Steve Frey
Tomorrow’s the big day. Well, last Sunday was really the big day, when Radford University beat Liberty to win the Big South Championship and ensure a spot in the NCAA Basketball Tournament.
Tomorrow, however, is when Radford finds out who they will be playing in the Big Dance.
Now, we all know that Radford will probably get a top team to play. Hey, they may even have to play in one of the first four play-in games. None of that matters because Radford University Basketball will be playing in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2009.
Everyone loves an underdog. Radford may be an underdog for every game in the tournament, and that’s a good thing: they don’t have anything to lose, but they have everything to gain.
They can play, as a rugby teammate used to say in college, with “reckless abandon!”
Remember in “Rocky” when Rocky Balboa told the promoter that the picture of him in the fight arena was wrong, and the promoter asked him if it really mattered? The promoter went on to tell him to just try to give the crowd a good fight. Well, it mattered to Rocky, and being in the tournament matters now.
It matters to the guys playing on the court and the coaches. This is what a college basketball team dreams about. This is what they work for with every wind sprint, every fast break drill, every full-court press, every practice and every game all year.
This is why they have fought through fatigue, injury and tough losses. This is what they have hoped to achieve since, well, elementary school.
It matters to the students and staff members at Radford University. Highlander Pride burns just a little bit brighter today. You’re going to see a lot of red, white, and gray around campus. The Radford Highlanders are a part of March Madness, and if you’re a Highlander, you want to be a part of it.
Everyone has been talking about the possibilities all week. Who will the Highlanders be playing? Will they be placed in the South or some other region? Are they peaking at the right time? What will they have to do to win?
It matters to everyone in Radford and all Radford Alumni. Radford City and Radford University are strong partners. Oh, sure, there are always those who will want to take potshots, but the truth is that the university and the city both mutually benefit from the long, close, town-gown relationship they’ve had.
The success of each depends on the other and now, as sportscaster Dickie V. says, “Cinderella has come to dance, baby!”
Yeah, the people of Radford are going to be backing the Highlanders 100 percent. Sure, there might be a little bit of a tug at the heart for that team over in Blacksburg, and with its quality wins, the Hokies should hopefully be getting a decent seed, but this is Radford’s chance to rally around Radford’s team for the first time in several years, so let’s share part of the spotlight.
Ha! On the other hand, wouldn’t it be great if Radford and Tech both miraculously made it to the Final Four? The NRV would be rockin’!
And alumni, well, for those who spent time in Radford along the New River with those majestic mountains all around, probably experiencing some of the best times of their lives, they have also been talking at work, in grocery stores, and to anyone who will listen around Virginia, America and the world, about their Highlanders.
Finally, it matters to those high school students and student-athletes looking at colleges. Participation in the tournament means exposure for the college and that turns into interest and commitment by students. As momentum builds, more students and athletes choose Radford.
Heck, Radford could, in a couple years, be the basketball “Beast in the East.” Well, you know what I mean, and it’s all good!
By the way, our Radford Women’s Basketball team will play after press time on Friday in the Big South Tournament, with following rounds over the weekend. We wish the Lady Highlanders the best and hope that they will have the chance to excel in the NCAA Women’s Tournament.
Everything in this article is equally relevant to Coach McGuire and his team, too. Good luck, Women Highlanders!
Now, this is not to take anything away from any other sports teams at Radford. Radford has championships and champions in many other sports, and we are proud of them all, but March Madness has become a national phenomenon.
Probably because of the number of teams, the amount of analysis and the national exposure on television and in cities around the country, this tournament has become much larger than in other sports.
The biggest reason, however, is because of teams like Radford. Everyone loves the Cinderella team that nobody expects to win but sometimes does.
Yes, usually the Final Four ends up including a handful of teams from the largest schools with the biggest athletic budgets, but sometimes a smaller school, a Radford, goes a long way in the tournament.
They harness momentum, they play in the zone (Not zone vs. man-to-man defense, but with intense focus!), the shots fall, the other team misses, everything’s left on the court and that Cinderella team lives to play another day.
Americans love underdogs. It is part of the American spirit to never give up. It probably goes back to before there was an America.
That spirit is often reflected in popular films.
“Rudy,” “Remember the Titans,” “Invincible,” “The Natural” and so many other sports movies promote that spirit of the underdog, but the one that fits this situation best is “Hoosiers.”
“Hoosiers” was about a very small high school, Hickory High, which went on to win the Indiana State Basketball Championship against all odds. Hickory High represented a real school, Milan High School, in Southeastern Indiana, that did just that in the 1950s.
The team might enjoy that one, Coach Jones—just sayin’!
Radford University is just like Milan. People outside of Virginia might say, “Radford who?”
Nobody will give them a real chance. They’ll say they don’t belong, but isn’t that what they said about David fighting Goliath?
Those people couldn’t be more wrong. Radford earned its way into the NCAA Tournament. The players worked hard, they played hard, they put themselves in a position to win and they accomplished something that hundreds of other colleges around the country couldn’t do: They are in The Tournament.
So we will all enjoy this time. We are all Highlanders for a few days. We’re a little bit prouder of our city, and we’ll walk a little taller because our team is in the tournament.
We’ll wear our red Radford shirts and tune in to watch our Highlanders as they play on televisions across the country.
We’ll fill out our brackets and like millions of people across America, we’ll look for OUR city’s college, Radford, in the first line.
We’re hoping for the best for the Highlanders. We want them to go all the way, but know this, regardless of what happens, win or lose, everyone attending Radford, living in Radford or affiliated with Radford in any way will not soon forget 2018, the year the Radford Highlanders returned to March Madness and took us all along with them.
We’re proud of you, Highlanders! Good luck, and have fun at the Dance!
Steve Frey is a writer and CEO of Ascendant Educational Services based in Radford.
