To have a single man in the thousand point club is something for any college basketball team to salivate over. It is one of the greatest feats a college basketball player can achieve. In the history of Emerson’s men’s basketball team, only 10 players have joined these illustrious ranks.

Make that 12. Over the course of just over a week, two more men earned the right to have their names adorn the banner that hangs above the Piano Row Gymnasium.

On Jan. 10, junior center Bryan Rouse scored his thousandth career point during an 88-81 win against Suffolk University. Just nine days and three games later, junior point guard Jeremy Shannon scored his thousandth in a 76-70 loss to Norfolk University. Both games were away.

Rouse knew he only needed to score four points against Suffolk to reach 1,000. He said he was calm going into the game.

“In high school, I scored 1,000 too, so it wasn’t an all new experience,” the marketing communication major said. “I was excited because it was college and a bigger accomplishment than in high school, but I wasn’t really nervous. I was focused and ready to get it.”

The day before the Norfolk game, Head Coach Hank Smith told Shannon he was 14 points away from 1,000. Shannon said he tried not to think too much about the imminent achievement once the game started.

“I was aware that I was close, but I wasn’t really counting down,” the marketing communication major said. “I made a pledge not to do that, to just play.”

Shannon said he’s proud to be included among the names on the thousand-point banner that hangs above the Piano Row Gymnasium.

“It feels great to be part of … Emerson College history, especially athletics because I think it’s an area of development that’s growing,” he said. “I’m honored to be on the same list as people who are so successful, like Rob Hennigan and Will Dawkins, and one of my own teammates, Bryan Rouse.”

Shannon said it felt good to see his teammate reach the thousand point plateau.

“It felt great because that’s my right hand man, you know, he’s been getting buckets since he was a freshman,” he said. “He’s like family to me, so it was great to see his mom and his dad happy.”

Smith said scoring 1,000 points over the course of a college basketball career requires that the player not only be considerably skilled, but also able to play in as many games as possible.

“You do it that quick, you’ve got to be a great player, you’ve got to have the opportunity. to play right away as a freshman.usually you have to be healthy because it’s key getting a lot of games,” he said. “Rouse missed a lot of games and he still did it, which is amazing.”

Rouse attributed much of his success to Shannon’s strong presence on the court.

“Jeremy gets me all the easy shots, so much of my points come from layups,” he said. “I don’t really have to create [the opportunities], it’s all just done for me. Jeremy’s done so much of it.”

Smith said Rouse and Shannon don’t just improve each other, but that they bring up the whole team as well. Because both players are considerable threats to the opposing team, defenses are forced to cover them closer in lieu of applying equal pressure, creating defensive gaps and greatly increasing the whole team’s number of offensive opportunities.

“It makes the other guys way more valuable, it’s easy for them to score,” he said. “Because [Rouse and Shannon] get more attention, it gives the other guys more open looks.”

Both players received plaques commemorating their achievements, though Rouse said the memory of the achievement is better than any award.

“They gave me a plaque from the athletic department, which is the most ballinest shit ever, but I think [scoring 1,000 points] is something you don’t need anything for,” he said. “You’re not going to forget it.”