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youare-mysonshine · 4 years

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funhouse || oscar diaz

Summary: reader convinces Oscar to go ghost hunting with her in an abandoned house and it’s both hilarious and terrifying.

Requested: yes! @varzling

Pairing: Oscar Diaz x reader, Jamal Turner x reader (platonic)

Warnings: cussing as per usual

Word Count: 4.9k

A/N: I loved this so much lmao I was born one week before halloween and I was obsessed with scary movies and spooky shit before I could even properly talk. I had the Chucky doll and my uncle called me Chucky because I was obsessed with that movie. This was one of my favorites to write because paranormal and horror stuff is my fav! This is me, I am reader lmao this was fun to write! I also did this in second person pov rather than third person which is what i normally do. let me know if you prefer this or if you prefer third person.

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“No.”

“Baby, come on! Please?”

It had all started when Jamal had mentioned in passing that there was an abandoned house only a few blocks away from where you lived. An abandoned house that people assumed was haunted. He had mentioned that he wanted to go ghost hunting with some equipment that he had bought but had been wary of it because he didn’t want to go alone.

You loved that stuff. Paranormal shit was your absolute favorite, so naturally, you agreed to go with Jamal. You were absolutely buzzing with excitement, and you had put it in your mind to convince Oscar to go with you two - but you knew that it wouldn’t be an easy feat.

You knew Oscar better than anyone and you knew just how jumpy and how fearful he was of paranormal stuff, which you found rather amusing given just how much of an intimidating man he was. Shit, people called him Spooky. You always took the time to tease him about it - you’d sneak up behind him wrapped in a white sheet (like a ghost) just to scare him, which he certainly didn’t appreciate it, but you found absolutely hilarious.

So getting him to agree to go with you and Jamal to ghost hunt was certainly a mission.

“Nah. I ain’t going.” He said, taking a drag from the cigarette he was smoking. You stood in front of him, holding his free hand and giving him those puppy dog eyes that he couldn’t resist. That would be why he wouldn’t meet your eyes, why he was looking everywhere but you, because he knew damn well he’d give in if he looked at you. You had him wrapped around your little finger.

“Oscar, please!” You dragged the word out, jutting your bottom lip out. “It’ll be fun!” That was when he finally looked at you, raising one of his perfectly arched eyebrows, a look that said ‘fun? Yeah right.’ “No, I’m serious. It’ll be fun. It’s like.. a cool, adventurous date night. When’s the last time we went out on an actual date together?”

“Jamal is going. I don’t think it’d be a date night if that travieso is going.”

“Okay, date night plus one. Baby, please come on. I want you to go. You don’t have to be scared. I’m sure it’s not haunted. Jamal said it was just rumors, and rumors are almost always just that - rumors. People see an abandoned creepy house and automatically assume that it’s haunted when it’s probably not.” You said, interlocking your fingers with his own. His fingers immediately tightened around your own, giving your hand a small squeeze. He took in another drag, those dark eyes you loved so much staring right into your own. The setting sun was hitting him just right, giving his eyes a honey colored look. Under the glow of the setting sun, he almost looked ethereal. Perfect.

“I ain’t scared.” He spoke, voice deep and gruff. You scoffed, giving him a tiny smirk.

“Really? Then prove it. Come with us tonight. You can protect me if I get scared. My big, scary Santo. My Spooky.” You walked forward, closing the already small space between the two of you, settling between his legs. Given he was sitting and you were standing, he was left looking up at you, you looking down at him. Your arms wrapped around his neck, fingers drawing random little shapes on his tan skin. You leaned your head down, your y/h/c/ hair falling from behind your shoulders. The tattooed man reached one hand up and tucked some of your hair behind your ear, but instead of removing his hand, he kept it there and instead used it to pull your head down further and further until there was nothing but a few mere centimeters between your lips.

You could feel his lips ghosting over your own, you could practically taste the cigarette he was smoking, the Red Bull he was drinking. It was entirely Oscar and you loved it. Closing your eyes, you finally closed the gap and connected your lips to his. Each kiss with Oscar felt as if it were the first one you shared. It never failed to take your breath away. As cliche as it was, it gave you butterflies. It sent tingles throughout your entire body. And you hoped that feeling would never fade away.

The hand that was cradling your cheek/head slid down your body until it came upon your ass, where Oscar grabbed a handful of supple skin and gave it a squeeze. You let out a small giggle against his lips and pulled away, eyes opening, lips slightly wet with saliva. You gave him the look, that small little smile on your eyes, eyes shining bright. Your man let out a deep sigh. He looked up at the sky, as if he were pondering and asking god why the hell he could never say no to you.

“Alright. Fine. I’ll go. But we ain’t staying long.” You gave him a grin, leaning down to kiss his lips once more.

“Yes! It’s gonna be fun, papas!”

And nighttime came sooner than Oscar would’ve liked. He didn’t outwardly admit it, but he was low-key nervous about going to this supposed haunted house. He was entirely and completely afraid, but he fully believed that there were ghosts, spirits, demons, things of that sort and he never wanted to dabble into that kind of shit for fear of being haunted or possessed. He was more afraid of the enemy that he couldn’t see than the enemy he could.

You and Oscar had climbed into his cherry red impala and went on your way to pick Jamal up at his house and no less than a second after you had arrived, the boy had come bounding out dressed in all black, carrying a backpack.

“I’m gonna regret this.” Oscar said as he caught sight of Jamal’s grinning face. You opened up the passenger side door and scooted over so that you were in the middle and Jamal could sit down. The young teen climbed into the car, shut the door and set his backpack down on the car floor.

“Spooky. Lady Spooky.” He greeted you both. You laughed softly at the name, meanwhile Oscar just stared straight ahead, putting the car into drive and pulling away from Jamal’s house.

“Hey Jamal.” You greeted, giving him a friendly smile. Despite the age difference, you genuinely loved and cared for all of Cesar’s friends. After all the shit that they had been through, you just wanted to try and alleviate some of the pressure and stress, you wanted them to feel like they weren’t alone. Maybe that’s also why you were so keen on accompanying Jamal on his ghost hunting journey.

After Oscar had asked for the directions of this supposed haunted house, with Jamal reiterating that lots of people had said it was haunted so it had to be true, he gave the direction and you three were on your way. You were actually buzzing with a nervous excitement. You had never done anything of the sort before, even if you’d always wanted to. But you were definitely nervous of what you’d find.

“What’s in the backpack?” You asked, nodding down at the black backpack that looked full to the brim with things. The over excited teenager gave a triumphant grin as he leaned down ever so slightly and scooped it up. He dropped it down onto your lap, the opening facing his direction, and you let out a little ‘oof’.

“I thought you’d never ask. Okay so, after finding out about this abandoned/ haunted house, I decided to create a ghost hunting pack. I ordered some stuff online. Let’s see..” He unzipped the backpack and began pulling things out one by one.

“I got this spirit box. This shit was not cheap either so it better work.” He pulled out this relatively large contraption that you probably didn’t know how to use.

“What’s that for?” Oscar piped in, taking his eyes off the road for a few seconds to glance over at what Jamal was holding.

“This is basically for whatever entity or spirit is present to communicate with us. We just turn this on, ask questions and wait for someone to talk back to us.” He set the spirit box down on his lap and then rummaged around the backpack again.

“A flashlight. I seriously doubt that janky place has functioning electricity. We’ll definitely need this. Also got us some walkie talkies incase we need to split up and cover some more ground.” You were genuinely amazed at how much stuff this kid could fit into a single backpack. And how seriously he seemed to be taking this entire thing.

“I also got this Digital thermometer to tell when the temperature has dropped. Apparently when there is an entity present, shit gets cold real fast. Let’s see… Oh! I also have holy water! And I brought the Bible. And a ouija board.”

“You fucking what?” You asked, lifting the backpack open to reveal that there was indeed a ouija board, a bible and holy water sitting inside.

“Oh hell nah. You ain’t using the ouija board up in there. You about to make us get a ghost.” Oscar said.

“And, don’t you think that if we used the ouija board while having these religious artifacts, we could potentially let something.. I don’t know, demonic in and make it angry?” You added.

“Okay first off, get a ghost? What the hell? How do you get a ghost? Do you purchase it? Is there a ghost store that I don’t know about?” He shot his words at Oscar, face twisted up in confusion. Oscar’s face had annoyance written all over it. You rested your hand on his hand and gave it a small squeeze. “Second of all, that is why I brought the holy water and the Bible, woman! You two are amateurs, seriously. If we were to potentially let something demonic in, we’d fend it off with holy water while reciting words from the Bible. Besides, Oscar has the cross necklace and the cross tattoo. No ghost or demon is fucking with him. Although, I did hear that demons usually tend to possess people who are angry, upset, vulnerable. Not that Oscar is vulnerable, but he looks like he’s about to pop a vein half the time. He’s ground zero for a demonic possession.”

The car went dead silent. You bit your lip to keep from laughing or snickering. Jamal went silent because he thought Oscar would boot him out of the moving car. And Oscar went silent because he was now genuinely pondering if he’d get possessed. He saw The Conjuring, he saw what that shit did.

“Jamal.. maybe you shouldn’t say that to someone when we’re about to go and investigate a potentially haunted house.” You said, glancing over at him, clapping a hand on his shoulder. The young teen, eyes wide, mouth in a nervous smile, nodded his head rapidly.

“Yeah, yeah. I mean just forget what I said, seriously. It’s probably factually incorrect. Besides, they’re just rumors, about the house being haunted and all. Although, the rumors and speculation have come from many people so I don’t think all those people would be making that shit up-“

“Jamal! Zip it!” You quickly said, not wanting Oscar to back out and end the ghost hunting trip before it even began.

“Yeah okay, shutting up.”

The drive to the house lasted about four to six minutes more. Soon, the impala came to a stop in front a decrepit, creepy two story house that had grass and weeds growing wild all over the place. The fence that was probably once white was now rusted. The house itself had paint that had chipped away overtime. Graffiti decorated the walls. Some gang tagging, some random names, random drawings, stuff of the sort. It was just as creepy as everyone had said. You couldn’t imagine what the inside was like.

“Okay, let’s do this, team.” Jamal opened the passenger side door, his backpack repacked with all of his supplies situated on his back. You turned and looked over at Oscar to find him with an apprehensive look on his face. You gave him a small smile.

“You’re seriously not afraid, are you? Everything will be fine. Come on.” You leaned in and pecked his lips before climbing out of the car. You shut the door behind you, the driver’s side door following suit. Oscar came up next to you and you immediately took his hand into your own and laced your fingers together. With Jamal leading the way, the two of you followed behind him past the rusted gates, up the dirt and overgrown grass covered path that led up the rickety front steps.

“Okay, how are we doing this? Are we splitting up? Sticking together?” You asked.

“We ain’t splittin’ up. We’re stickin’ together.” Oscar interjected before Jamal could say anything. Jamal suddenly whipped around, coming to a stop in front of you and Oscar. He shone the bright light into your faces and you and your boyfriend recoiled from the bright light. You held your hand up, pushing the flashlight away. The teen then held the flashlight underneath his chin, illuminating his face.

“I think we should split up. That way we could cover more ground.” He said, still illuminating his face. Oscar on the other hand, was not relenting, and you knew that even though he had said yes to you, it didn’t mean he’d agree to split up.

“This is non negotiable. We ain’t splittin’ up. You didn’t even bring enough flashlights for us, genius.” The older male pointed. Jamal switched the flashlight off and nodded his head.

“Okay good point. Fine, we’ll stick together.” He quickly pulled his backpack off and rummaged around, pulling out three items. “You, hold that.” He thrust the Bible into your hands. “And you, take this.” He handed Oscar the holy water. “Just in case. We need to be fully prepared and take precaution in case there already is some sort of demonic infestation.” He spoke, all the while pulling out the Digital thermometer and switching it on. Once he had it in hand, he situated the backpack on his back again, picked his flashlight up and switched it on.

“Let the ghost hunting commence.” Finally descending up the porch steps, Jamal came to a stop in front of the front door and you could see that the boy was actually starting to get nervous now. With his flashlight nestled between his arm and his side, he slowly twisted the doorknob with his hand and for a few seconds, you thought that it might’ve been locked, but the door opened. A few creaks were heard and it had the hairs on the back of your neck standing.

Jamal stepped into the house first. “Hello ghostly spirits that inhabit this home. We mean you no harm. We come in peace!” He belted out, announcing your presence.

“Oh fuck this. I ain’t goin’ in.” Oscar suddenly said, letting go of your hand, refusing to set foot inside the house. You and Jamal whirled around to face your skittish boyfriend.

“Are you serious? Are you really scared right now? Your name is Spooky! You run a gang but you’re scared of ghosts? Invisible beings?” Jamal asked, incredulously. Oscar clenched his jaw, eyebrows furrowing.

“Hey, this shit is scary! My tio from my mom’s side of the family got a ghost when he was two years old and he was never the same again. After that, he only walked backwards!”

“He was two! Maybe he just liked walking backwards!”

You shook your head at the bickering, a breathless chuckle leaving your lips - Oscar had told you countless time about his uncle that only walked backwards after he had been supposedly possessed, but each time you still found it amusing. Deciding not to waste time listening to the bickering of your boyfriend and actual teenager, you pushed past Jamal and into the house, taking the flashlight from him in the process.

 “What the- What the hell? I am the appointed leader of this ghost hunting trio, I hold the flashlight and the thermometer.” Jamal finally snapped back to reality at your actions and he snatched the item back from you.

“Well, leader, if you and Oscar would stop fighting, maybe we could actually get some shit done. If something is here, I’m sure you two just woke it up with your loud ass voices.” You commented, shooting Oscar a look. “Baby, you promised.” You held your hand out, the hand not holding the Bible, out to him and he reluctantly took it, stepping into the house that would fuel his nightmares for days to come no doubt.

“See? That wasn’t so bad was it, Spooky? You walked into the house and did anything jump out at you or possess you? No!” Jamal sassed, pointing the flashlight at your seething but definitely frightened boyfriend. With teeth clenched, he looked at Jamal.

“If I get possessed, the first one I’m coming after is you.” He said. Jamal gaped, mouth open like a fish.

“Okay, okay! Stop, children. Let’s do this. Come on.” You snapped you fingers, lightly smacking Jamal with the Bible in your grip.

“Okay, yes. Let’s not get distracted from the mission.” Jamal whipped around, flashlight scanning around the empty but dusty, dirty room which appeared to be a living room. The entire house gave you eerie vibes. Despite the bickering going on mere moments ago, the hair on the back of your neck stood up, you could feel goosebumps rising on your skin.

“The temperature is the same. Oh wait, it dropped. Oh my god it dropped like one degree. Okay, something is definitely with us. We need to whip out the spirit box”

“Jamal, I don’t think that really tells us that anything is here.” You said, looping your arm through Oscar’s, finding comfort in the warmth he provided.

“You’re right. Let’s keep looking. Let’s go in here.” All three of you walked into what you assumed to be the living room, scanning around. The moonlight was creeping in from the busted windows, not leaving you entirely submerged in the dark which you appreciated.

“I’m gonna whip out the spirit box and see if we can make some contact.” Jamal kneeled down, rummaging through the backpack until he pulled out the spirit box. He set the thermometer down in the meantime, firing up the spirit box instead. It emitted this loud noise, almost like white noise you hear on a television when nothing is playing. Except it was loud and it definitely gave you the chills and the creeps.

“Hello spirits that may be present. I’m Jamal. That’s Oscar and Y/N.” He introduced.

“Why in the fuck are you using our names? What if they find us or some shit? I aint trynna have a ghost that knows my name.”

“Ignore the angry man. He’s terrified right now.” Jamal said, shooting a pointed look at Oscar. You gave his arm a squeeze glancing up at him.

“Relax baby. Everything is gonna be okay. Even if there is something here, I highly doubt that it’s bad.” You said, resting your head on his shoulder. He said nothing, just leaned down and kissed your temple.

“Is there anything or anyone here right now?” He asked. All three of you remained quiet, waiting with baited breath, waiting to hear if something actually responded back. But nothing came. And you didn’t know if you were relieved or disappointed.

“Is there anyone in the room with us?” Again nothing. “Is there anyone in this house besides us?”

“Up.” The three of you stood taller, eyes wide and alert, hearts hammering in your chest. At least your heart was beating erratically at that point, shocked that something actually responded.

“Uh.. can you.. can you say that again please..” Jamal’s voice quivered as he spoke, and mere seconds after he said it, the distorted, monotone voice was heard again.

“Up.”

“Up? Up.. What do you mean up?”

“Doll.”

“Oh my god. Oh my god. It said doll. What the freak..” Jamal exclaimed, eyes wide.

“It said up and it said doll. It probably wants us to go upstairs. Come on.” You let go of Oscar’s arm, despite his protests, and rushed over to where the stairs were, using the moonlight as a guide. You hid behind the wall and listened as rushed footsteps hurried closer to you, Jamal murmuring about how you all agreed to stick together.

“Bebe, don’t fuckin’ go off like that in a house like this-“ But neither of the guys finished what they were saying, ranting, about. As soon as they had both rounded the corner, you jumped out from your hiding position and screamed, scaring them both.

Jamal let out a shrill yell, jumping back, while Oscar let out a very loud and audible fuck while jumping back as well. Meanwhile, you were laughing, hands on your knees, lips pulled back into a wide grin.

“Got ya asses! Pendejos.” You exclaimed, still laughing. Jamal was calming down, and Oscar looked just that bit more freaked out, glaring at you.

“Christ on a cracker woman! What the shit was that? You just can’t be sneaking up on people like that! Shit!” He exclaimed.

“I’ma get you back, just watch.” Oscar spoke. But of course, you didn’t take his threat seriously, and it wasn’t like you were actually scared. You knew he’d never hurt you, and he had been scared by you enough times to be used to it. But it never failed to make you laugh.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I had to. I wish I had a damn camera to take a picture of that.” You said, calming down. “So, are we going upstairs or what?” You asked, looking at the guys, hands on your hips.

“We are going up the stairs. And you, missy, better watch yourself.” He pointed his index and middle fingers at you before pushing past you to walk up the dusty stairs. You stood by Oscar’s side, wrapping an arm around him.

“Don’t be mad at me, babe. I had to do it. It was priceless.” You said. “I’ll make it up to you later.” You said in a softer voice.

“You fuckin’ better, Chiquita.”

With Jamal up ahead of you, he opened up the first door he came upon, shining the flashlight in the dark and decrepit room.

“Uh, guys.. I think I found the doll..” He spoke, creeping a little further into the room. You and Oscar followed behind Jamal, eyes wide and searching the empty room. Strewn on the floor, illuminated by the flashlight was a raggedy ann doll. It was torn up and covered in dust and dirt. The fact that it was just laying there was creepy as hell.

“I’m not liking this shit. Not one bit.” Jamal murmured, still pointing the flashlight at the doll, almost as if he were waiting for it to jump up. You sighed, removing your arm from around Oscar to walk closer to the doll.

“Jamal, this thing isn’t Chucky. It’s not gonna come to life and jump out at you.” You knelt down and picked the dirty doll up. One of the eyes was missing and the face was just as dirty as the rest of it. A sense of dread filled you when you did that.

“Uh.. Y/N, I wouldn’t do that if I were you. The original Annabelle doll, the one the movie is based off of, was a raggedy ann doll just like that one.” Fear had crept into Jamal’s voice.

“Hey, shh. Be quiet.” Oscar suddenly spoke up. The three of you went silent and listened. Coming from down below sounded like footsteps, like someone was walking around the house. They weren’t loud, but they were still audible. Goosebumps creeped up over your skin and you immediately let go of the doll, gravitating towards Oscar’s side. Sure, it was all fun and games until you actually started hearing shit.

“Someone’s here.” Your boyfriend said, on high alert now.

“Someone.. or something..” Jamal said. “Okay let’s go one last session with the spirit box and then get the hell out of here.” He said, firing up the box once more.

“How about we get the hell out of here now. I been on these streets a long time and I ain’t gonna die in this sucia ass house.” Oscar said, hands balled up, antsy and anxious to leave.

“You are not gonna die, Jesus Christ. Would you take a chill pill?” Jamal said. “Spirit, ghost, demon - whatever you are. We came upstairs and we found the doll. Are you here with us?”

“Jamal.” It said.

“Oh shit.” The boy in question said.

“Y/N.. Oscar.. Out.”

“Out.. it said out.”

None of you had the chance to say anything else because coming from what seemed like the next room over was a loud crash that sent the three of you jumping and reeling backwards.

“Okay, I know I scared you guys earlier but that wasn’t me. Holy shit, that was not me. What the fuck was that?” You asked, your voice taking on a more frightened tone, you hands clutching at Oscar’s arm.

“Fuck this.” Oscar reached into the waistband of his pants and pulled out a black gun he had tucked in there, for safety.

“You brought a gun?!” You and Jamal both said at the same time, both looking at your boyfriend incredulously. Oscar clutched the gun in his hand, looking over at the door as if he were expecting someone to burst in.

“I sure as fuck wasn’t comin’ out here naked.” He said, voice deep and husky.

“Well shit, what in the hell are bullets gonna do against a ghost? Nothing! Nada! There’s no use in that! You should’ve brought a water gun! Filled with holy water! I even supplied the holy water and you’re holding it!”

“Then maybe you should’ve brought the god damn water gun if you’re so-“ Oscar was cut off by the spirit box, which was still turned on, letting out a distorted ‘Get.. out..’ Which was promptly followed by a loud bang that sounded much closer. You and Jamal let out screams, and Oscar put the gun away and reached out to grab you, urgency in his movements. Meanwhile you reached out to Jamal, grabbing his arm and pulling him along with you.

“Okay, we’re leaving. Now!” Neither you or Jamal protested. Instead the three of you hightailed it the fuck down those stairs as if your asses were on fire, the three of you too freaked out to even consider staying any longer. When you reached the bottom level of the house, there was no sign of anyone being down there. It wasn’t like there was many places a person could hide given the minimal amount of furniture.

Once at the bottom of the stairs, another loud crash which sounded a lot like a door slamming shut, came from above, prompting you all to run even faster towards the front door. Oscar pulled it open, the door slamming and bouncing against the wall from the sheer force of your boyfriend’s actions. The three of you ran down the porch steps, down the path and to his car.

You pulled the door open and practically flew inside the car while Jamal and Oscar quickly followed suit and climbed in. There wasn’t a second’s hesitation as Oscar turned the key in the ignition and started the vehicle, making quick work and pulling away from the curb and driving away from the house.

His hands were clenching the steering wheel so tight you could see his skin s starting to turn white. Meanwhile your heart was thundering so loud in your chest you could hear it in your ears and you wouldn’t be surprised if Oscar and Jamal could hear it too. The boy beside you was panting, breathing heavily, eyes wide.

“Holy shit balls.” He finally broke the silence that had fallen the three of you as Oscar went well past over the speed limit to try and get away from that house. “There are ghosts in that house. It is haunted. There is something there. And we witnessed it. Holy shit, team. We did it!” He exclaimed, looking at you and Oscar.

“Yeah we did. We probably got a fucking ghost.” Oscar said, briefly looking at Jamal.

“Well.. my money’s on Y/N. She’s the one that picked up the doll after all.” This time it was your turn to glare at Jamal.

“Jamal! Callate!” You said. Oscar, from beside you, let out a deep laugh.

“Come on baby. Don’t be scared.” You knew he teasing you, you could just hear it in his voice. And when you looked back at him, he wore that damn smirk on his face. You scowled at your boyfriend, arms crossing over your chest. “Don’t be scared. You wanted to come and ghost hunt.” He said, driving to Jamal’s house to drop him off. “Keep that same energy.”

“Just like you said to Jamal - if I get possessed, the first one I’m coming after is you, mi amor.” You threw at him, a sickly sweet smile on your face.

“Okay in all seriousness - I heard that there was another supposedly haunted house a few miles from here. When do you guys wanna go and explore that one? Next week? Friday? Satur-“

“How about never. We ain’t doin’ that shit again. You can go by yourself next time, homie.”

#oscar diaz x reader #oscar diaz headcanon #oscar diaz omb #oscar diaz #oscar diaz smut #oscar diaz imagine #oscar spooky diaz #julio macias imagine #julio macias #jamal turner #jamal turner x reader #netflix on my block #on my block imagine #omb cast #omb #on my block #funhouse

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junker-town · 4 years

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Western Illinois’ NCAA tournament run in Year 26, continued

The Leathernecks enter the 2033 NCAA tournament looking to become back-to-back national champs for the first time in our College Hoops 2K8 sim dynasty.

Welcome back to our simulated dynasty with the Western Illinois Leathernecks in College Hoops 2K8. You can find a full explanation of this project + spoiler-free links to previous seasons here. Check out the introduction to this series from early April for full context. As a reminder, we simulate every game in this series and only control the recruiting and coaching strategies.

Before we pick up with the Leathernecks in the first round of the NCAA tournament, here’s a recap of everything that has happened so far this season:

Coming off our fifth national title in program history, the Leathernecks set out to try to become back-to-back champs for the first time ever. We enter the new year ranked No. 16 in the preseason polls and rated as a 99 overall.

We had a strong non-conference season, losing only two games and earning a signature victory over No. 1 BYU. After going undefeated in Summit League play and winning the conference tournament, we were named a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament.

We recruited for four scholarships and still haven’t landed anyone.

Read: Western Illinois, Year 26, 2032-2033

Here’s a look at our roster entering the 2033 NCAA tournament:

The mission for this season has been clear from the start: win back-to-back national championships for the first time in program history. We’ll have to buck our dubious history as defending champions to get it done. In the previous four times we’ve entered the NCAA tournament looking to defend our national championship, we haven’t made it further than the round of 32.

This team absolutely has the talent to repeat. We only lost one player from last year, starting big man Dick Copeland, who left after his redshirt junior year as a projected top pick in the NBA draft. Everyone else is back with another year of experience under their belt. There’s a strong case to be made that this is our best team yet since I took over as head coach at Western Illinois ahead of the 2007-2008 season.

All five of our starters are projected first round NBA draft picks. True junior 7-foot center Cecil Sinville and 6’4 redshirt junior shooting guard Albert Jagla are each projected as top picks. They are joined by a trio of standout redshirt seniors who played a vital role off the bench in our Year 23 national championship team, and then helped power another national title winer last year. Those players: 6’5 point guard Alexis Willingham, 6’9, 260-pound wing Skip Clemmons, and 6’8 do-it-all forward J.J. Bracy. I also reintroduced the starters in the regular season post if you’re new here.

How good is this group? On our subreddit, reader Kyle made the case that all five starters are top five players at their position in Leathernecks history. Bracy’s game is so multi-faceted at power forward that he often draws comparisons to Draymond Green and had reader 808s and Milkshakes writing a case for why we should play him at point guard.

Western Illinois enters the 2033 NCAA tournament rated as a 100 overall in every category but head coach. Our opponent is Stanford, the rare power-five squad to sneak into the dance as a No. 13 seed. Here’s how the two teams matchup:

This really feels like the last dance for this particular core knowing that we’re going to lose all five starters to graduation/the league when this run is over. We have some nice talent on the bench in the form of wing duo Nic Cummings and Neil Modrovich, but it’s possible this is our last title shot for a long time. We want to go back-to-back with perhaps our greatest core ever. We need to go back-to-back while they’re still here. But first, we must beat Stanford.

We streamed this game on Twitch on Sunday night. As always, I’m not controlling Western Illinois; we’re watching a simulated game. Let’s go!

***

Win, 125-74! That was one of the most dominant offensive performances I’ve ever seen from our ‘Necks.

This game was actually close for the opening minutes. We were tied at 20-20 midway through the first half before we went on a run to break the game open. Despite struggling to shoot from three in the first half (3-of-12 as a team), we found an offensive rhythm by working the ball inside. Cecil Sinville was an absolute monster, finishing with all 19 of his points in the first half. The only reason he didn’t score after halftime is because we pulled our starters two minutes into the second half when the game had already turned into a blowout.

We kept hunting for the mismatch to get Sinville the ball in position to score, and he delivered time and time again:

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Bracy was also excellent, finishing with 14 points, eight rebounds, and three stocks in 21 minutes. The bench took over from there. We had a 23-point lead when the starters were pulled. All we did was win by 51. It shows just how deep this team is, and perhaps how I’m underrating our future even after we lose all five starters following this tournament run.

Every member of the bench scored in double-figures, led by true sophomore shooting guard Neil Modrovich’s 17 points. This was also our first extended look at our two redshirt freshmen in the front court, 7’3 center Daron Coulter, and center-turned-power forward C.J. Cesar. I thought each provided a nice presence in the paint and on the glass on both ends of the floor. When the game was over, we had eight different players score in double-figures, and also scored 125 points as a team without anyone even scoring 20. This was truly egalitarian basketball, which is always the vision for the ‘Necks.

The win sets up a second round matchup with No. 5 seed Georgetown.

No. 4 Western Illinois vs. No. 5 Georgetown, round of 32, 2033 NCAA tournament

Georgetown enters the second round as knocking off Ivy champion Dartmouth in round one. The Hoyas are rated as a 96 overall, which is three points higher than Stanford.

Not going to lie, I’m a little worried about this game. Georgetown has some good looking bigs who might be able to bother Sinville a little bit, and they have a superstar senior shooting guard. More than anything, I’m worried because we always lose in this round during our repeat bids. Just getting to the Sweet 16 for the first time as defending champions would be such a relief.

We looked amazing in round one against Stanford; I’m just hoping we can keep up that level of play. We watched the simulated game against Georgetown on Twitch on Sunday night. Let’s go!

***

Win, 95-75! WE’RE GOING TO THE SWEET 16.

Credit Georgetown for hanging tight with us throughout the first half. This was a much more competitive game than our tournament opener, but eventually our distinct talent advantage led us to a pretty easy win.

We could use this space to talk about the all-around brilliance of Alexis Willingham, who finished with 19 points and 11 assists and was the best player on the floor all game long. We could talk about Sinville, who scored 19 points for the second game in a row and made it look effortless. We could talk about Modrovich stepping up off the bench with a couple big threes to finish with 12 points, or we could talk how the rest of the team picked up Albert Jagla as he again struggled to get going offensively.

Instead, I just want to talk about dunks. We seemingly went like 3-4 seasons in a row without seeing a Leathernecks player dunk the ball in a stream game, but we had two sick dunks in this one.

First, here’s a nasty alley-oop slam by Nic Cummings in the first half.

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Fun fact: Cummings has what I believe is the highest dunk rating in program history at 95 overall. We finally got to see what that looked like during a game.

And after we had pretty much wrapped up the win, J.J. Bracy decided to one-up Cummings with a ridiculous alley-oop slam of his own late in the second left. I have never seen anything like this during my time at Western Illinois:

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The skyward point! The skyward point after the dunk really got me.

Western Illinois is running into the Sweet 16 with the dream of back-to-back national championships still alive. Our win over Georgetown sets up a Sweet 16 matchup with No. 1 seed Florida State.

No. 4 Western Illinois vs. No. 1 Florida State, Sweet 16, 2033 NCAA tournament

The Seminoles are legit: they enter at 25-6 on the season, they’re rated as a 98 overall, and they were No. 1 in the country in the RPI.

Florida State has three players rated in the 90s, and they’re deep at every position. The matchups just keep getting a little tougher after every win so far on this tournament run, and this will be our biggest test yet.

We really need to get Jagla going. You might remember he averaged more than 24 points per game on our run to the national title last year. He’s averaging only six points per game through our first two wins this year. I don’t think we can keep winning without him as a major part of our offense. I’m also interested in how our team defense will survive against a really good FSU squad.

We streamed this game on Twitch on Sunday night. A trip to the Elite Eight is on the line. Let’s gooooooo.

***

Win 116-95. We’re one win away from the Final Four!

Oh my, Skip Clemmons. We had lacked a signature individual performance throughout this tournament run so far, but Clemmons just delivered it. He scored 25 of his 30 points in the first half, and finished 9-of-14 shooting from the floor and 5-of-10 shooting from three-point range. I had a good feeling about his performance from the very start of the game: he scored our first eight points, including a three-pointer immediately off the opening tip:

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I think we truly forget just how huge Skip is. This man is 6’9, 260 pounds as a natural shooting guard. He weighs one (1) pound less than our center Sinville, who is the heaviest guy on the team. We moved Clemmons to the three when we landed Jagla in the next recruiting class, but it’s wild to see someone with this combination of size and ball skills.

Clemmons has struggled a bit when we put him at the four, but there’s no denying how beneficial his strength is against smaller wings. This looked like a ‘96 MJ move:

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Skip was so locked in throughout the first half that I honestly thought he was going to score 50. Instead, it was his backup at small forward who did some serious damage out of halftime.

Nic Cummings is a redshirt sophomore wing out of San Jose. He’s developed nicely over the years and is now our sixth man rated as an 89 overall. Cummings is going to be the future of this team, but because our starting lineup is both so talented and so experienced, we haven’t needed him too much yet. Against Florida State, he finally showed what he can do.

Cummings finished with 19 points on 7-of-10 shooting from the floor and 4-of-6 shooting from three to help key the win. He’s not a great shooter (77 rating from three-point range), but his size and athleticism are really a plus. His performance has me more excited for next year. We also needed it during a game when Sinville struggled (six points on 2-of-8 shooting) and our backup bigs didn’t give us anything either.

We’re on to the Elite Eight, where our opponent will be No. 6 seed Vanderbilt.

No. 4 Western Illinois vs. No. 6 Vanderbilt, Elite Eight, 2033 NCAA tournament

Vanderbilt’s run to this point is pretty incredible: they beat three really good teams in Wisconsin, Maryland, and Arizona to reach the Elite Eight.

While it seems like we caught a break here because Vandy is only a No. 6 seed, they enter with the same overall rating as top-seed Florida State: 98. This team has a superstar shooting guard and a really talented two-way center who looks like Cliff Robinson (RIP). I have a feeling this isn’t going to be an easy game.

Western Illinois has been the Final Four seven times in my first 25 years. We have five national titles, but we still haven’t gone back-to-back. We’re been working all year for this moment, and we think we have the team to get it done. We just know we can’t afford to have an off night on a stage this big.

We streamed this game on Twitch on Sunday night. Because of a technical error, the game is split up into two videos. Final Four on the line. Let’s go!

***

Win, 97-78! Western Illinois is back in the Final Four!

Oh my, Vandy gave us all we can handle. After a relatively stress-free road to get to this point, Vanderbilt had us sweating in the final five minutes. For the first time on this tournament run, I made manual subs. For the first time on this tournament run, I made an in-game coaching adjustment. I’m not sure if win this one without those moves.

Up four points with 3:52 left, I re-inserted the starting lineup back in the game after a brief rest to make sure they weren’t gassed in crunch time. We also went with a 1-2-1-1 full court press with the hope of stringing together a few stops to turn a close game into a blowout. That’s exactly what happened.

Skip Clemmons — who was incredible defensively all night, finishing with six steals — swiped this pass to kick-start the break for an impressive Albert Jagla layup. Then J.J. Bracy stole the inbounds pass and finished with the layup:

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It was a wrap from there. We played far from a perfect game, but we did achieve a pretty much ideal balance throughout the starting lineup.

I thought Cecil Sinville was excellent again, finishing with 22 points and 12 rebounds on 8-of-12 shooting from the field. He’s moving up the list of all-time great centers in program history. Just the fact that a) he’s our only No. 1-rated center recruit in program history, b) he’s poised to leave as a top pick after only three years on campus, c) he helped win us one national title already, puts him in the running. But he’s also arguably been our best player on another potential title run. I can’t say for certain that we’ve had a better natural talent in the middle.

Clemmons is another all-timer, and he turned in another masterful performance on both ends. Jagla finally had his best offensive game, and Willingham was very good again, too. While Draymond Bracy did have a rough night, we’ll let him make it up to us in the Final Four.

Here’s a bonus Willingham three-pointer, just because I clipped it:

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Western Illinois has won the national title in Year 8, Year 13, Year 20, Year 23, and Year 25. If we want title No. 6 in Year 26, we’re going to have to beat No. 1 seed BYU to get there.

No. 4 seed Western Illinois vs. No. 1 seed BYU, Final Four, 2033 NCAA tournament

Our opponent in the Final Four is BYU. Yes, you will remember we beat the Cougars in a true road game during this regular season when they were ranked No. 1 in the polls. That game was close throughout and I think this is going to be another battle.

BYU enters the game rated as a 100 overall. Here’s how the two teams matchup.

On the other side of the bracket, No. 10 seed Georgia Tech defeated No. 9 seed UNC. The Yellow Jackets await the winner in the national title game.

We’re going to stream this game on Sunday, Nov. 15 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Twitch. We have a dedicated community that comes out to watch and comment on the games, and we’re always looking for new fans. Here’s how you can join us:

No. 4 seed Western Illinois vs. No. 1 seed BYU, Final Four, 2033 NCAA tournament

Game: No. 4 seed Western Illinois vs. No. 1 seed BYU, Final Four, 2033 NCAA tournament

How to watch: My Twitch channel. You don’t need to sign up for anything to watch, but you do need to register for an account to comment. Do it, it’s fun.

Date: Sunday, Nov. 15 at 8:30 p.m. ET on Twitch

Tip-off time: 8:30 p.m. ET

IF we win: We’ll play the national title game against .

Come hang on Sunday. Go ‘Necks!

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