Tyrone Curnell (2) and the Valdosta State Blazers advanced to the quarterfinals of the Division II national tournament with a 71-58 victory over Rollins in the South Region final on Tuesday in Russellville, Ark.

Valdosta is widely regarded as a football town, and rightly so.

But for a few months at the start of 2010, the town, and Valdosta State University specifically, caught basketball fever, as the Valdosta State men’s basketball team put together the greatest season in school history.

Led by seven seniors, including an All-American, the Blazers often looked like a Division I team playing at the Division II level. They threw down highlight reel dunks, played an up-tempo pace and seemed to enjoy playing with each other.

The style of play and the players themselves brought huge crowds to The Complex. Multiple times during the season, the school set new attendance records, culminating with over 4,000 fans packing The Complex for the regular season finale.

The Blazers went 28-5, won the South Region championship and advanced to their first Elite Eight in school history. The 28 wins were the most in a single season for VSU basketball.

However, the Blazers’ great season did not end well. Not only did they lose in the Elite Eight, they didn’t even have their best player for the game. Senior All-American forward Tyrone Curnell was dismissed from the team the night before for violating athletic department policy. His best friend and teammate, B.J. Dibble, was also dismissed for the same reason.

Without their two leading rebounders, the Blazers were outrebounded 51-30 in the Elite Eight by Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The Blazers lost 80-64, and their dream season ended in a nightmare.

Even though the season didn’t end with a national championship, VSU head coach Mike Helfer was proud of the players that played in the Elite Eight game.

“I thought our guys bonded together,” Helfer said after the game. “Obviously, they faced adversity. They bonded together, and I thought their reaction was, ‘Hey, we’ll come together for each other.’ They’re still extremely close, the kids in that locker room.”

Well before the Elite Eight, a special season was brewing at VSU. The men’s team was junior-laden in 2008-09, and that crew advanced to the South Region tournament. With everyone coming back, and a few new additions, hype for the 2009-10 season was building while the football team was still in summer workouts.

The Blazers did not disappoint early. They started the season hot, and rose to No. 3 in the country, before falling to Columbus State and Tampa in back-to-back games before the calendar turned to 2010.

Once 2010 started, the Blazers got hot again. A midseason addition, guard Kevin Harris, sparked new life into the already-experienced team. Harris made an immediate impact, scoring 18 points in an 81-75 home win over Augusta State, the No. 1 team in Division II at the time.

After the Blazers beat Augusta State, the students rushed the floor, which hadn’t been done at The Complex in years.

VSU mowed through the Gulf South Conference East Division, with the only loss coming on the road at Alabama-Huntsville. The Blazers entered the GSC tournament as the favorite, and whispers around the tournament were that the Blazers might be the greatest GSC basketball team ever.

Whether those were honest opinions or a ploy to motivate the GSC West teams is debatable. But Arkansas Tech looked like a team that played the disrespect card. The Wonder Boys beat the Blazers 57-48 in the second round, as Curnell went 0 for 10 from the field and the rest of the Blazers looked uninterested.

Arkansas Tech went on to win the GSC tournament and assume the No. 1 ranking in Division II. More importantly, the Wonder Boys were selected to host the South Region tournament, meaning the Blazers would have to go all the way to Russellville, Ark. and beat the top-ranked team in the country on its home floor to make the Elite Eight.

First, the Blazers had to face Clark Atlanta in the opening round of the South Region tournament. The Blazers won 74-67, and gave Helfer his first national tournament win as VSU’s coach.

Next up was top-ranked Arkansas Tech, which had just whipped the Blazers the previous week. This time, though, the Blazers were ready. They came out and hit their first six shots, five of them from 3-point land, and stunned the thousands of raucous fans cheering on the home team. VSU ended up shooting 55 percent from the field, and won 72-60.

The win over the Wonder Boys was impressive, but the Blazers still had one more game left to win in Russellville to become South Region champs. They were off the day after beating Tech, and when it came time to face Rollins in the Sweet 16, they weren’t about to suffer a letdown.

The Blazers again came out of the gate on fire. They hit five of their first six shots to take an early lead. Rollins fought back with a 15-7 run to take a one-point lead with just over 12 minutes to go in the game, but then the Tars went cold and missed 18 consecutive shots. The Blazers nailed down 12 free throws in the final few minutes to win the most important game in their history, 71-58.

The team was greeted by a mob of fans when its plane landed back in Valdosta. People were there to shake hands and get their pictures taken with the South Region championship trophy, something they had never seen before.

After a couple of days off, it was back to work. The Blazers had to prepare for IUP, the No. 2 team in the country. They had already beaten two No. 1 teams, so they were confident.

VSU arrived in Springfield, Mass., the site of the Elite Eight, as one of the favorites to win it all. A strong resume, a balanced attack that could score inside and from the perimeter, an All-American forward and a host of seniors made the Blazers a dangerous team.

But it quickly unraveled when Curnell and Dibble were sent packing. The Blazers took IUP by surprise early, and built a double-digit halftime lead. But it wouldn’t last, as IUP made the adjustments, and simply outmanned the Blazers.

The Crimson Hawks outscored VSU 54-26 in the second half. VSU got a basket from Marquis Robinson to go up 46-34, but then it went 8:53 without a field goal.

“We were stuck on 46 forever,” Helfer said after the game. “We tried to use a timeout, we used sets for different guys. The thing about basketball, and it’s like this for any sport, momentum is so key. They just got that thing rolling, and you can’t stop it. The only way you can stop it is maybe you bang a three or get an old-fashioned three-point play.

“We just couldn’t finish inside or outside, and we went ice cold. It happens in this sport.”

The Blazers headed into the offseason with plenty of holes to fill. Since they were seniors, Curnell and Dibble wouldn’t be back in 2010-11. Ricardo Lewis, Robinson, Tristan Crawford and Charles Belton also completed their senior seasons.

Despite the heavy losses, the Blazers have been good in 2010. They’ve started the season 10-2, behind the hot shooting of returning players Kevin Harris and Christian Hunter. Newcomers like Tristan Steele and Will Alston have made big impacts.

Helfer made it clear that just because last year’s super team is no more, it doesn’t mean the Blazers should settle for less. And he’s not focused on the negatives of the past.

 “I think you have to turn the page in life in general,” Helfer said before the start of the new season. “Sometimes it’s easier for some people. For me, it’s been a slow turn. But I’m ready for a new year. I’m not going to let the actions of a few individuals destroy what we’re building or trying to do. That’s going to be our philosophy.”