Lion Talk | By Langston University
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Lion Talk | By Langston University
SPECIAL: LU Men's Basketball Prepares for NAIA National Championship (With Coach Chris Wright)
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The Langston University Men's Basketball Team earned the #4 seed in the Liston Quadrant for this year's NAIA Men's Basketball National Championship after runner-up finished in both the Sooner Athletic Conference Regular Season and Tournament. The Lions will host the first and second rounds of the tournament on March 13-14. Their first game is at 5 p.m. on March 13 against Bethel (Tenn.). Hear from Head Coach Chris Wright about how this team was built, what they've had to overcome this season and how they're preparing for this year's national tournament. Purchase your tickets at LangstonSports.com.
The Langston University men's basketball team earned an at-large bid to the NAIA National Championship Tournament after runner-up finishes in the Sooner Athletic Conference regular season and conference tournament. Now the Lions get to host the opening rounds of the tournament March 13th and 14th. Here to chat with us about their season and to preview the national tournament is Langston University men's head basketball coach Chris Wright. Coach, welcome to the show.
SPEAKER_00I appreciate you having me.
SPEAKER_01Of course. So let's just get started with how you build your team. You know, it feels like most off seasons you're almost building your teams from scratch. I know, you know, we have a couple of returners this year with guys like Cam McCoy and Cooper and Charles, but with everyone else, for the most part, this is a you know a brand new team. So without giving away all of your secrets, you know, what goes into building a roster? Like what kind of guys are you looking for when you get into a new season?
SPEAKER_00Obviously, you know, for us, it starts with right, with their talent level. We want guys that are right good enough on the basketball court to help us win, right, and compete for championships. Um then, you know, after that's kind of established, right? You really we really try to do a deep dive into who guys are as people, right? How tough are they, how unselfish are they? Do they want to grow? Do they want to be a part of something bigger than themselves? We want not only right good basketball players, but guys that just that want to get their degree, right, that really want to grow as men.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, guys, just good guys in general. For sure. Yeah. And so, you know, with all of that in mind, you fast forward to the beginning of the season, your second game of the year, you lose a really close game against St. Mary's, but then you turn around and you win a close game to Oklahoma Wesleyan, who's one of the one seeds in the national tournament now. So what do you think that early adversity kind of taught you about your team?
SPEAKER_00You know, I think there's a lot of coaches that kind of shy away from playing tough games early in the season. But for us, I think it's it's huge in right, just developing your team. Even if you in that instance, right, we took a loss early in the season, but it's a game that you know we could really grow from, um, that we could really learn from. And then to get a chance to compete against the top five team and Oklahoma Wesley in the next night and figure out how to win that, I think really set a good tone, you know, for the whole season.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you know, it would we'd be remiss to not mention the injuries that have kind of plagued the especially the early parts of the season. You know, you were missing some key guys like Tone and and some others. So even figuring out a way to win without them, I'm I'm sure that was a big morale booster for the year.
SPEAKER_00It was. It was. You know, I mean, I think we were a pretty depleted team at at that point. And so I think that's been a big just part of our story for the season is figuring out how to overcome adversity. And a lot of that has been in the form of injuries to, you know, the key guys.
SPEAKER_01And so what what are some of the things that you've really enjoyed, you know, when watching this team throughout the season?
SPEAKER_00You know, I think first off, we have really good guys. Like if if you're around them at all, like they are excellent people with great hearts, they love each other, they care about each other. Um, they've really been very unselfish um this whole season. And so I think that says right a lot about them. And it's fun to be able to coach guys that realize that it's not just about them. And to like, you know, this hasn't been right the easiest season in in uh in terms of just there's been a lot of ups and downs, right, with a lot of different things, and these guys have continued to battle, they've continued to scratch and claw and fight and put us in a good position here to right, have a chance to achieve our ultimate goal, right, which is to win a uh NAI national championship.
SPEAKER_01What do you think this team is still working on, you know, going into the postseason?
SPEAKER_00You know, I I mean you mentioned our injuries, so help, right? That's a that's a big part of it. Um but you know, more than that, I mean I think just learning how to be consistent every day. I mean, you mentioned that we had one scholarship player back from last season, um, and then a couple other guys that are you know really key um leaders for us, but it's essentially a brand new team. And so I think it's it's it's we're a work in progress as far as just understanding, right, that competition is never convenient, right? It never meets you when and where you want it to be. Like, you know, if you have practice that day, you're expected to show up at that time and compete, right? If there's a game that day at 5 p.m., then you're expected to show up and compete at 5 p.m., regardless of how you feel. And so I I think we're still learning how to just be consistent on a daily basis.
SPEAKER_01You know, you've you've had so much sustained success over uh especially the last several years, you know, from your time at Teladega and then now at Langston University, you've had four years of making the tournament and being right in the conference championship picture every year, always kind of a national championship favorite. Um, you know, what kind of target do you think that puts on your team's back every time they step out onto the court?
SPEAKER_00A big one, you know, and I think that's that's something that new guys don't understand, right? Our first two seasons here, we were so dominant. I think we went 48-3 against Sooner Athletic Conference teams, and our average margin of victory was like 26 points a game. I mean, we were as dominant as you're right, a program could be for two years. And so people don't forget that. And, you know, it's funny, like talking to other coaches, they'll always ask me about other teams, and I'm like, man, I think they're really good. You know, and then you watch them on film and and right, like no one's ever going to not get up for a game against us. Right? We're never gonna get someone's just average shot. Like everyone has that game circled. If they're able to beat us, right, it's a huge win for their season. Yep. Yeah, I joke with our guys, but it's true. I mean, I think out of the the seven losses we have this season, six of those times people celebrated like they were winning a national championship. Yeah. So it's a big deal to to to beat Langston. And if you don't come ready to play, right, any team on your schedule can can beat you when you have that type of target on your back.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's just kind of the nature of basketball, right? Like any team can really get up on any day, and that's what makes like the national tournament so dangerous, right? You catch the wrong team at the wrong time, and that could be the end of your season.
SPEAKER_00You know, it it is. And I I think like if you look at the difference in let's say football, right? Like, no, you're a big football fan, Jet. Like in college football, if you're bigger, faster, stronger than people, like you're gonna go win most games. Yep. Right? I mean, like uh, right, like you look at Alabama and their heyday, like right, you're never gonna see like a low major team come in and knock those guys off. It's just not gonna happen. Yeah, but in basketball, it's why it's March Madness, right? I mean, you know, the last few years you've seen 16 seeds beat one seeds in the Division I tournament. And so, like, yeah, you really have to be ready to go every single night.
SPEAKER_01And you know, now so now it is national tournament time. You're the fourth seed in the listing quadrant. You know, how does it feel to make your fourth national championship tournament in a row with Langston University?
SPEAKER_00You know, it's it's it is really easy to kind of take that for granted. Um, I mean, you look right now and there's some really good teams, really good coaches that that are at home, their season's over. And so I don't ever want to get to the point where we just assume that we're gonna be in the national tournament, but we're at we built this thing to where we're kind of right at the point. Yeah, you know, we were in the top ten um right, literally the the whole entire season, but you know, losing seven games up to this point, right, doesn't it doesn't sit well with me. Sure. And so um, you know, I to be honest, it really hurt to lose uh right, to lose to Nelson at home. We've been so dominant over our four years at home. I think we were 61-2 um until we dropped that game. And then to lose in the uh conference tournament at Oklahoma City on their home court, right? We had a chance to cut down the nets was a uh was a heartbreaker. So we're excited to get back on the court. We love that, right, our main goal is is still alive, right? It's six games to win a national title, and you know, we could we could very easily lose the first game, but we could also go on a run here and be the last team standing on the final Tuesday of the season.
SPEAKER_01And what what are those losses? You know, you mentioned the the home loss to Nelson that cost you, you know, a share of the regular season championship, and then the loss, I guess it was a neutral site technically, but at Oklahoma City University in the conference tournament championship. What do you learn from from losses like that? I mean, those are big losses, tight losses. I mean, what what are you taking away from moments like that?
SPEAKER_00You know, I we we talk a lot about with our team that you know how you respond to adversity is really what defines you as a person. And so I my hope is that every loss that we take, every time something we don't get a bounce, we don't do our job at a high enough level that we can learn from that and use it to get better. You know, I I think adversity, um, you know, Tony Bennett at the University of Virginia, uh, that they were the first one seed to ever lose to a 16 in the NCAA tournament. The next year they came back and won a national championship. And I still remember this. He said adversity can buy you a ticket to a place that you couldn't have gone without it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah.
SPEAKER_00And so that's you know, that's our mindset going into the national tournament. Obviously, it's it's unfortunate that we lost those games. It's man, as a coach, it's like, and again, I don't mean to uh right, like I realize I'm coaching basketball, but those are losses you just don't probably ever get over, right? Like I'll I'll remember both of those losses for the rest of my life. They really stick with you and they're painful and they hurt. But again, if if we use them in the right way, like I think we can go on a run here.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, absolutely. And so so let's dive a little bit deeper into the national tournament bracket. You know, so you have the opportunity to host the first two rounds of the national tournament for the fourth year in a row. What does it mean to be able to host those opening rounds at the at the den here at Lingston University?
SPEAKER_00I think that there it is a remarkable accomplishment, not only for right for our program, but for the university as a whole. Right. There's only been since the NAI has gone to this format, there's only been two HBCUs that have ever hosted games in the NAI national tournament. It was right when us when we were at Talladega, and then now here. And so I think it's a great chance to spotlight um right a lot of the great things about HBCUs, um, a lot of great things that you're right that make us unique here at Langston. People kind of get a uh right a glance into right what we're about as a university. And so I I think that is a uh really cool opportunity for for everyone on campus here. And then, you know, basketball-wise, obviously playing at home is a huge advantage. You know, I think s I saw a stat since the NAI went to this model, 77% of teams that went to Kansas City have hosted. And so we know we have two tough games that could go either way, but you know, playing at home, right? We feel like right, like the ball really is in our court with what we decide to do with it.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, literally it is. So um your first round matchup is against Bethel, Tennessee. So have you gotten to learn much about them yet? Like what are you what are you seeing from from them right now?
SPEAKER_00Oh shit, I know too much about them, man. I like I go to sleep waking up thinking about Bethel. Um, man, hey, that they have a really good head coach, Jeff Britt, he's been there for a long time. They play in the uh mid-south, which is you know, arguably the best or second best conference in the NAIA. Um so they're they're battle-tested. I mean, you look what they did in their conference tournament, they beat Georgetown, right? Probably the perennial power in the history of the NAIA. Yeah. And then uh they beat Cumberland. So two top ten teams, and then they, you know, gave Freed Hardman, the number one team in the country, all they wanted before losing by seven. So they are playing really, really well. They're tough, they're well coached, they're extremely physical. I mean, it's it's you know, we've been telling our guys it's gonna be a uh old-fashioned street fight here on Friday.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. And the winner of your game will either play LSU Alexandria or Eastern Oregon. So any word about those two teams?
SPEAKER_00And again, two really good teams, right? Like, in my opinion, two top 20 teams in the country. LSUA, um, you know, Coach Jackson's done a remarkable job since taking over. Uh, I think last year they went to the Elite Eight, and I mean they started the year off in the top ten. I mean, they're very, very talented. They, you know, poised some problems for you. Just they'll turn you over, they'll beat you up on the offensive glass, they have multiple guys that can go make plays with the ball in their hands. And then Eastern Oregon might be the best shooting team in the country. They run great actions, they're extremely well coached. I mean, they are really, really good. And so, man, hopefully we're fortunate enough to find a way to win on Friday, but either one of those teams, right, present a big challenge for us if we're able to make it to Saturday.
SPEAKER_01Well, it's it's March Madness time, I guess, right? Like it's national tournament time. So, what do you think it means to the University to Linkson University to consistently be in this spot to compete and win for national championships?
SPEAKER_00You know, that's just as a coach, right? That's that's why I came here. Right. That was our vision for the program. Um right with Dr. Kent Smith hiring me and now um Dr. Jackson. Right. That's that's what we all want. We want to have a chance every single year to uh to win the NAI national championship. And you know, there's so many great programs around the country that never sniff, right, uh national championship. And I just believe, right, we've been in the top five in the country for four straight years. If we keep knocking on the door, right, like eventually we're we're we're gonna win one here. Like, you know, I'm not gonna rest until we do. Um and obviously it's it's it's it's a once-in-a-lifetime type of thing for most programs if you can ever win the national title. Um, but we're close, right? I think you got to be really, really good, but then you also got to get some breaks along the way, right, with health, with matchups, with um, you know, just have have to have a few bounces go your way. So I'm excited about the postseason coming up. Um we've been the two sweet 16s in the national championship game. It would be great if this was the year where we could uh right go on that magical run and and cut down the nets.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, and you know, obviously you have all of uh Lion Nation behind you. What what do you have to say to all of the Lions fans out there as you prepare for this weekend?
SPEAKER_00I think the support we get here is uh unbelievable, right, from just everyone associated with with Langston, from our administration to our staff, our students, our alumni. It's really cool to be a part of. Um, you know, with kind of the timing of the opening rounds, I know most of our students are gonna be at home, right? Because spring breaks starting the following Monday, so we definitely need your support. Uh, Lion Nation, come out. We play at five o'clock on Friday. We would love to have you there. And let's let's get the den rocking and see if we can uh win two games and get to Kansas City.
SPEAKER_01Absolutely, Coach. Well, thank you so much for your time and and good luck the rest of the way on this tournament.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, I appreciate you. Thank you.
SPEAKER_01Of course. Langston University will play Bethel, Tennessee, March 13th at 5 and CF Gilles Fieldhouse at Langston University. You can purchase your tickets today at Langstonsports.com or watch for free on the Urban Sports Network. Thank you for listening to the special episode of Lion Talk. Come support your Lions if you can, and until next time, El Z up.