NIT Special Issue

April 5, 2017

SPECIAL NIT ISSUE

A RUN FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS COLUMN

Building a D-I legacy

By Esteban Ramirez Senior Staff Writer

AJ Alvarado/The Runner

Senior guard Dedrick Basile, redshirt-senior forward Matt Smith, junior centers Moataz Aly and Fallou N’Doye walk off the court after being eliminated by Georgia Tech in the National Invitation Tournament in Madison Square Garden in New York City on Tuesday, March 28.

Roadrunners stung by Yellow Jackets

By Peter Castillo Sports Editor The magical Cinderella run has finally come to an end in Madison Square Garden.

The CSU Bakersfield men’s basketball team was defeated

by Georgia Tech 76-61 in the National Invitation Tournament semifinals on Tuesday, March 28 in New York City.

“I just think [Georgia Tech] played well tonight,” said CSUB coach Rod Barnes. “We can’t take anything away from them. They have been playing well down the stretch like we were, and tonight was their game.”

Despite shooting 46 percent from the floor in the NIT coming into Tuesday night’s game, the eighth-seeded Roadrunners (25-10) could not get into a groove offensively as they shot only 35 percent from the floor

on the evening.

“We’re an elite defensive team if you look at the numbers,” said Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner. “We really do a good job of defending without fouling.”

The Yellow Jackets (21-15) forced CSUB to commit 15 turnovers as well.

CSUB never led in the game.

Georgia Tech freshman forward Josh Okogie paced the Yellow Jackets with 22 points and pulled down 9 rebounds.

Senior guard Dedrick Basile continued his hot shooting as he knocked down 5-of-9 from deep and finished with 18 points in his final collegiate game.

“My two years here have been fantastic,” said Basile. “I’m very pleased and blessed to be around the guys and the coaching staff for these two years.”

A three-pointer by Basile with

less than 10 seconds left in the first half brought CSUB within seven.

However, Georgia Tech junior guard Tadric Jackson pushed the ball up court and buried a buzzer-beating three to give the Yellow Jackets a 10-point lead to close out the half.

A layup by freshman guard Justin Moore gave the Yellow Jackets a 63-44 lead with 7:51 to play.

It was their largest lead of the game.

Redshirt-senior forward Jaylin Airington fouled out and finished with 12 points in his

last game as a Roadrunner.

“I’m sad it had to come to an end tonight but I love these guys,” said Airington.

“We’re just enjoying the moment and enjoying the process of the season.”

Redshirt-sophomore guard Damiyne Durham scored 10 points off the bench but only shot 4-of-17 from the floor, including 1-of-10 from threepoint range.

Georgia Tech junior center Ben Lammers dominated the paint as he collected 15 points, 11 rebounds and 5 blocks.

Redshirt-senior forward Matt Smith also fouled out in his penultimate game at CSUB.

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NIT SPECIAL ISSUE

COMMEMORATIVE EDITION THIS SPECIAL EDITION OF THE RUNNER IS SPONSORED BY THE CSU BAKERSFIELD OFFICE OF THE PRESIDENT, DR. HORACE MITCHELL

He finished with 5 points and 6 rebounds.

It was a season of firsts for the Roadrunners as they captured their first regular season Western Athletic Conference championship and the program’s first three postseason victories at the Division I level.

“I think people realize who we are now,” said Barnes. “To win almost 50 games in two years, is something special. I think now on a national level, people are starting to realize we have a pretty good program here in Bakersfield.”

Georgia Tech advanced to take on Texas Christian University in the NIT finals on Thursday, March 30.

TCU defeated the University of Central Florida in the other semifinal, 68-53.

In the final, TCU defeated UCF in a rout, 88-56, to capture the NIT title.

A winning legacy in sports is something that is built on excellence year after year.

For many years in Division II, the CSU Bakersfield men’s basketball program had built a legacy that could make the most prestigious schools envious.

Now, the Roadrunners have begun to lay the framework for a strong legacy in Division I with two strong postseason runs.

“We still have a lot of work to do, but I feel we made a stamp on this program,” said redshirt-senior forward Jaylin Airington. “We started something special.”

CSUB head coach Rod Barnes shared in the sentiment.

“I think people realize who we are now,” said Barnes. “We have been a team that we feel in the past two years, and even at the end of [the year before] that we were making a run. As I told my team, to win almost 50 games in two years, is something special.”

This season the Roadrunners finished with their most wins and most postseason victories in their D-I history.

They are showing that this program can be just as good in Division I. CSUB has improved each year, providing memorable and historic moments.

The Roadrunners aren’t just succeeding in D-I. They are thriving.

They are building a basketball legacy in D-I. However, the journey to building something special in this division started with a great legacy in D-II. CSUB won three national championships in D-II. The Roadrunners won back to back in the 1993 season and then the 1994 season.

They won the third one in 1997, establishing a legacy in D-II as a strong program.

But CSUB wanted to take the next step as a program, and time came to move to the division.

See LEGACY, Page 4

FROM CALI TO NY TO SEE MORE PHOTOS OF THE ROADRUNNERS IN NYC AND WATCH PARTIES IN BAKERSFIELD, GO TO PAGES 2 & 3

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NIT | Special Issue

April 5, 2017

TAKING A BITE OUT

AJ Alvarado/The Runner

Above: Senior guard Justin Pride tries to poke the ball away from Georgia Tech freshman guard Justin Moore in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City. In his last game at CSUB, Pride totaled 2 points, and a team-high 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

Left: Redshirt-senior forward Jaylin Airington dishes a pass as he drives into the lane in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden in New York City Tuesday, March 28. Airington scored 12 points, grabbed 4 rebounds and handed out 3 assists in his final game as a Roadrunner.

AJ Alvarado/The Runner

Junior guard Brent Wrapp goes up for a layup against Georgia Tech in the semifinals of the National Invitation Tournament in Madison Square Garden in New York City on March 28.

AJ Alvarado/The Runner

Junior forward Shon Briggs drives past Georgia Tech sophomore center Ben Lammers to get into the paint. Briggs finished with 10 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.

NIT | Special Issue

April 5, 2017

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OF THE BIG APPLE “I know that right now when you are in the midst of it, you don’t really think about it. You are worried about the next game, and you hope they win the game. What’s the flight going to be like going home, but I know when you get back home, these are memories you are going to cherish forever.”

- Arthur Smith, Spirit Coordinator

Karina Diaz/The Runner

From left to right: CSUB President Horace Mitchell, Provost and Vice President of Acaemic Affairs Jenny Zorn and Executive Assistant to the President Evelyn Young cheer on the Roadrunners during a watch party held at Rowdy’s in the Student Union.

Simer Khurana/The Runner

CSUB redshirt-senior forward Matt Smith signs a basketball for Ryder Whittington, 7, after the team landed at Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield on Wednesday, March 29.

“They have meant so much.

People are talking about CSUB and Bakersfield. This is a big deal, and it’s all because of the success from our athletes.”

- Robin Rossi, CSUB fan

“I’m so proud of our CSUB Roadrunners. Bakersfield is on the map and will continue to do that. Our guys have worked so hard. Coach Barnes has worked so hard, and we are rejoicing as a community.”

- Karen Goh, Mayor of Bakersfield

Simer Khurana/The Runner

CSUB redshirt-senior forward Jaylin Airington is all smiles as he leads the Roadrunners off the plane when they arrived at Meadows Field Airport in Bakersfield on Wednesday, March 29.

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NIT | Special Issue

April 5, 2017

COLUMN

Sustaining success in Division I [LEGACY, Page 1] President Horace Mitchell began the process to move the team to D-I back in 2007 and CSUB finally moved in 2010.

“We made a collective decision to move to Division I,” said Mitchell during an interview in January of 2016. “We are there now, and in fact, we are being very successful.”

After a 10-19 season in their first year, the Roadrunners hired a former Naismith Coach of the Year in Rod Barnes.

However, even with Barnes at the helm the D-I transition was still a tough one for CSUB. For the following two seasons, the Roadrunners had a combined record of 30-31. But it’s those seasons that helped build the structure of success in the coming years.

“It started when Coach Barnes got the job here,” said CSUB alumnus and former center Aly Ahmed. “He started to improve the program piece by piece.

The success doesn’t show in one night.”

Airington said Barnes had a vision and the team believed in him.

“We trusted the process and we just believed that it could happen for us, and it did in so many ways,” he said. “They brought the right man in, and he has been getting the job done.

“He will continue to get the job done here at CSUB, leave a legacy for CSUB and put everyone on the right path.”

The following season, CSUB made the jump to the Western Athletic Conference, giving the Roadrunners’ an opportunity to play in the NCAA Division I Men’s Basketball Tournament.

Their first season they only went 14-19 and fell in the semifinals of the WAC Tournament against New Mexico State University, 57-53.

The framework was established and set up the accomplishments for the year that followed.

CSUB finished the 2015-2016 season with a 24-9 record, and its first and only NCAA tournament berth.

The Roadrunners beat the NMSU Aggies for the first time in the WAC Tournament finals thanks to the biggest three-pointer in the program’s history from senior guard Dedrick Basile.

They went on to play against the University of Oklahoma in the NCAA tournament.

It set the table for this year’s historic run.

Throughout the season, CSUB beat teams like Fresno State, New Mexico State and Grand Canyon.

But this year also brought a D-I atmosphere with it, as CSUB had four sellouts.

The first was against Fresno State on Nov. 22 and the second was against Bethesda on Dec. 15. The following sellout was on Jan. 21 against Utah Valley University and against New Mexico State on Feb. 9.

“When I first came to CSUB, I could count the number of fans in the stands,” said Airington.

“The atmosphere wasn’t that great. We didn’t have that many I would say, but people that came always showed up and supported us. It wasn’t as great as it is now, having all the sellouts and all the fans coming in with their shirts off. It was like a real college feel now when you are at the games at CSUB.” Yes, CSUB did not make it to the NCAA tournament after it fell to the Aggies in the WAC Tournament finals, but it led to the Cinderella run in the National Invitation Tournament.

The run energized the city of Bakersfield.

“I think now on a national level, people are starting to realize we got a pretty good program in Bakersfield,” Barnes said.

“These guys have played a huge role in it, but our administration has been really supportive of us. Our community has really energized our city.”

CSUB made history this season beating top-seeded Cal in the first round 73-66, earning the program’s first Division I postseason victory.

They followed it with a win against Colorado State 81-63 and a monumental victory over

University of Texas at Arlington, 80-76.

CSUB became the first eighth-seeded team in the NIT to earn a spot in the semifinals in New York City.

That was a huge moment for this program.

I know it’s not the Final Four, but this is something no other team in the history of the NIT has done, since it was founded in 1938.

“This has been a great run for our team and for the program,” said Basile. “It was a great opportunity for us.”

CSUB lost to Georgia Tech 76-61 in Madison Square Garden, but it got a whole city hyped for the future of this program.

“I felt like we could have the same level of success in Division I that we had at the Division II level,” said CSUB Athletics Direcror Kenneth Siegfried. “It has all come to fruition, and all of it is because I truly believe we got something special going on here at CSUB and in our city.”

A winning legacy has been established in D-I. “The next step for CSUB is continue to win and grow,” said Airington.

“We feel like the next step for us is to keep going,” said Barnes. “We were anticipating this year to be a great year, but I think we are getting to the point that we got to expect a great year every year.”

That’s exactly what the Roadrunners need to do to keep building on their D-I legacy.

Consistent excellence is the key for the program.

CSUB is on the right track.

The Roadrunners just need to stay the course, and continue to get better each year.

They can always add depth, improve their offensive schemes to get easier looks and play better in the second halves of games.

Every team can get better and CSUB is no different.

As for now, my hat’s off to what you have accomplished this year, CSUB.

AJ Alvarado/The Runner

CSUB senior guard Dedrick Basile leaps for a layup against freshman forward Josh Okogie of Georgia Tech in the semifinals on Tuesday, March 28 of the NIT in Madison Square Garden.

MEN’S BASKETBALL

Barnes named mid-major coach of the year

By Peter Castillo and Esteban Ramirez The Runner Staff

AJ Alvarado/The Runner

CSUB coach Rod Barnes looks on during the Roadrunners’ 76-61 loss in the NIT semifinals against Georgia Tech in Madison Square Garden. Barnes was named the Hugh Durham Mid-Major Coach of the Year by College Insider for the 2016-17 season.

The accolades keep rolling in for CSU Bakersfield men’s basketball coach Rod Barnes.

Barnes has been awarded the Hugh Durham Mid-Major “Coach of the Year” by College Insider as a part of their annual awards.

“Coach Barnes has given so much time, effort, sweat and tears to get the program to where it is now,” said CSUB Athletics Director Kenneth Siegfried.

This is the first time that Barnes has received this honor.

He was also named the Don Haskins Western Athletic Conference Coach of the Year for each of the past two seasons.

Barnes was previously been named Naismith National Coach of the Year, having won the honor in 2001 while coaching at the University of Mississippi.

In his sixth season at CSUB, Barnes led the Roadrunners to a 25-10 record and the program’s first regular season WAC title.

The 25 wins set a program record at the Division I level.

Airington said he is thankful for getting to play for Barnes.

“I’m blessed to be a part of his life and to have him in my life,” said redshirt-senior forward Jaylin Airington. “I’m grateful

and thankful for him giving me the opportunity to play here in Bakersfield.”

He also won his 100th game at CSUB this season, becoming the third coach in school history to accomplish the feat.

The Roadrunners received an automatic bid as an eightseed to the National Invitation Tournament by virtue of their regular season title.

CSUB then went on to win road games at California, Colorado State University and the University of Texas at Arlington, becoming the first eight seed to advance to the NIT semifinals in tournament history.

These were the first three postseason wins for the program at the D-I level.

The Roadrunners would fall in the semifinals to Georgia Tech at Madison Square Garden 7661 on Tuesday, March 28.

“Rod Barnes has done a phenomenal job of building CSU Bakersfield into a perennial contender in the WAC,” said CollegeInsider.com’s Angela Lento to gorunners.com. “What he has done over the past two seasons is as good of two-year run as any mid-major program in college basketball.”

Barnes was also named as a finalist for College Insider’s National Coach Award of the Year and Minority Coach of the Year Award.