Radford University NCAA Tournament Notes
Written for USA Today Online by Mike Ashley
RU's "official" NCAA tournament notes also are available online, and portions of the Highlanders' NCAA Tournament media guide are available online as PDF files. See NCAA Tournament Guide to access and download the PDF files.
WATCH WHAT YOU SAY: A week ago, Radford coach Ron Bradley joked with the media that the ballyhooed regular season finale between then No. 1-ranked Duke and third-ranked North Carolina was actually "the play-in game to see who plays Radford" in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. Bradley wasn't off the mark much, 16th seeded Radford will travel to Lexington, Ky., Friday to meet the South's top seed, Duke in the first round.
RADFORD ROLLING: Radford's 11-game winning streak is one of the best marks in the country as the NCAA Tournament gets underway. It's the Highlanders' longest Division I winning streak ever, too. Radford, a women's college until 1972, became Division I in 1984. The 1978-79 team won 19 consecutive games.
RU AND THE ACC: Radford has never met Duke on the hardwoods, but the Highlanders are 0-11 all-time against Atlantic Coast Conference foes. They lost 85-53 at Wake Forest in December in their only ACC test this year, and they're 0-7 in ACC games under Ron Bradley, a former Maryland assistant coach. RU is 0-4 against state-rival Virginia; 0-2 against Wake Forest; 0-2 against N.C. State, and 0-1 against Clemson, Florida State and Georgia Tech.
DON'T GIVE UP: Naturally, Radford has never played an ACC foe at home or even on a neutral court before. The possibility of ever getting an ACC team to play at Radford, put many long-time Highlanders in mind of a story then-N.C. State coach Jim Valvano told at a speech in Radford in 1983. Commenting on the rapid growth of RU's program. Valvano announced he had agreed to a five-year deal with the Highlanders. "They'll play at our place the first four seasons, and they'll play at our place the fifth year, too, only they get to wear white," he said.
HOT HIGHLANDER: Senior center Kevin Robinson, the MVP of the Big South Conference Tournament, averaged 18 points and 10 rebounds in three tournament games. He's hit double-digit scoring in five straight games, and has 9 or more rebounds in the last seven contests. His 59.7 field goal percentage led the Big South Conference.
REED BEHIND THE LINES: Senior guard Corey Reed, the coach's son from Bremen, Ind., led the Big South Conference, hitting 42% from three-point range. A first team all-conference performer, Reed was an Academic All-American last year, and has a 3.8 grade point average as a chemistry major. Reed averaged 15.2 points per game, and was third in the league with 3.7 assists. He averaged 3.3 three-pointers per game this year, and will be one of the first points of emphasis for Duke's defense.
SWAMPED: The Radford University sports information office has been so swamped by requests for interviews with coach Bradley, that they were forced to set a deadline of 10 a.m., Tuesday, to give Bradley and his staff some uninterrupted time to prepare a gameplan for Duke, before the Highlanders take to the road Wednesday. "He's literally done hundreds of interviews the last week," says RU Director of Media Relation, Dave Hunziker. Bradley will again be available at the NCAA regional press gatherings.
BRADLEY BITS: Dr. Ron Bradley, who has a doctorate in sports psychology, is 121-79 in seven years at Radford. He's never had a losing season with the Highlanders, and has three seasons of 20-or-more wins, including this year's 20-9 mark. Overall, his record is 217-130, including five years as head coach at his alma mater, Eastern Nazarene, from 1976-81.
LONG RANGE: Ron Bradley isn't bashful about what he thinks he can do with the Radford program. "Eventually, we don't want to just settle for getting into (the NCAA Tournament)," he says. "We want to get into the Sweet 16. I think that's a realistic goal for Radford."
BRADLEY ON BEING THERE: "It's a great opportunity for our program. It's unbelievable from a traditionalist's standpoint, to be playing Duke University in the NCAA Tournament in Rupp Arena. What more could you ask for?"
BRADLEY ON DUKE: "Duke's a great, great basketball program. I've had the opportunity to follow Coach K because I arrived in the ACC shortly after he did. A program I have a tremendous deal of respect for, a coach whom I have a tremendous respect for. In fact, we try to pattern our defense after Duke. They play great defense, and probably the biggest difference from the days I was in the ACC, they always seemed to have a player or two, who wasn't really and offensive threat who you could play off a little bit; now it seems that every player they have is a capable offensive player, who can explode at any time."
BRADLEY ON RU'S CHANCES: "The first thing is mentally; psychologically, we can't go into the game scared. We have to believe. We have to be loose, playing like we have nothing to lose, and at the same time playing with a lot of intensity, approaching the game as we would any other game. And beyond that, obviously we have to have every player that plays play at the top of their ability. We're realistic. We understand Duke is a great basketball team, but we also think that some place in the realm of possibility we can pull off this upset."
BRADLEY ON WHAT IT MEANS: "For the basketball program, the visibility we're getting; the publicity we're getting can make us a better program down the road. Kids will know about us; more kids will be interested in us, and hopefully it will make recruiting a little easier for us. In terms of the university, we've always said we have a great place here, a place we really take pride in, a beautiful campus and good people, and now, hopefully, that word is getting out."
