college marist

There was plenty of excitement on a special charter flight yesterday. The Marist College women’s basketball team traded the chill of Poughkeepsie for the sunny warmth of Baton Rouge, La. Tomorrow, the Red Foxes will attempt to make more history once more in the NCAA tournament.
Assistant coach Keila Whittington was excited for another reason — she was returning home.
“It’s great for me to go down because I get to visit with family and friends, and also get some great food,” said Whittington, in her first season on the Marist staff. “New Orleans has always been the most special place in my heart.”
Whittington grew up three hours north of New Orleans and graduated from Dillard University in the Big Easy. Although not much of a night-life person, she spent some time in the French Quarter, watching revelers and conventioneers from far and wide enjoy the city made famous by Mardi Gras and its unique Cajun cuisine.
“There’s the gumbo and shrimp po’boys and et touffet and shrimp Creole,” Whittington smiled, rolling off mouth-watering dishes made famous by chefs such as Paul Prudhomme and Emeril Lagasse. “My most favorite is a shrimp po’boy. It’s really like a Subway sub, a Quiznos sub. The authenticity comes from the French bread they use, and all the po’boys are overstuffed with whatever you want: the shrimp, the oysters, the catfish. It’s a lot of meat and fixins you want.”
The food is great, but it’s the people who make New Orleans special, Whittington says.
“I love the people because they are very welcoming and took me into their families, and now I have life-long fans,” she said.
That’s why Whittington was panicked when she watched Hurricane Katrina slam into New Orleans in September 2005. Whittington had visited the city just days earlier and stayed in the apartment her cousin was renting in advance of the new house she was closing on. The apartment filled to the ceiling with muddy, polluted waters and the flood stains in the new home reached four feet high. It took Whittington more than a week to track down her cousin and she was relieved to hear that her family was OK.

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