Yeah, sometimes a loss feels a little like a win but when I caught up with some of the Highlanders heading home on the nine-hour bus trip back from Notre Dame Friday, none of them were talking that way.
Good. I know alumni were excited about the 79-76 setback, and I stumbled on the perfect analogy to placate plaid-bleeding fanatics on the "near miss" Thursday. Radford lost a nine-point lead late in the second half in a game televised on the ACC Network that perhaps introduced a lot of people not familiar with Highlander hoops to what our program is all about.
What I told like-minded lunatic fans reflected my long, long, long time watching our teams. Simply, if you had told me in 1980 when I was on "press row" at Peters Hall that I'd be upset that we had split our last two games with Notre Dame, well, I wouldn't have believed it. But I sure would have taken it.
Coach Darris Nichols just missed hanging a major Power 5 pelt on the wall in the second game of his second season, and future foes just got a lot more nervous about readying for Radford. When you think about returning THREE players from last year and here we are, well, the future is so bright I'm wearing my trademark cheap sunglasses as I write this.
"They don't play a lot of guys and we thought they would struggle to guard us," Nichols said the morning after of the Fighting Irish-Scottish Highlanders clash.
I'm going to stop here. I'm an expert interpreter of "coach speak" after so many years in sports-writing. Nichols is almost too much of a straight shooter, said the guy who has worked both sides as a hard-charging sports-writer and as sports info, public relations operative, but I love it.
What I heard in this quote was that our coach (who has coached in the SEC, Conference USA, and Southern Conference and played at West Virginia in the Big East) thought Radford was deeper and more athletic than Notre Dame of the, ahem, checking notes, ACC.
He was right.
Radford was up 57-48 with 10:23 left when DaQuan Smith hit two free throws. RU would lead until the final 3:21, and then regain the lead again before Smith was mugged on a drive to the basket. With him down, injured, on the baseline under the basket, the Irish scored in a man-up situation.
The Highs had shot the same number of free throws as the host Irish in building the 9-point advantage and had truly dominated play. The rest of the way, Notre Dame would carve an 18-5 edge in free throw attempts and well, objectively, the game did not appear to be called the same way.
I Know About Home Cookin' (In More Ways Than One)
Again, been there done that. And in fairness, have seen it happen to foes in the Dedmon Center, too. Maybe not that blatantly, but it's life on the road in college basketball. One of the first and most shocking things I learned on the sidelines as a 20-year-old cub reporter in Peters Hall and in small gyms and some major arenas in and around The Commonwealth: life isn't fair.
Nichols knows this, too. And he didn't help himself with a long road trip that included stops at on-and-off powerhouses Marquette and Notre Dame. There was method to his madness, though.
First, I've come to learn Darris doesn't fear anyone anywhere on the schedule. His vision of Radford basketball is playing the best and building an excitement around the program that he had when he and his brother, Shane, shared growing up in town.
Radford has some diehard fans but not enough of them. Playing big names grabs your attention and makes you take notice. I like it. I feel the same way about our school academically and I can't even begin to tell you how much I love our new leader, Dr. Bret Danilowicz, but that's another column.
Secondly, when you sew together a roster of 12 new guys and three returnees, there's another reason you get on the bus and go far from home to unfamiliar and often hostile environs: Bonding through basketball, buses and breakfast buffets.
"When guys are at (Radford), they go to practice, go to class, do their own thing and focus on those things," said Nichols. "This trip helps us come together as a team and I like that. I like where we are right now with our chemistry. We want to sustain that."
The Highlanders began this year with a lot of personalities that had to come together, play together and get along. There were questions this summer about that, and not just at Radford. The transfer portal is changing the way programs build. Good or bad, it's here and Nichols and his staff seem particularly nimble and skilled at navigating the new landscape.
The Highlanders played Marquette tough and then should have beaten Notre Dame. Murray State transfer guard Smith was fearless and will win this team a lot of games – he could have won this one if he'd gotten the whistle on his late drive. He injured his neck and saw stars after hitting the basket stanchion hard, then Cormac Ryan fell on him. Smith's alright and a worthy wearer of Carlik Jones' No. 1 jersey.
Speaking of Jones, he and Hall of Famer Javonte Green showed up at practice at the Chicago Bulls' facility to talk to the team and that's another pinch-me moment thinking about two Highlanders in the pros on the same team. Their advice to the youngsters was to take care of their bodies, get their rest, eat right, and look at the long game if they want to get to the NBA, too.
Come to think of that, chubby sportswriters should have thought about that at RU, as well.
Transfer of Power
Higher profile prospects Onyebuchi Ezeakudo of Pittsburgh and Bryan Antoine from Villanova could have had a war at the top of the basketball food chain in the Dedmon Center but their unselfishness has set a tone. Antoine, the former 5-star recruit, didn't even score against Notre Dame but his length and versatility on defense was a key. Antoine is a linchpin of a long-armed defensive group that can switch all over and can make this group truly special.
Ezeakudo fouled out in 22 minutes and that was important. Nichols wants constant pressure on opposing ballhandlers and he needs all hands on deck to play that way. Plus, Onyebuchi is really, really good.
Nichols thought his guys took too many breaks on off-ball defense and that will be a focus in upcoming practices. This staff has shown an ability to make marvelous adjustments. Marquette hurt RU in transition, but Notre Dame had just two points off the break. Radford's long-armed defenders got out and challenged shots better. The Irish were only 3-of-11 from three in the second half and that's a trend that will win games.
Offensively, Radford's high ball screens caused Notre Dame fits. The guards consistently making great reads is the residue of hard work in the preseason. Josiah Jeffers is so improved offensively in his overall game, he should be a legitimate all-conference candidate. He is another player of recent vintage who has come in and just worked and improved each season. That's a tip of the cap to this coaching staff and the last.
Likewise, Shaq Jules has done the same thing and his summer spent with the Virgin Islands National Team has accelerated his development into a true paint presence. Shaq's foul trouble got 6-10 Florida Atlantic transfer Madiaw Niang minutes, and that turned into a good thing – nine points on 3-of-4 shooting, three rebounds and solid interior defense in 16 minutes. I think Nichols undersold me a little about this team's post play this summer.
The guard play? Those perimeter guys we've already talked about are legit. And I haven't mentioned Kenyon Giles yet. He had 20 points at Notre Dame and 15 against Marquette. I'm a guy that lives for moments in sports, and I will never forget the first time I saw Giles play. I was on the Dedmon Center track getting my first look at the team this fall. I like the view up there. It's like live game film when they're scrimmaging and I get to see patterns develop at both ends and learn more how the Nichols Brothers & Co., are trying to play.
Giles stood out. So much that I had to go down to the floor and ask someone who this kid was that had the smooth midrange game and just made good things happen every time he touched the ball. He reminded me of Division II All-American Ivey Cook back in my undergraduate days but maybe with a little Don Burgess, one of the all-time smartest guys we ever put on the floor, mixed it.
Imagine my surprise when I heard Giles was a freshman. Imagine my further surprise to hear about how he was a team leader already – the guy that kicked older teammates' fannies to make them play harder and pushed a lot of the things we saw come to fruition in South Bend the other night. So now add Chris Hawkins, a gold-standard point guard, into the mix of players Giles reminds me about.
The talent, beyond even these guys I've mentioned, is apparent. There was no way to know that looking at transfer stats of players who didn't get a chance or were never healthy with their previous teams. In some ways, I hate what the transfer portal has done to the ability to predict how players will fare in a new setting, how teams will do.
