The Magazine's Anne Marie Cruz made it to Pitt's upset of Notre Dame at the Big East tournament in New York. Then she engineered a reunion.

Isaac Hawkins watched from the mouth of the tunnel. He leaned up on the security rail while his fellow Panthers milled about, antsy for the next tipoff. But Hawkins stood silently, inert as a half-eaten hotdog. No hint of his game-high 12 boards or Pitt's 66-54 upset of the 18th-ranked Irish.

He scanned the faces as Providence and Syracuse raced out toward the pom poms and war paint. A tap on the back for an assistant coach. A smile and "Good luck!" to Orangeman Damone Brown.

"We're here until 10 p.m.," Isaac said. "The city can wait until we win this thing. But I like the Garden. It's homey."

But home's a long way from here, isn't it?

"Yeah," Isaac said. "New Orleans."

Suddenly, something clicked. "You know Neil Reed, don't you?" I said, remembering the Nawlins connection.

"Neil Reed?" Isaac's face split into a wide smile. He was more excited about this than the upset. "Yeah, I know him! We played together at ABCD. He's here?" Yep. "Can you bring him down here?"

Never mind waiting on Notre Dame. I hurried back out through the cement maze beneath the luxury boxes and out to the Magazine seats

I snapped Neil out of his casual concentration. "Your boy Isaac wants to say hello."

We hustled through the crowd until we spotted the back of Hawkins' head.

"Isaac! Isaac!" He turned. Out came the helpless grin.

"Neil!" he yelled, unleashing a long-armed hug. "You like New York?"

"It's great," said Neil.

"It ain't like New Orleans," said Isaac.

"No," Neil said, laughing with recognition. "No, it's not."

The Louisiana boys talked and joked for a few minutes, still bound by countless camps and summer ball. Afterwards, they took their places on opposite ends of the arena, one with the players, the other with the press.

"It's been at least five years," said Neil, shaking his head. "When you're that far from home, any familiar face helps."

Anne Marie Cruz is a writer/reporter for ESPN The Magazine. E-mail her at anne.marie.cruz@espnmag.com.