Tomorrow night’s opener at Tulane will be a special one for New Orleans-native Greg Monroe. Not only will he have the opportunity to play in front of his hometown crowd for the first time since high school, but he will get to eat his mother’s homemade cooking before the game. The Times-Picayune reports that Monroe’s mother, Norma Dixon Monroe, will host the entire team for what sounds like a delicious meal.
“Oh yes, I’ve got gumbo, red beans and rice, stuffed peppers again, fettucini, ” Dixon Monroe said. “I’ve got some turkey necks and corn and potatoes, fried fish . . . I ordered a king cake for them. I’m giving them a taste of New Orleans. I’ve got pecan candy coming, bread budding, banana pudding.”
His mother also spoke about her son’s decision to return to school rather than enter the NBA draft. It sounds like she knows a lot about the NBA, asking her son if he thought he was ready to go up against some of the top players in the league.
“I told him, you’ve got to be ready physically and mentally, ” Dixon Monroe said. “If you think you go against Chris Paul and you can go against LeBron James, those players, then go ahead. But if you’re not physically or you’re not mentally ready, don’t go. . . . That’s the truth. That’s how I felt.
“You might be big like them, but physically, do you think you can handle them – physically, mentally, you know, and he might think he’s ready, but I think he decided to go back to school and get a little bit stronger. I think that’s one reason he decided to go back. I told him I would support him either way he goes.”
Monroe’s decision to return gave him the opportunity to play in front of a number of family and friends in a Georgetown uniform.
Dixon Monroe said about 25 family members will attend, her church ordered 50 tickets, 33 friends and co-workers plan on going and more than 20 students from Helen Cox have tickets.
Stay tuned for The Hoya’s preview of the game in Friday’s issue and live-blog coverage from Tulane tomorrow night at 9 p.m. Eastern.