Maxx Nakwaasah is a swingman for the still-winless Centenary Gentlemen and the junior politely tunes out the snarky, merciless comments hurled his way.
Fans already know the answer, but they ask anyway, as loudly as they can.
''Hey! What's y'alls record?''
Nakwaasah said the jeers routinely heard at road games don't bother him. Still, he remembers some of them, particularly the mocking queries such as, ''Are you guys ever going to win a game?''
Chances are, Centenary won't - at least not this season, which also happens to be the last for the Gents in Division I before they drop down to Division III. Following Tuesday night's 81-61 loss at home to Oral Roberts, Centenary fell to 0-28 and was the nation's lone winless team - in men's basketball, that is.
They can get empathy on campus from the Centenary's women's team - which is 0-22.
The women's team has three games remaining and if they lose them all they will become the third Centenary women's team not to win a game - the program went winless for two seasons from 1999-2001.
Winless seasons are more common in Division I women's basketball - eight other teams have gone winless since 1999 - than in men's hoops. Two men's teams have gone winless in the past decade: Savannah State (0-28) in 2004-05 and New Jersey Institute of Technology (0-29) in 2007-08.
An NJIT victory in January 2009 ended what was then the nation's longest Division I losing streak at 51. Dating to last season, Centenary's 33 straight setbacks now represent the longest D-I skid. The Gents have two games to stop the slide on the court - Feb. 24 at home against Western Illinois and Feb. 26 at home against IUPUI - before it ends due to the school's change in divisions. If the Gents drop those two games, it would mark the first winless season since the program began in 1921.
Nakwaasah could be bitter about the way his college basketball career turned out since he set out to play Division I basketball at the same college in Shreveport, La., where former NBA great Robert Parish once played.
Three seasons later, he's still playing a Division I schedule, but is one of only four remaining scholarship players on a team that next fall will be in the Division III American Southwest Conference.
''I had no idea there was going to be any transition coming in, but that's not in my control,'' Nakwaasah said, referring to the July 2009 decision by the Centenary Board of Trustees to change divisions.
The decision - which angered boosters and alumni, including former PGA golfer Hal Sutton - was aimed at saving money. Some board members also thought non-scholarship Division III was more appropriate for a private college with an enrollment approaching 1,000.
At this point, men's coach Adam Walsh and women's coach Kristen Davis aren't worried about their jobs. Both are first-time head coaches who assumed their posts in anticipation of being much more competitive next season.
Still, starting their head coaching careers in the NCAA's top level with a program in transition was even tougher than they thought.
''Any competitor likes a challenge. This just happened to be a very big challenge, and me being a first-year head coach, I had a lot to learn,'' said Davis, a 27-year-old former Division I player at Northwestern State. ''Our seniors, obviously I feel bad for them because this is their last year here. But I think everyone on our team knows next year is going to be different.''
That doesn't make it any easier for any of the players this year.
''It's frustrating because you don't want to be the team that never gets the win and gets that feeling,'' said Nakwaasah, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the latest loss to Oral Roberts. ''At the same time, you take it as: Getting through adversity is going to make you better, because at the same time we've had to learn to stick together.''
The Gents' closest result was a 71-67 loss at home to UMKC. There was also a 57-51 loss at Western Illinois. For the most part, though, the Gentlemen have been gracious guests and hosts, losing by an average of 22.8 points.
Walsh, 31, took what is technically his first Division I head coaching job when his previous boss, Greg Gary, left Centenary after two seasons to take an assistant coaching position at Duquesne. Walsh expected to win at least a couple games this season, but said he was never going to use the record as his only measure for success.
''I didn't get into coaching just to coach games,'' Walsh said. ''It's an opportunity we have to help influence how these guys grow up and the type of men they become.
''There has been an opportunity for guys to find out their true character because the whole season has been adversity,'' Walsh added. ''It's a life-building opportunity for these young guys to grow as men and hopefully we'll see the results in 20 years.''
In the meantime, Walsh said he still believes his team can win this season, and added that he sees no sign of his players giving up.
