Colonels want progression in year 2 under Riley

Last year, Nicholls State University men’s basketball coach Richie Riley knew what he wanted his team to do, but didn’t necessarily have the personnel or depth to make it happen.

Now, in year two, it’s game on.

The Nicholls basketball team spent the offseason retooling its roster with high school signees, transfers and graduate transfers in an effort to better handle the rigors of the Southland Conference grind.

In the first game of the season on Friday night, Nicholls flexed its muscles, earning a 111-106 shootout victory over the University of Texas – Rio Grande Valley, the second-straight season the Colonels open up with a win.

Seven Nicholls players scored seven or more points in the win, led by Lafayette Rutledge who had 23 – including seven 3-pointers.

Tevon Saddler also pitched in 19 points with eight rebounds and six assists, while Roddy Peters added 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting.

The victory showcased that newfound depth that Riley and his staff have been waiting to show to the world – a depth which he believes gives this year’s team a chance to do big things, despite woefully low expectations from Southland media members which inexplicably picked the Colonels to finish near the bottom of the conference in preseason projections.

“We like how hard our guys have worked and how they’ve really come together in just a short amount of time” Riley said during the offseason. “I think time has sort of flown by for us, man. The offseason has been good, but it’s gone by quickly, as well. We’re ready to get back out there on the court and we’re ready to compete and try and continue getting better every practice, every game and really, just every day.”

For the Colonels, the roster is almost like a patchwork quilt – with several temporary pieces in prominent positions.

Riley’s goal is to build Nicholls through a mix of local and regional recruiting, but the team he inherited lacked the talent to make that a reality, so he’s relied heavily on transfers to try and stay competitive while building the team’s high school recruiting depth.

Of Nicholls’ 10 players to play prominent minutes in Friday night’s win, nine didn’t start their career as Colonels, but landed with the team as transfers.

Several of those players are graduate transfers and will have one season – this season – to compete with the team.

“That’s been an outlet that we’ve been fortunate enough to use to get some guys,” Riley said this offseason. “We like local recruiting and that’s always going to be our first and top priority. But if there’s a guy who we think can come in and fill a need right away, that’s going to be something that we’re going to look into, as well. We’ve been fortunate. We’ve gotten a little bit of both. We have some transfer players that we’re excited about and our four-year signees are players that we think are going to be solid, as well.”

Riley is right.

In the opener, Sadler and Peters were huge, providing big offense for a Colonels team that scored at will throughout the game.

Peters, a former five-star recruit, had 19 points, despite playing just 15 minutes because of foul trouble.

Also playing a sizable role was graduate transfer Legend Robertin, who scored eight points with nine rebounds with two blocks – helping fill the void the Colonels lost when Liam Thomas graduated from the program.

Also prominent was Rutledge, who was one of the team’s top returning scorers from last season. He, too, is a transfer – part of Riley’s first signing class into the program before last season.

But don’t sleep on Nicholls’ four-year guys, either – especially the one with local flare.

In the Colonels’ opening-night victory over Rio Grande Valley, E.D. White graduate Kevin Johnson played a huge role, recording a team-high 30 minutes, while doing a lot of the dirty work the team needed to gut out a win.

Johnson scored just five points, but did everything else, recording six rebounds and six assists with a steal. His effort and energy made him hard to replace him on the floor, which led to extended playing time.

Before the season, Riley said he loved what Johnson brought to the table.

“We think he’s going to be an outstanding player,” Riley said. “We really like his skill set. We think it fits a lot of the things we’re trying to do.”

So now, the challenge is continued progression.

Nicholls got the season-opening win, then moved to take on national powerhouse Villanova on Tuesday. Our newspaper went to press on Monday night before that game was played.

From there, the Colonels will host Spring Hill on Friday before traveling to play Western Kentucky on Sunday.

The goal is to be playing quality basketball before the start of the Southland in late December.

From there, Riley said he wants his team to peak at the right time and try and make a push for the NCAA Tournament.

“We want to play our best basketball when it matters the most,” Riley said. “We’re a long way away, but we think we have a group that can come together and chase it.”

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