Blood Brothers

The defensive shell drill was three-on-three instead of four-on-four, and rebounding drills were only two-on-two instead of three-on-three. Even though he was shorthanded, Duquesne basketball coach Ron Everhart was adamant about getting his team back on the court as soon as possible after five players were shot leaving a campus dance on Sept. 17. "The stress has been overwhelming," says Everhart, who makes several trips to the hospital each day to visit Sam Ashaolu, the one player who remains there. "I think right now it's important for our guys to get back to a routine."

One of the wounded players, Aaron Jackson, who was shot in the wrist, has already begun practicing. And two others, Kojo Mensah (arm and shoulder) and Shawn James (foot), are back watching practice and egging on their teammates during wind sprints. Last Friday, Stuard Baldonado, who was shot in the arm and back, left the hospital in a wheelchair; only Ashaolu, a cousin of former NBA star Hakeem Olajuwon, still needs 24-hour supervision. Ashaolu, who was shot twice in the head, has begun speaking, and his condition was upgraded from critical to serious on Friday. (Two suspects, who do not go to the school, have been arrested and charged with five counts of aggravated assault. A female Duquesne student who is accused of helping the men get into the party, even though she knew they were armed, was charged with reckless endangerment and criminal conspiracy.)

For the Dukes, a team that hired a new coach and has only two returning players since going 3--24 last year, the tragedy has brought renewed focus on the court and a feeling of unity off it. Everhart says that although he has only 11 players to use in drills, "ironically, practice is more intense than before." On Sept. 20, at the first team meeting since the shooting, "the morale went through the roof," he says, when Mensah and James walked in. "You could see guys right away smiling and sitting up straight." Kieron Achara, one of the returning players, says that the shooting reminded him of what a privilege it is to play basketball, and he hopes a heightened sense of purpose will color the season. "I have teammates who would love to be on the court doing the things I'm doing," Achara says. "So I'm doing it for them."

Still, the healing has just begun. Even though Achara wasn't hurt in the shooting, the junior forward from Scotland has been having trouble sleeping, and he's taking up professors on their offers of extra time to complete assignments. During one sleepless night last week, Achara called Jackson, the only other returning player. "Sometimes you just need to talk to someone," Achara says. "Anything to take our minds off what happened."