Ethel LeBoeuf
August 11, 2017
If’s Amazing!
August 11, 2017
Most local colleges will have to wait until the late-fall to get back on the hardwood in competitive action.
But the Nicholls State University men’s basketball team took advantage of an opportunity afforded by the NCAA to play some games last week.
Oh yeah, they also got to take a trip to one of the most beautiful places in the world, too, which, of course, always helps.
The Colonels departed late last week for the Bahamas Where they played three games against semi-pro clubs at Sir Kendall Isaac’s Gym in Nassau before returning home to pre-pare for the start of the school year.
According to second-year coach Richie Riley, the trip is invaluable — an opportunity for the Colonels to mesh before the start of the new season.
With several new faces on a roster that’s glistening with transfer talent, Riley said it’s nice to get on-court time against opponents in live action — something he believes will allow the team to unite as one.
The NCAA allows college basketball programs to make overseas trips once every four years.
Under former coach J.P. Piper, the Colonels traveled and competed in Australia.
“Any time you can take a foreign tour, it is a huge opportunity for your team,” Riley said. “We have a lot of new faces that will be playing together for the first time, so it is certainly a bonus for them to get the chance to compete together. I’m proud of the way that our guys have approached the practices leading up to the tour. They’ve had a business-like approach each day and a commitment to improving.”
Riley said before the trip that he wasn’t overly concerned with if the team won or lost its games in the Bahamas but was more concerned with how the team played against quality competition.
The team-building memories will last a lifetime and make the trip even more valuable, according to Riley.
Throughout their stay in the Bahamas, Nicholls updated its social media, posting photos and videos of the team enjoying themselves in the faraway paradise.
In one video, the team is swimming together on the beach in gorgeous, blue water.
In another, true freshman and Thibodaux native Rafe Blades is discussing what it’s like to fly for the first time.
Let’s just say it was an awkward experience for the E.D. White graduate.
“It’s scary,” Blades said with a laugh. “The takeoff. I saw the water start flying out the window and it was like, ‘We were moving. We were moving.'”
“I think with these trips, it’s really great because you get the guys together and I think they learn a lot about one another and it’s great for your locker room,” Riley told The Times earlier this offseason. “That’s something we’re really excited about and something that I think it great for our program.”
Of course, if all goes the way Riley plans, the trip will be the first stepping stone in a year in which the Colonels will be one of the top clubs in the Southland Conference.
Throughout Riley’s tenure with the team, he and his staff have worked tirelessly to retool the team’s roster, inking transfer players and high school standouts to build depth.
Nicholls went 14—17 last year despite a rash injuries of injuries, but two ineligible players off last year’s team — Tevon Saddler and Roddy Peters — are highly touted and are expected to give the team a big-time lift.
Add those guys With a talented group of new signees and transfers and Nicholls will have one of the most veteran teams in the Southland, boasting eight seniors and two graduate students, among their 15-man roster.
Riley said he believes this year’s group will have more depth than last year’s and that will go a long way.
“We’re hopeful,” Riley said before the trip. “We still have quite a bit of work to do and we have to finish the offseason strong. But we’re hopeful about what the future holds and we think we’re building something special here.”
COLONELS HIRE MORGAN AS ASSISTANT COACH
In addition to the Bahamas trip, Nicholls basketball made news last week, completing its coaching staff for the 2017-18 season.
Riley announced on social media that he’d hired Amorrow Morgan to join the Colonels’ staff for the next season.
Morgan lands in Thibodaux with quality experience – both as a coach and a player.
With Idaho State from 2006-10, Morgan was a standout performer, averaging 16.6 points per game in his senior season, while shooting 46 percent from the field and 37 percent from behind the 3-point line.
That expertise quickly transferred over into coaching.
After a few seasons in pro ball overseas, Morgan started coaching as an assistant at the University of Illinois-Springfield where he spent the 2013-14 season.
He then coached at Our Lady of the Lake University in Texas in 2014-15.
Most recently, Morgan was the lead assistant coach at Henderson State – a post he’s held for the past two seasons.
The Nicholls State University men’s basketball team enjoyed a little rest and relaxation on Saturday, spending some time on the beach in the Bahamas. on the floor, the Colonels have been doing work, owning two victories in two games on their tour. The team played another game on Monday night with no score available at press-time.
