By Harry Minium
HARTFORD, Conn.
You knew when you saw Old Dominion fall behind 21-0 against Western Kentucky and win, or when the Monarchs overcame a 17-point deficit to beat VCU or when the Monarchs erased a 10-point halftime lead to shock No. 25 Syracuse in the Carrier Dome, that this team was something special.
Talent-wise, not so much. This was a blue-collar team that played dogged defense and at times ugly basketball. But the Monarchs had big hearts and a ton of determination,
Coach Jeff Jones somehow managed to fashion a championship season from a group of guys who often couldn’t shoot straight.
“I love these guys," he said after Thursday's 61-48 loss to Purdue in the NCAA tournament. "Sometimes they drive me nuts. I mean, we score 40-something points.
“But how can you not love a group of kids who gives one another everything they have, and that never ever stops?
“It was ugly. But to me, the way these guys did it, ugly is beautiful.”
ODU finished 26-9, won the Conference USA regular-season and tournament titles and, in spite of perhaps their worst offensive performance of the season, came oh-so-close to rallying against Purdue.
After Purdue took a 20-point lead, ODU clawed its way back. Purdue led by just nine with 4:32 left, but then ODU went stone cold. Two wide-open 3-pointers rimmed out.
“I don’t know if there’s another coach in the country who did a better job this year with his team than coach Jones,” ODU athletic director Wood Selig said..
ODU won its first conference title in eight seasons.
“He squeezed every bit of juice out of this team that was humanly possible. We were in a lot of close games. We won a lot of close games. Let’s face it, we had a good team, not a great team. But we had a great year.”
Purdue won in part because the Boilermakers were more poised. They’ve been to the Sweet 16 the last two seasons, and that experience showed down the stretch.
This was ODU’s first time in the NCAA tournament in eight years, and Jones acknowledged some of his players had jitters. But he said he couldn’t fault their effort.
"We had a couple of guys who didn't handle things as well as we'd wish," Jones said. "But everyone tried. I can't fault their effort."
ODU loses three senior starters, and Jones said his No 1 priority is to hit the recruiting trail. ODU would like to sign two players.
ODU loses a ton of talent, leadership and experience in guards B.J. Stith and Ahmad Caver, who were both All-Conference USA. Center Elbert Robinson III, a transfer from LSU, was solid at center and the Monarchs clearly would not have won the C-USA tournament without him.
Caver will be difficult to replace – ODU doesn’t have a true point guard and needs to recruit one. Caver’s 4,185 minutes played is a school record.
But next year’s team may not be as offensive challenged. Xavier Green, the C-USA tournament MVP, returns. He missed most of the first half with foul trouble against Purdue, but broke through as a consistent scorer the second half of the season.
Guard Marquis Godwin, who’s also a good shooter, missed most of the season with a foot injury. Anthony Oliver II, a 6-foot-5 transfer from Clemson, also becomes eligible next season. And he has good basketball genes.
ODU will sorely miss seniors B.J. Stith and Ahmad Caver next season.
His father, Anthony Oliver, played for Jones at Virginia. His mother, Audra Smith, is the former Clemson and current South Carolina State women’s basketball coach.
"He can shoot," assistant coach Bryant Stith said. "He's going to be an impact player."
Freshman Jason Wade, the son of former ODU standout Ronnie Wade, could replace Stith at shooting guard or play small forward. Wade showed flashes of brilliance this season, including a key series of plays in the first half, when Purdue was threatening to break the game open.
He drove inside the lane and made a reverse layup, then converted another layup off a steal.
Jones is counting on major improvement from 7-foot center Dajour Dickens, a Hampton native who transferred from Providence, and Kalu Ezipke, the 6-7 freshman from Atlanta who has tons of potential but lacked the work ethic as a freshman he will need to succeed.
And by the way, that’s not uncommon with freshmen.
“I’m excited about having an offseason to work with Dajour,” Jones said. “He needs a lot of work but he’s got a lot of potential. His offseason is huge for this basketball team.
“With Kalu, we’ve only seen the tip of the iceberg with him. We hope he can mature and approach things in a more serious manner. If he can figure that part of it out, with his talent, he can be a beast next year.”
Coach Jeff Jones said Dajour DIckens can be a star for ODU next season if he works hard in offseason practice.
Justice Kithcart, a transfer from Pitt, also showed flashes of outstanding play, scoring in double figures seven times.
Aaron Carver, the redshirt junior from Elizabeth City, was a workhorse on defense and on the boards, but needs to become more consistent offensively.
Joe Reece a 6-8 freshman from East St. Louis, Missouri, played sparingly this season, but Bryant Stith says he should play a lot next season. "He made a lot or progress," Stith said.
Jones cleared up any ambiguity about his future at a press conference Wednesday night, when he said he’s returning next season in spite of a recurrence of prostate cancer, for which he was treated in 2015.
He reiterated after Thursday’s loss that he plans to coach at ODU for years.
“I can’t wait to get started” on offseason workouts, he said.
“You can’t enjoy the kind of success we had this season without the kind of work we had in the offseason.
“I give Ahmad and B.J. a lot of credit for that. They were on the young guys to work hard. We need that same effort starting in about two weeks.”
ODU led Conference USA in attendance, averaging 6,620 per game. That was twice as high as the average attendance of eight conference rivals.
And Monarch fans also showed up in good numbers in Hartford. ODU sold out its NCAA allotment of 350 tickets and had perhaps 500 or 600 fans in the XL Center.
ODU athletic director Wood Selig said Jeff Jones coached as well as anyone in the nation.
Purdue did not sell out its allotment, and although ODU did not win the game, it won the decibel level contest. It was cool to hear the familiar “ODU” chant each time the Monarchs made it close.
“Some people left Norfolk at 6 a.m,” Selig said. “There were private planes that arrived here throughout the afternoon. It was really a great showing. We’ve got such a great fan base. We’re very fortunate to enjoy that.”
And fortunate, he said, that Jones intends to keep coaching.
“I never thought for a minute that he wouldn’t be coming back,” Selig said. “But when someone has gone through the health issues he’s been dealing with, it was nice to hear that confirmation.
“What he did with this team this season was just remarkable.”
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.e