Doing it live: SRU men's basketball team survives rocky offseason, surges to top of PSAC West

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The above video was posted to YouTube by Rock Athletics following SRU's victory over Indiana (Pa.) Saturday, Jan. 12, 2019 at Morrow Field House.

"I don't think we needed to beat IUP to know that."
-SRU guard Micah Till on the team's confidence The Rock is one of Division II's best teams.

By Josh Rizzo
Nothing about the Slippery Rock University basketball team’s victory over an Indiana (Pa.) University team ranked third nationally in Division II changed Micah Till’s perspective.

​The 6-foot-7 junior guard always had high aspirations for The Rock. Handing the Crimson Hawks their first loss during a 74-69 decision last Saturday at Morrow Field House further validated those feelings.

“Before the IUP game, I think the team was confident in itself,” said Till, who leads The Rock with averages of 21.6 points and 9.6 rebounds per game. “I think even before we beat IUP, we had confidence we were one of the best teams in the nation. I don’t think we needed to beat IUP to know that.”

SRU, which has won nine straight following a victory over Clarion Wednesday, has become one of the hottest teams in the nation following a tumultuous preseason. The Rock (11-5, 8-1) is sitting at first place in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference West Division.

Unlikely for a team that lost its first five games against Division II opponents and saw long-time coach Kevin Reynolds placed on administrative leave shortly before the season. SRU has declined comment on why Reynolds was placed on administrative leave due to it being a personnel matter. Reynolds filed a civil lawsuit against the school on Nov. 21, 2018.

During Reynolds' tenure, The Rock went from also-ran to contender. Reynolds ranks second on The Rock's all-time win list with 188 victories and made three trips to the NCAA Tournament. 

Reynolds' long-time assistant Ian Grady took over as acting head coach. Grady -- who previously served as head coach when Reynolds was suspended for a game in 2014 -- credits the people around him for settling in.

“I think the players on the team have helped me become more comfortable and ease the transition,” Grady said. “All the assistant coaches, trainers and graduate assistants have stepped up a level and made the transition easier.”

Till estimated they had three to five practices and one scrimmage to get things straightened out. Inevitably, this led to tough times for The Rock. SRU started the season 1-4 and didn’t collect its first win over a Division II opponent until its eighth game of the season, a 78-64 win over West Chester Dec. 8. 

“I think coach has done a good job, especially being put in a tough situation,” Till said. “(Coach Grady) got the coaching job after we hadn’t been to practice in a while and we didn’t have a lot of scrimmage time before our first game. The fact we could play those first couple games so close, we knew we could be good once we got the kinks figured out.”

While the early losses weren't ideal, they weren't as bad as Till thought they could be. SRU's first two losses were in one-possession contests to Notre Dame College (77-75) and Fairmont State University (82-79) at the Joe Retton Classic.

The experience was a big help for Grady.

“From early in the season, I have been going back and re-watching the games and going through hypotheticals, what I could have done here or there,” Grady said.

Those issues seem to have been resolved. SRU is shooting 45.6 percent from the field and has a trio of strong scorers. In addition to Till, Jared Armstrong has averaged 16.3 points per game off the bench, while John Warren II has scored 11.3 points per game.
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“I think we’re playing well as a team,” Grady said. “We’re sharing the ball, moving the ball and playing well out there. Getting some hustle plays and it’s been a fun group to coach. It could be anybody's day. There’s a commitment to detail, putting scouting reports into the game. We’re doing a great job of that, putting time in practice and film.”

SRU will need to continue to do so to challenge for its fourth bid in the NCAA Tournament since the 2010-11 season. The losses at the beginning of the season eliminated some margin for error.

What Till believes this group has proven throughout this season is their ability to stay together. What happened against IUP is an indicator of that, even if it didn’t prove anything else to Till.

“We stay together as a team, that’s the main thing,” Till said. “We knew they were going to make a run and how good of a team we are. As long as we kept playing hard as a team and on defense, we just had to make sure we didn’t fall apart mentally and internally.”

Author's note: I am a 2010 graduate of Slippery Rock University and a current MBA candidate at the university. This story and others planned for this series highlighting interesting sports stories in Western Pennsylvania are part of a  master's project. To submit other story ideas or for other information, please contact me at [email protected].