lot of talent; [the program] was kind of disorganized, to say the least," Meehan said.

After posting a 7-18 mark with the remnants of the Ford roster in the 2003 to 2004 season, Meehan sought a recruiting class that would be bold enough to turn down offers from more distinguished programs.

The search resulted in the addition of the five departing seniors, as well as two-time all-UAA performer Steve DeLuca '08, who took a medical red-shirt and will return next year after missing nearly the entire season with back and hamstring injuries.

"All these guys didn't want to go someplace that was already established, they wanted to create something for themselves," Coppens said. "[We] wanted to be the group that put Brandeis on the map."

Still, the team improved gradually, with the Judges posting back-to-back 14-11 records in the first two seasons with their new-look roster.

"We knew we were good, but I thought we were going to do better than we did my sophomore year. I guess we had some more growing up to do," Hill said.

The program finally arrived on the national stage in Meehan's recruits' junior campaign. After a 3-5 start in UAA play, the team won its last six games to finish 9-5 in the conference and 19-6 overall, earning its first birth in the NCAA tournament in 29 years. Brandeis upset Trinity College 77-70 in overtime in the first round behind DeLuca's 24 points, but it was Coppens' three-pointer with 27 seconds left that tied the score at 56 and sent the game into overtime, earning Coppens his reputation as a clutch performer.

"I'm 100 percent comfortable [taking the last shot]. As a player and a competitor, you want the ball in your hands when everything's on the line. And if you don't, you shouldn't be playing the game," Coppens said.

Brandeis narrowly fell to Rhode Island College 70-67 in the second round the next night.

After experiencing a taste of tournament play, the team's seniors were ready to shoot for the Final Four in their last season at Brandeis. With a No. 12 preseason ranking in the D3hoops Top 25 Poll, expectations heading into the season had never been higher.

However, the team faced considerable adversity early on, as DeLuca's injuries forced him to miss all but 27 minutes this season.

After playing for three years with virtually the same rotation, the remaining seniors were forced to adapt to winning without arguably their most gifted player.

"It was really tough for me, because somehow I felt like I let [the seniors] down because I was hurt," DeLuca said.

Graves-Fulgham said DeLuca was still a presence on the team even while he was not playing, offering advice to players during practices and games. Saucier, who was hampered by several foot and knee injuries of his own during his career, understood DeLuca's plight.

"[DeLuca's] done a good job keeping his head up and working hard and knowing there's light at the end of the tunnel," he said.

The team never used DeLuca's absence as an excuse, and even without its star player, the remaining seniors contributed to the most successful season in school history.

Coppens emerged as a first-team all-UAA and D3hoops.com fourth team all-American performer, while Graves-Fulgham and Hill were named as honorable mention all-UAA performers.

The Judges finished 23-6, defeating Division III national champion Washington University in St. Louis and runner-up Amherst College at different points in the regular season before bowing out to Amherst in the NCAA Tournament Round of Eight.

"[The loss] is always going to remain negative-you can't erase that, but what you can do is think of all the good stuff that has happened during [the last four years]," Rexhepi said. "Seeing everyone happy after a win and having a good time [with teammates on and off the court]-these are things that will stay with me and I'm sure will stay with all of the players."

Since they first met during the initial preseason pick-up games in September of their rookie seasons, the players have bonded over the last four years.

While the group has enjoyed pasta dinners at Hill's nearby Brighton, Mass. home or experienced Mardi Gras festivities in St. Louis, the highlight of its off-court adventures came during Brandeis' 10-day tour of Italy this past summer.

"It was like a weeklong European slumber party," Coppens said. "It's something that really grew us closer together as a group."

While the team fell short of its ultimate goal of making it to the Final Four, Meehan undoubtedly struck gold with his first recruiting class at Brandeis.

"When we came here we were looking for guys who weren't afraid to become the tradition ... These guys liked that idea, they liked the challenge, they liked the fact that everything was going to be on their shoulders. They embraced it and ran with it-and achieved it. What more can you ask for?" Meehan said. "They owe us nothing; they've left it all on that court for us.