It was the usual questions from the usual suspects.

Which included a query about how long it had been since former Marshall basketball star Mike D'Antoni had been in Huntington.

"It's been a while since I've been back," replied D'Antoni, who returned to speak at the Big Green Scholarship Foundation Dinner recently.

"I'm getting old, so I don't remember the last time. Which means it probably has been a while.

"We had a game (NBA exhibition involving his Kansas City Kings) here (at Memorial Field House) in the '80s.After that, I got back a couple times when I was doing television. ... to watch a game or two.

"So, it's been a while. ... a few years since I've been back."

Then, the topic changed to Marshall. D'Antoni was asked if he'd had a chance to look around campus.

"Just barely as we were coming through," he answered. "And I didn't know the place. Nothing is there.

"But it looked great. ... what I saw. That's one reason, Laurel, my wife, and Michael (their son). ... at first, they weren't coming down because he's got school.

"But the more we thought about it, we said, 'Hey, let's go.' We took Michael out of school. We kind of wanted to show him around. He's never been here.

"So, we were looking forward to that. And for myself. ... just to see what's out there."

That's when it happened.

Since D'Antoni was reminiscing anyway and since we're the same age and since we attended Marshall together and since I lived in South Hall and knew exactly which dormitory Mike had spent four years in. ... well, I just couldn't resist.

"Hodges (Hall) is still there," I informed D'Antoni with a sly smile.

"Is it really?" he said with a big grin. "We didn't tear it down?"

Then, someone said Hodges Hall was "on the list" to be razed.

"It should be," said D'Antoni with mock emphasis. "It was on the list in '72. That's great. But Hodges was better for us than when my brother (Danny) was here.

"I would come down on weekends. Ohmigosh, it was condemned then. But I think they fixed it up for us.

"So, it really wasn't on the list."

Except one.

Hodges definitely was on D'Antoni's list of "must-see" sights to show his wife and son while they visited Huntington and Marshall.

And rightfully so.

I know made a point of showing my wife the exact window on the sixth floor of South Hall (now renamed Holderby) from where my roommate (a catcher on Marshall's baseball team) used to throw tomatoes at passing vehicles on Fifth Avenue.

Ah, the good ol' days.

What's a homecoming without reliving some of those "Animal House" type memories and returning to the scene of the crimes?

Just ask Mike D'Antoni.

Oops.

I committed an unpardonable mistake in Sunday's column, mixing Marshall's 1996 football season with the '99 campaign.

The Herd went 15-0 in '96, winning the NCAA Division I-AA national championship. Then, in 1999, Marshall was 13-0, ranked in the Top 10 and destroyed Brigham Young, 21-3, in the Motor City Bowl.

And never the twain shall meet.

Unfortunately, I turned them into Siamese seasons on Sunday. I would like to blame it on a dyslexic moment with the "9" and "6," but that would be an excuse.

And I don't make any.

I screwed up. Flog me with a 2008 Herd football media guide.

My apologies, folks.

Chuck Landon is a sports columnist for The Herald-Dispatch. Call him at 526-2827. E-mail him at clandon@herald-dispatch.com.

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