Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Richmond SR Grant Golden

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Jon Teitel

Last Sunday Richmond beat Davidson 64-62 in the A-10 tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Spiders lost their final 2 regular season games but bounced back to win 4 games in 4 days to make the NCAA tourney, where they will face #5 seed Iowa on Thursday in Buffalo. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Richmond SR Grant Golden about his athletic family and winning the conference tourney.

You were born/raised in Virginia: what made you choose Richmond? I was actually born in Richmond but moved all around Virginia (with 2 years in North Carolina). I wanted to stay here for college and Richmond recruited me: I am lucky I got the opportunity.

You play for Coach Chris Mooney: what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have ever learned from him? I could go on and on about him, but as a coach he really tries to understand his players and treats us like adults. From Day 1 it does not matter whether you are a freshman or senior: he just wants us to grow up and become great men. He preaches all the time that the worst thing in life is feeling sorry for yourself: there are ups and downs but if you work hard then you can push through anything.

The last time the school made the NCAA tourney in 2011 it ended up making the Sweet 16: what is the key to winning games in March? We treat the 1st 1 just like a normal game in terms of scouting, but if you can get through the 1st 1 then the preparation/short notice changes a lot. With the Princeton offense we run it will help us a lot as our opponents will have little time to prepare for it.

Last weekend you won 4 games in 4 days to win the A-10 tourney: how exhausted were you by Sunday night, and what did it mean to you to win a title? I was super-exhausted…but not as much as my roommate Jacob, who played 40 minutes in all 4 games! To hear that final buzzer go off made it all worth it and made my body feel a lot better.

You also joined the 2000 PTS/1000 REB club: where does that rank among the highlights of your career? It is certainly something that I am proud of. When I am an old man I will be able to tell my family about it…but nothing beats winning the title yesterday.

PG Jacob Gilyard was named conference tourney MVP and has the most STL in NCAA history: where does he rank among the greatest defensive (or all-around) players that you have ever seen? He is PG #1 in my book, whether you are talking about defense or offense. He can go into a game and literally score zero points and still be the best player on the court: he is an incredible player with a high basketball IQ.

In the postgame press conference you mentioned all of the obstacles your team has overcome (injuries, COVID, etc.): what was the feeling like in your locker room afterward? We were all in shock just to finally be in that moment. It is indescribable: this group has been through a lot of ups and downs.

Your brother Bryce plays basketball at Butler, your father Craig played basketball at Fairfield, and 2 of your grandfathers played college football: who is the best athlete in the family? I want to say myself but I am obviously biased! My dad would probably say himself, as would the rest of us. I guess I will say my brother: he got the super-athletic genes while I did not.

How do you feel about being a #12 seed, and what do you know about Iowa? They are a really good team and have a POY candidate in Keegan Murray. They have some older guys like us and are very solid so we are looking forward to the opportunity. I do not get into all of the bracketology but the 5-12 matchup is always an interesting 1!

Your NCAA tourney game on Thursday will be #160 of your college career, which places you in the top-25 in the history of the sport: what kind of advantage will all of that experience give you in the postseason, and can you even comprehend that your opponent Jordan Bohannon is #1 with 178 games played?! I did not know that about Jordan until I saw a tweet about it this morning: I did not think that anyone had more games under their belt than me, but it is cool to see a guy who has the same level of dedication. The advantage is mostly in maturity: we have seen it all and have been down double-digits many times so no matter where we are at we will be calm.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Richmond SR Grant Golden

Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Fairfield SR Sydney Lowery

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Jon Teitel

Last Saturday Fairfield beat Manhattan 73-68 in the MAAC women’s tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Stags have now won 15 games in a row and will be facing #2 seed Texas on Friday in Austin. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Fairfield SR Sydney Lowery about that incredible winning streak and winning the conference tourney.

You scored more than 2000 PTS in high school: what is the secret to being a great scorer? Hard work is probably the easiest way to put it. I used to get up and have 6AM workouts with my shooting coach Levern Gaskin: he was the one who taught me how to shoot. It took a lot of time for me to master my shot, but I stayed consistent and did not give up. When I started to see the results, I realized I could be good at this game. Honestly, my “gym rat” mentality is what drove me to be the all-time leading scorer at St. Luke’s.

You began your college career at BC: why did you decide to transfer, and what made you choose Fairfield? While I immensely enjoyed my experience at Boston College, when we were sent home due to the pandemic I had a lot to consider. Being from the Fairfield County area, it was vital for me to continue doing what I love (which is playing basketball) while being close enough to home to support my mother (who has serious health complications). Leaving the community that I built and teammates that I love was not an easy choice. Still, my family means the world to me and I wanted my mom to be able to see me play. With the extra year of eligibility, that dream became a reality. My mother was front and center on my senior night!

You play for Coach Joe Frager (who is retiring this month after 24 years as a coach): what makes him such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from him so far? Coach Frager has always wanted to make sure I was happy since I stepped foot on campus. I appreciate how he never gave up on me. There would be times this season where it would be a tough start to a game, and he would still call plays for me to get me going. Having a coach who has confidence in you as a player, who does not give up on you during your most challenging nights, is something most players do not experience. That is one thing I think that makes him a good coach. One thing I learned from him was to enjoy the moment. He could tell when I would get mad at myself and would come up to me and remind me how important it was to stay in the moment: that is a lifelong lesson I will never forget.

You graduated from BC with a bachelors’ degree in Political Science and Sociology and are now pursuing a masters’ degree in Business and Management: what is the post-graduation plan? I want to stay connected to college basketball. I see coaching as my best option and something I am genuinely passionate about. I would be able to provide a different perspective (having played in two conferences), which will only add to what I can offer as a coach. I was lucky enough to have great mentors around me and I want to pay it forward to young women trying to find their own place in the game. College basketball is tough: I had to balance many challenging situations both on and off the court that helped make me into the strong woman I am today. I never want to hear that a young woman’s love for the game disappears because of a lack of support. If I can help another college athlete, then I want to support them the same way that my mentors/coaching staff supported me.

Last Saturday you had 18 PTS/3 STL in a 5-PT win over Manhattan and were named to the All-Tournament Team: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most, and what did it mean to you to win the title? I prayed for moments like this. I have such an amazing support system always backing me up. They believed in me and it was time that I believed in myself. I have had years of training and this was the moment to show it. Winning the title means a lot. I have dedicated so many years to the game (pretty much my whole life!) and I am so blessed to see my hard work pay off.

You made all 4 of your 3-PT attempts in the title game: what is the key to making shots from behind the arc? The key is repetition and being open to feedback. I have put up thousands of shots during the summer and regular season. Basketball is a long haul, and for me to have that much success it all boils down to muscle memory and practicing how you want to perform in a game setting.

What was the reaction like after you got back to campus? Everyone was so happy for us. It was great seeing how many people have supported us. It was even better to hear from people I did not know who followed us!

Since losing at Siena in late-January your team has won 15 games in a row: has it reached a point where people expect you to win every time you step onto the court? That might be the mentality of people watching us, but we know it is harder to be the #1 seed. It is great…but it is also the time when you will get the best out of your opponent because they have nothing to lose since they are the underdog. My dad always told me, “It is easier to get a spot than to keep it,” and that still rings true to this day. We got every team’s best shot this season, especially towards the end. Our coaches always reminded us before every practice and during games how important every game was because we never wanted to lose who we were as a program. We still had more to prove.

Your teammate Lou Lopez-Senechal scored almost 20 PPG this year: how crucial has she been to your team’s success? Lou has been great this season. She is a very talented player, and I know she will be great wherever she decides to play next. Having the leading scorer in the league has helped us get to where we are, and her ability to score at all three levels has helped our team’s success.

How do you feel about facing Texas on Friday? We earned our spot in the NCAA Tournament through our hard work so making it to the NCAA Tournament is a massive accomplishment for us. We will do whatever it takes to win and enjoy this experience as a team. We were unsure where we would end up because there are so many other teams who had very successful seasons. We are just happy to be a part of the process and look forward to the games to come.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Fairfield SR Sydney Lowery

Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Princeton SR Abby Meyers

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Jon Teitel

Last Saturday Princeton beat Columbia 77-59 in the Ivy women’s tourney title game to earn an automatic bid to this week’s NCAA tournament. The Tigers have now won 17 games in a row and will be facing #6 seed Kentucky on Saturday in Bloomington, IN. Earlier today HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to speak with Princeton SR Abby Meyers about that incredible winning streak and heading back to the NCAA tourney.

You grew up in Maryland: what made you choose Princeton? I loved watching Maryland women’s basketball games and knew that I wanted to stay close to home and go somewhere with a tight-knit supportive community. For me, that was Princeton.

You play for Coach Carla Berube: what makes her such a good coach, and what is the most important thing that you have learned from her so far? Coach Berube is so passionate about being great every day and holds us to a very high standard when we play for her. She makes it a fun and competitive atmosphere that teaches us to fail and then learn how to bounce back from that.

In the 2018 Ivy tourney title game you scored 18 PTS in a win over Penn: how were you able to play your best when it mattered the most? My mom always says that when the going gets tough I rise to the occasion. I love playing on a big stage such as the Ivy Tournament. In the end, I want to do anything to help my team win and know I can do that by putting the ball in the basket because that is one of my strengths.

In the 2018 NCAA tourney you scored a team-high 13 PTS in a loss to Maryland: what did you learn from that game that you think can help you this year? This year we have a lot of players who have never played in the NCAA tournament, and during this postseason run experience is everything. I will try my best to use my experience to prepare my younger teammates for the 1st round of tournament play. From that game against Maryland, I learned that you have to play your best to beat the best.

Last year the entire Ivy League basketball season was canceled due to COVID: what was your reaction when you heard the news, and what did you do for 12 months? Of course I was disappointed to hear about the season being canceled, but I looked at it as another opportunity to get better. I was fortunate enough to live on campus and train with some of our returning players and the coaching staff. I grew my leadership skills as well as the trust between me and the coaches.

Last December you scored a team-high 18 PTS including the game-winning basket in a 3-PT win at FGCU (1 of their only 2 losses all year): where does that rank among the highlights of your career? Playing against FGCU was such a fun and competitive environment. They had a packed gym, and as I said before I love playing on a big stage, so I made sure to rise to the occasion and perform well. That definitely was a highlight of my career: beating a top-25 team.

Last Saturday in the Ivy tourney title game you scored 16 PTS in a win over Columbia: what did it mean to you to win another title, and what was the reaction like after you got back to campus? It meant a lot to win another Ivy title. It being my last, I made sure to take in the moment as best I could and cherish it. My parents were able to come to watch and so that was a special moment to hug them after the game. They have been rock-solid throughout my basketball career: celebrating with them was like the cherry on top of my last Ivy League game ever. The university and my friends have been so supportive and congratulatory. We say that at Princeton it really is the team around the team that enriches our success.

Since losing to Seton Hall in mid-December your team has won 17 games in a row: has it reached a point where people expect you to win every time that you step onto the court? At the end of the day, people’s expectations of our team are just noise that we have to block out. We know that there is a target on our back, but our success in the latter half of the season has been due to sticking with the principles of our team, the game plan set by our coaching staff, and playing great defense every single game.

Your twin sister Olivia also attends Princeton: who is the best athlete in the family, and who is the best student?! I am by far the least-smart sister in the family. My twin has the brains and I have the brawn. In terms of athleticism, my twin is actually very athletic: she is even faster than me so I cannot say who has the better genes there. I just used them to my advantage by playing a D-1 sport. I think that she could have gone anywhere for basketball if she devoted herself as much to the sport as I have.

How do you feel about being a #11 seed? I am happy with where we are. At the end of the day, we will take what we get and go from there.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Tourney Talk: HoopsHD interviews Princeton SR Abby Meyers

Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews Anthony Latina about Dave Bike

Posted on March 14, 2022 by Jon Teitel

The postseason is when coaching really comes into play as a factor in deciding wins or losses, and Dave Bike was a coach who ended up on the winning side of the equation more often that not. He won 500+ games as coach at Sacred Heart, including the 1986 D-2 title game over Southeast Missouri State. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with current Pioneers coach Anthony Latina about his former boss and that 1 shining moment. Today is Dave’s 76th birthday so let us be the 1st to wish him a happy 1!

At Notre Dame High School Dave was an all-state basketball player but turned down scholarship offers from Boston College/Providence to sign a pro baseball contract: which sport was he best at, and which sport did he enjoy the most? He was very good at both sports. The reason he chose baseball was because he had a higher ceiling on the diamond, but in high school he was equally dominant and loved them both.

How did he 1st get into coaching? I believe the Detroit Tigers paid for him to take classes at Sacred Heart and the head coach later asked him to help out.

In the 1986 D-2 title game as head coach at Sacred Heart he had a 6-PT win over Southeast Missouri State: what did it mean to him to win a title? He always said that even though we won the D-2 title there is no WAY that Louisville was happier to win the D-1 title that year! To win it at his alma mater in an area where he grew up made it a very important connection. His high school used to be right on the Sacred Heart campus!

He finished that year by being named NABC national COY: what did it mean to him to receive such an outstanding honor? He is such a humble guy that while he appreciated the recognition he would just say that he was lucky to have such good players.

He also spent more than a decade as athletic director: how did he balance being a coach with being an administrator? Things were different back then but he is very intelligent/organized so I do not think it was very difficult. He is a natural leader so it was a natural fit.

In 1999 the school made the transition from D-2 to D-1: what is the biggest difference between the 2 levels of competition? It has changed a lot through the years but I would say the financial commitment: travel, recruiting, etc. The additional resources allow you to recruit better players, but some of the top D-2 teams back then were as good as the D-1 teams because there were far fewer D-1 teams.

In December of 2001 he had a 3-PT 4-OT win at Fairleigh Dickinson: what are your memories of that legendary game? I was at Central Connecticut at the time. Both teams were struggling that year and he joked that someone had to win that game!

He spent 35 years on the Pioneers sideline before retiring in 2013: what does he mean to the school? He is such a great ambassador for our wonderful institution. I cannot think of a better person to be the face of the school. He is humble/generous and everything he stands for has been a great honor for us.

You took over for him as the 2nd-ever coach in school history: how hard has it been for you to fill his huge footsteps? Impossible! If you try to do that you will fail. 1 thing he taught me is to be the best version of myself. Aside from the success, he has had a huge role on the development of the university so I just try to honor his legacy to the best of my ability.

When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? He put people 1st above himself and was a great competitor/winner. It was always about people, which is a great lesson for all of us. He always tried to prepare his players for life and did things the right way: the wins are just a byproduct of his 1st-class manner/leadership.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , , | Comments Off on Happy Birthday!: HoopsHD interviews Anthony Latina about Dave Bike

All-Access at the A-10 Tournament: The Title Game

Posted on March 13, 2022 by Jon Teitel

Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The A-10 Tournament is taking place in Washington, DC, this weekend and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD covered all of the angles so we hope you enjoyed our cascade of coverage this week. Jon Teitel wraps it up with a recap of the Davidson-Richmond title game on Sunday.

After attending 8 CAA tourney games last weekend and another 13 A-10 Tourney games this week (for a total of 21 games in 9 days!) I am certainly running on fumes, but 1 final pregame meal helped me push through the pain: make your own cold cut sandwiches/chicken curry salad/regular salad/brownie! There was a sea of red in the lower bowl this afternoon as both Davidson and Richmond had great alumni/student support. As you can see there is a noticeable size differential between CBS broadcasters Ian Eagle (5’9″) and Jim Spanarkel (6’5″):

I did not get to ask Jamie Erdahl if she is in fact 5’7″:


Let’s tip it off:

The Spiders got out to an early 11-2 lead thanks to 1-9 FG shooting by the Wildcats, but the #1 seed fought all the way back to take a 26-25 lead at halftime. It turned into a 3-PT shooting contest in the 2nd half as both teams combined to make 5 threes in the 1st 5 minutes after halftime. It remained a close game the rest of the way that went right down to the wire. A layup/foul/&1 by SR Matt Grace gave Richmond a 63-62 lead with 19 seconds left. SR PG Jacob Gilyard (who finished with 26 PTS) was fouled with 2 seconds left, but the 86 FT% shooter this year only made 1 of 2 to keep it a 2-PT game.

Davidson coach Bob McKillop set up 1 final play but JR SG Michael Jones missed a shot at the buzzer and the Spiders were dancing! I was able to work my way down to the court to get some nice photos from the celebration:

The Richmond cheer coach crying tears of joy:

A player going into the crowd to share the moment with his loved ones:

The title trophy/all-tournament team awards being arranged for the champs to come claim:

The team holding assistant coach Maurice Joseph’s newborn child high in the air:

Coach Chris Mooney pumping his fist to the crowd and then looking up to see the final result on the scoreboard 1 more time:

The cheerleaders were feeling quite cheerful:

The mascot was covered in streamers:

The remnants of trampled chairs that barely survived the postgame celebration:

…and the confetti falling like the snowflakes we had the previous morning:

In the postgame press conference I asked Richmond SR Grant Golden whether he thought this day would arrive after he collapsed during a game as a freshman and had to miss the rest of the season with an irregular heartbeat. He explained that his collapse on national TV was only the start of a series of “heartbreaking” losses by his team during the past 5 years: blowing a 6-PT 2nd half lead in an OT loss to VCU in the 2017 A-10 tourney, going 24-7 in 2020 only to watch the postseason canceled due to COVID, having teammate Nick Sherod miss all of last season with his own injury, etc. He said that nobody understands what he and his teammates have been through during their college careers and that you cannot truly know what the emotion of finally making the NCAA tourney feels like:

I wondered if Spiders coach Chris Mooney learned anything from his prior run to the NCAA tourney in 2011, when he won 3 A-10 tourney games in 3 days before making the Sweet 16, that he could use this time around. He joked that Grant was only a sophomore back then! He just hoped that his team’s 1st game could be delayed until Friday (NOTE: his hopes were dashed a few hours later when the Selection Committee bracketed them to play Big 10 champ Iowa on Thursday afternoon in Buffalo), as dealing with the media can be a big distraction, so he just wants to get some rest and then celebrate tonight.

That is a wrap on a wild week of basketball in DC…but check back later this week as HoopsHD will be live in San Diego for the NCAA tourney!

Posted in CBB | Comments Off on All-Access at the A-10 Tournament: The Title Game

Happy Anniversary!: HoopsHD interviews Missouri State legend Winston Garland

Posted on March 13, 2022 by Jon Teitel

The Madness is finally here! The reason they call it that is because there are always a few teams that you may not have heard of who shock the world with an upset of monumental proportions. Before he was known as “Darius Garland’s father”, Winston Garland was a great player at Missouri State. He led the Bears to the 1986 NIT quarterfinals while scoring 16.5 PPG but saved his best for the 1987 NCAA tourney: 24 PTS in 40 minutes in a 5-PT upset of Clemson, followed by another 24 PTS in 40 minutes in a 4-PT loss to Kansas. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Winston about that magical tourney run and his All-Star son. Today marks the 35th anniversary of that unbelievable upset on March 13, 1987, so we take this time to reflect on Cinderellas from the past.

In the 1982 Indiana state title game you scored 10 PTS for Roosevelt High School but Scott Skiles scored 39 PTS in a 1-PT 2-OT win by Plymouth High School: could you tell at the time that Skiles was going to become an NBA player, and what did you think about the officiating (Plymouth had a 38-16 advantage at the FT line)? Skiles was a heck of a high school player but would not have passed the NBA “eye test” by any means back then. I remember when his Michigan State squad played Georgetown in the 1986 NCAA tourney and he put on a show with 24 PTS, at which point I thought that he did have a chance to make it. The refs were ridiculous in the title game: I think Skiles made something like 23-24 from the FT line! We played an aggressive style of pressing defense but I guess that did not fly down south.

After being named a JC All-American at Southeastern Community College you decided to transfer to Southwest Missouri State: what made you choose the Bears after getting interest from schools like Indiana/UNLV? My mom/dad did not know much about Coach Bob Knight and were totally against me going to Indiana. It was the exact opposite with the late Charlie Spoonhour: they loved his charm/charisma. Choosing the Bears was the best decision I ever made: when you transfer from a JUCO you do not want to spend a lot of time sitting on the bench behind a guy like Steve Alford!

In 1987 you were named conference POY: what did it mean to you to win such an outstanding honor? It was awesome. We had some other good players in the conference at the time like Kevin Duckworth/Mouse McFadden so it was a great feeling to win that award.

Take me through the 1987 NCAA tourney (the 1st in school history):
You scored 24 PTS in a 5-PT upset of #4-seed Clemson: what was it like to play against a box-and-1 defense, and how were you able to score so well against it? It was the 1st time that we had ever seen a box-and-1, but to my teammates’ credit they did a great job of getting me open. It actually worked in our favor because we did not have a lot of set plays on offense so we just ran a lot of motion and I got open off of some screens and made some shots.

You scored 24 PTS in a 4-PT loss to #5-seed Kansas: where does Danny Manning’s performance (42 PTS/16-26 FG) rank among the best that you have ever seen? His 42 PTS actually set a Southeast Regional scoring record: we did not have an answer for him…but if we had gone zone for a few minutes in the 2nd half then I think that we would have shocked the world.

In the summer of 1987 you were drafted in the 2nd round by Milwaukee: did you see that as a validation of your college career, or the realization of a lifelong dream of reaching the NBA, or other? When you are playing in the backyard or park growing up you come home and turn on a game and wonder if 1 day it will be you on TV. You work on your craft and persevere on making your childhood dream come true no matter where you fall in the draft.

A few months after signing as a free agent with Golden State that November you became the 1st Warrior in 5 years to record a triple-double with 20 PTS/10 REB/11 AST in a 6-PT loss to the Knicks: where does that rank among the best all-around games of your career? I was recently trying to get some footage from my 10 best games. It finally arrived last week and I got to watch the triple-double game. There were a lot of Hall of Famers out there like Patrick Ewing/Chris Mullin so my son was impressed by my performance!

You finished your rookie season #9 in the league with 87.9 FT%: what is the secret to making FTs? Practice. Kids these days practice all types of shots but hardly ever will they go to the FT line for 20-30 minutes of shooting it the same way every single time.

As a member of the Rockets in the final seconds of Game 7 of the 1993 Western Conference Semifinals, you walked onto the floor as the 6th Houston player on the court in a 3-PT OT loss to Seattle: why did you do it, and how did you avoid getting caught? I was totally into the game and did not even realize that I was that far out on the floor. I think the refs were also totally into the game and just did not see me.

Your son Darius was an named All-Star this year for the Cleveland Cavaliers: who is the best athlete in the family? My dad used to tell me all the time that my son was much better than I was at his age!

Since retiring you have worked as a prison recreation leader and a high school coach: what do you hope to do in the future? I was an assistant coach at my son’s school. I also work at GM and in the special needs program at a local high school, which has been my love for the past few years. I would like to continue coaching and would love to do some scouting again someday while watch my son keep maturing.

Posted in Interviews | Tagged , | Comments Off on Happy Anniversary!: HoopsHD interviews Missouri State legend Winston Garland