By Harry Minium
Let's start with the obvious: a week before the Old Dominion University basketball team begins play in the Conference USA tournament, the Monarchs are playing their best basketball of the season.
ODU celebrated Senior Night Wednesday by crushing UTSA, 84-59, before a raucous crowd of 4,969 that cheered the blowout victory with a dozen or so standing ovations.
More on Senior Night festivities in a minute.
ODU (13-17 overall, 9-8 C-USA) faces a mammoth challenge next week in Frisco, Texas, if they are to win their second C-USA title in a row. They must win four games in four days with a team that has limited depth.
It's difficult to predict who ODU will play in the first round, but a second-round game likely would come against North Texas, Louisiana Tech or Western Kentucky, all very good teams.
Can ODU win four in a row? Difficult and improbable, but stranger things have happened.
ODU has lost a ton of close games – 10 losses by seven points or less and six by three points or less – and the Monarchs have lost largely through mistakes, untimely turnovers or long shooting slumps.
The good news is that most of those problems have been in the rear view mirror over the last week. The Monarchs scored the second-most points they've scored this season, and the most came Sunday in an 85-80 OT victory over Florida Atlantic.
Xavier Green, the MVP of the 2019 C-USA tournament, has finally found his shooting touch. He had 19 points against UTSA and 22 on Sunday. ODU can't win four games in four days without getting a goodly portion of offense from "X."
An interesting aside here: Green played 38 minutes, made 8 of 14 shots, played stellar defense against UTSA's Jhivvan Jackson, the nation's second-leading scorer, and had two steals and three assists, all while suffering from a tooth that needs a root canal and two others that have cavities.
"He was playing in pain," coach Jeff Jones said.
Green was to gain some relief Thursday morning, when he was scheduled for a root canal and to have both cavities filled.
Guards Malik Curry and A.J. Oliver are also shooting well (20 points, 12 rebounds) and ODU's defense was superb. When he's on his game, Kalu Ezipke can be a dominant player. He had 10 points (on 5 of 6 shooting) and eight rebounds in just 15 minutes. Joe Reece (13 points, six rebounds) continues to improve.
Senior Aaron Carver scored five points, but was a monster in the paint, grabbing 14 rebounds, blocking two shots and dishing off two assists.
It would be a mistake to make too much of this victory. UTSA was worn out from a long road trip lengthened by weather delays, and did not start because of disciplinary reasons and scored just 14 points in 23 minutes.
Jackson scored 45 points in UTSA's overtime victory at ODU on Feb. 6.
"We consistently made good plays," Jones said. "We need to do more to get better, but this was a big step in the right direction."
Back to Senior Night. The pregame ceremony was as emotional as always, and Carver, surrounded by family, got a rousing ovation from the crowd.
Those of us who have been through divorces know that relations with your ex can sometimes be dicey, but Carver's mother, Angela Bailey, and step mother, Tia Carver, put all that aside and worked together to raise Aaron and his two brothers.
Aaron had his arms about both Angela and Tia as they walked onto the court at Chartway Arena. His father, former ODU star Anthony Carver, walked behind them with his sons Trey and A.J.
"There's so much love that they have for me and that I have for them," Carver said.
There was a second senior on the court also surrounded by family and I don't expect that many ODU fans know who he is.
His name is Drew Lakey, an Alexandria, Va., native who graduated from the University of Virginia last spring, where he played a season with the Cavaliers. And he has an intriguing life story.
He was a walk-on at U.Va. during 2017-2018, when the Cavaliers won the ACC title, were seeded first in the NCAA tournament and then lost to UMBC in the first round. U.Va. was the first, and still the only, No. 1 seed to ever lose to a No. 16 seed.
Lakey practiced and traveled with the team, but didn't play or dress out. He was on the bench in Charlotte for the UMBC loss and says it was a haunting night.
"The atmosphere that night is something I don't like to think about," he said.
Lakey wanted to play as a senior, but after the team made several roster adjustments in the offseason, he was told he wasn't needed.
So he finished his degree in government last spring (with a 3.4 grade point average), coached youth basketball in Charlottesville and last summer contemplated what he wanted to do in life.
He had worked with a law firm one summer and was thinking of a career in politics. But it soon hit him that he didn't love the law or politics.
He loved basketball.
He put his name into the transfer portal and reached out to hundreds of Division I and Division II teams. In return, all he heard was crickets.
He was on vacation in Florida, and beginning to become resigned to the fact that he would never play again, when he got a call from Jones, a U.Va. graduate and former head coach. Jones coached Cavs' assistant Jason Williford in Charlottesville.
Williford had given Lakey a great recommendation, and withing weeks, Lakey was working at ODU's team camp.
"We got to see him and how he interacted with our players and he got to see us, too," Jones said. "We liked what we saw in him."
He enrolled in ODU during August to earn a Master's degree in sports management and is on time to graduate in July.
"I love the game of basketball more than anything, and that's why I decided to major in sport management," he said. "I can wake up every day and do something basketball related."
He hopes to intern for ODU's program this summer, helping with recruiting, scouting or anything else the Monarchs need, and then become a graduate assistant at another university.
His year at ODU has been trying. During the first week of school, Lakey lost his best friend, Brandon Dorns, in a car accident.
While he was grieving his friend, he said he learned a lot about the character of ODU's basketball players and coaches.
"Without the support from my team and the coaches, I don't know how I would have pushed through this," he said. "They were just there for me. They took care of me.
"People always preach family about programs at other places, but I've never seen a more tight-knit team than this one. Everyone is so close. We do everything together off the court.
"We argue and fight like brothers, but we love each other. I'm so fortunate to have met the people I've met here. I couldn't imagine being anywhere else. I don't want to be anywhere else."
Lakey still roots for U.Va., as you would expect, and speaks highly of coach Tony Bennett.
"I'll always root for U.Va.," he said. "Coach Bennet is a class act. He's a great guy, a high character guy. The way they run their program is out of this world.
"I wouldn't have had this opportunity here without the opportunity he gave me."
ODU gave him something U.Va. didn't – a senior night ceremony at mid court with his parents, where he was greeted by ODU President John R. Broderick and athletic director Wood Selig, as the crowd gave him a standing ovation.
He started the game, and got the opening game tip from Carver. He played for 1:31 and took the first shot of the game – a three pointer that was half an inch or so short.
He also played the last minute and a half and had two rebounds and a foul.
"The Senior Night ceremony was surreal," he said. "When I stopped playing for the Virginia men's team, I thought I would never have the opportunity to play Division I basketball again, let alone in my home state and be honored on my senior night for a University as prestigious as Old Dominion.
"It's been such an honor. I'm extremely grateful to coach Jones and the staff for giving me this opportunity.
"They didn't have to take a chance on me. They didn't have to let me come and play for them.
"I'm so glad they did."
Contact Minium: hminium@odu.edu