The motion itself looks easy.
The handshake starts with a pair of hand slaps. Palm to palm, then backhand, then back to palm.
Then it becomes dynamic: hand up, flick the wrist, arm flex on the way down, touch shoulders like the Macarena and finish with a quick dab for good measure.
Got all that? Good. That’s just one of the many pregame handshakes between Binghamton University senior guards Marlon Beck and John Rinaldi.
In fact, every member of the Binghamton men’s basketball team has at least one choreographed handshake with another teammate — ready to break out if their name is ever called in the starting five.
“We’re trying to have everybody on the team have a specific handshake with everybody on the team,” Beck said. “I’ll have 14, 15 different handshakes with every single person.”
The master of the handshake line, Rinaldi, took his unofficial position out of necessity. Although it’s a duty usually reserved for the senior members of the team, Rinaldi, then a junior, was pushed to the front of the line on the young team.
Since Rinaldi and Beck were already close on and off the court, the duo quickly made a habit of turning their pregame ritual into a routine worth the price of admission.
“Not starting and being the oldest guys on the team last year … I just took the initiative,” Rinaldi said. “I think me and [Beck] just got the most creative with ours.“
But it was one handshake in particular, first featured during BU’s “You Can Play” game last season, that caught the eyes of more than just those in the Events Center.
“When we first brought out one of our bigger handshakes in one of the games, America East jumped on it,” Beck said. “[BU] kind of jumped on it saying, ‘Oh, we saw that on Twitter!’”
The Twitter account of the America East (AE) Conference, which boasts 11,200 followers, shared a clip of the handshake in celebration of National High Five Day last April. The post surged, earning 22 retweets and 43 favorites.
It wouldn’t be the last time the duo shook its way to internet success, either. One week after the AE’s tweet, the men’s basketball team’s Running Man Challenge video caught fire. Featured in the video was a bit with Beck and Rinaldi dancing, while stripping down from their street clothes to their practice uniforms — in the rain.
But what about the rest of the team? Well, according to Rinaldi, the moves depend on the player.
After all, you can find out a lot about someone by their handshake.
“Thomas Bruce loves to dance, everyone knows that, so that’s in all his handshakes,” Rinaldi said. “Then some guys keep it simple, almost to a funny point.”
“Firm handshakes,” Beck added.
The acts aren’t without practice, though, even if only for moments at a time.
“Everyone sits down on the bench if you’re in the starting lineup and you look at the guy if you’re about to go shake his hand,” Beck said. “You got to make sure it’s on point.”
Opening the season against Cornell, the team has had eight months to prepare, and will look to build on an electric 2015-16. But if fans are seeking an inside look at the moves in store for this season, look no further than the Bearcats’ bench.
“It’s in the making, it’s in the process right now,“ Beck said. “We’re cooking up a little something something.”
“I guess it’s got to be now.” Rinaldi said.