From the Sports Editor

Saturday at 4 p.m. the University of Northern Iowa men's basketball team will host the No. 12-ranked Creighton University Bluejays and Panther Nation's most hated family, the McDermotts. Greg McDermott has been scorned by Panther fans since he left his alma mater, UNI, for the head coaching job at Iowa State University back in 2006. However, those feelings of anger were minor in comparison to what many UNI fans feel now.

Two years ago Greg's son, Doug, committed to play basketball at UNI for long-time family friend, Ben Jacobson. Panther fans were ecstatic because Doug was putting up some fantastic numbers at Ames High School alongside the nation's top recruit, Harrison Barnes.

However, in April of 2010, Greg left Iowa State for the head coaching job at Creighton, one of UNI's Missouri Valley Conference rivals. And who do you suppose his first recruit was? That's right, Doug McDermott. Doug was granted a release from his letter of intent with UNI and immediately signed with the Bluejays, causing Panther basketball fans everywhere to slip into a mild depression despite UNI playing in the Sweet 16 just weeks earlier. I was one of those fans.

After Doug backed out of his commitment to UNI I wrote a nasty opinion column in the Northern Iowan ripping Doug and his father. As a die-hard Panther fan, I was angry and heartbroken. With McDermott committed to UNI, it seemed as though the Panthers could sustain their recent dominance in the MVC. Since that time however, the Bluejays have turned into a national power and Doug McDermott looks to be a lock for first-team All-American and possibly the National Player of the Year in college basketball.

While I still feel the same anger and heartbreak that I did nearly two years ago, I feel that UNI fans just need to move past this incident. Three things are obvious: Doug McDermott has been better than nearly everyone expected, he's not in a Panther uniform and that's not going to change.

We can't change the past, so we might as well suck it up, move on, and spend our time and energy on Saturday afternoon cheering on the other 16 student-athletes who honored their commitment to Ben Jacobson, instead of booing the one who did not.