Liberty basketball officially opened practice on Monday in preparation for the 2022-23 season which gets underway on Nov. 7 when Regent visits Liberty Arena before the Flames play at Alabama in Tuscaloosa on Nov. 11. This season will be the last for two-time reigning ASUN Player of the Year Darius McGhee, who utilized his COVID year of eligibility to return, and it will also be the final season for the Flames in the ASUN.
It has been over the past four seasons in the ASUN that behind head coach Ritchie McKay, McGhee, and others, that Liberty has seen its profile rise to be one of the more respected mid-major programs in the country. The Flames have posted a 104-28 overall record during its time in the ASUN with a 50-11 conference record and 10-1 mark in the conference tournament.
Liberty has won three regular season and conference tournament championships in four years in the ASUN, advancing to the NCAA Tournament in 2019 and 2021, while qualifying for the 2020 Big Dance that was eventually canceled due to the COVID pandemic. The Flames also won their first ever game in the NCAA Tournament in 2019 by knocking off Mississippi State. All of this happened while a member of the ASUN.
That time will come to an end following the 2022-23 campaign though as Liberty will move to Conference USA. It’s a move that is pushed by football as the Flames have sought to join an FBS playing football conference for several decades, but CUSA is a very respected basketball league and Liberty will see the level of competition in its new conference increase substantially. CUSA was ranked as the 13th best conference in all Division last year compared to a 21st overall finish by the ASUN.
“I think Ian’s pursuit of getting us in the ASUN was tremendous for our athletics’ programs,” head coach Ritchie McKay said following his team’s first official practice on Monday. “We are a benefactor of being in a really competitive conference. If you remember the first year, those Lipscomb games were incredibly competitive, and I believe they helped prepare us for the NCAA Tournament.”
Liberty is coming off a season that saw the program win 20 or more games for a sixth consecutive year. The Flames finished the season at 22-11 overall and 12-4 in ASUN play, finishing first in the ASUN’s East Division. Liberty saw its three straight ASUN championships come to an end when the Flames lost to Bellarmine, 53-50, on March 5 in the ASUN Tournament semifinals.
That loss to Bellarmine is the only time the Flames have lost in the ASUN Tournament, ending a streak of 10 consecutive wins and three straight championships. It is something that the program hasn’t felt since the 2018 loss to Radford in the program’s final Big South game which came on a buzzer beating three-pointer by the Highlanders’ Carlik Jones in the conference title game.
“I think when you are a competitor, that’s going to be the standard, the goal that you aim for every year,” McKay said about losing before reaching the ultimate goal of a conference championship. “I’m grateful and appreciative of the success that we’ve been able to experience. Certainly, want to continue to elevate our program. The loss at home against Bellarmine, especially combined with the fact that Jax State lost at home and we could have hosted a championship game in the Arena, sure that stings, but that’s college basketball. When I look back and reflect on what our guys accomplished in the year, I think there’s a lot of fruit that was born from last season.”
McGhee will be the headline act for the Flames all season and rightfully so. He is the nation’s leading returning scorer from last season when he averaged 24.6 points per game. He already owns many individual records in relation to scoring and three-pointers at Liberty, and now he wants to go out with a fourth conference championship in five years.
“It speaks volumes to not only Liberty and what our University provides in terms of student athletic experience, but also to his teammates,” McKay said of McGhee’s return. “The fact that he wanted to journey one more year with them for the hope of having a chance to get back to the NCAA Tournament. Grateful is the way I would describe it.”
The cast of returners doesn’t stop with the 5’9″ guard from Roxboro, North Carolina. The Flames return seven of eight players that played in at least 30 games last season. Shiloh Robinson was third on the team ins coring at 9.5 points per game to go along with 4.4 rebounds per game. The biggest growth from the forward was in his offensive game as he shot 56.3% from the field and made 23 three-pointers, both career bests.
6’7″ forward Kyle Rode was just behind Robinson with 9.0 points per game. He made 45 three-pointers, making 42.5% from behind the arc, while tying for the team leading in rebounds with 148 on the season. More than his statistics though is how much Rode impacts the team with his leadership abilities.
Blake Preston is another veteran who returns for his fifth season in the program. He has a wealth of experience under his belt and can easily slide into the starting lineup should the Flames opt to go with a more traditional big man. Joseph Venzant and Blake Preston also return for the sophomore seasons after making big contributions as true freshmen. Venzant started 31 games last season as a defensive specialist while Peebles provided a scoring punch off the bench.
No one showed more improvement in their game last season than Isiah Warfield. He went from being counted out of the rotation to becoming one of the team’s best defenders by the end of the year. If he can take a similar step in his offensive game this season, Warfield has the potential to be one of the team’s best players.
Ever since arriving on campus, many have lauded the talent of true freshman Colin Porter. He could emerge as the team’s starting point guard, allowing McGhee to play off the ball. McGhee could certainly handle the point guard role, but his talents are best used as a primary scorer while allowing someone else to shoulder the load of being the primary ball handler.
“I think the chemistry that this team has already is really unique,” said McKay. “I think it’s a tribute to the guys that have gone before and the guys that are here now and the kind of character that these young men have. They are fabulous to be around, probably a little ahead because they get a long and they know what to expect. Our guys have a selflessness about themselves which is uncommon. They really try to help the guy they are competing with to get better.”
