I’ve written this column a few times throughout the years.
Well, not this EXACT column, but something like it. More than a decade ago, I wrote it (for a different website) about Morgan State guard Reggie Holmes. Just three years ago here at PressBoxOnline.com it was about Loyola lacrosse legend Pat Spencer. On a few occasions it has been about Navy football.
The “take” is quite simple. “Please pay attention.” Or more appropriately, “please recognize this incredibly special thing that is happening right in your backyard despite the fact that it won’t be discussed on the Sports Guys Yelling About Sports network TV debate show of your choice or, frankly, really even on local sports radio here.”
The take is that I am imploring you to recognize what’s going on with Towson basketball this season.
Cliff’s notes: Towson sits at 21-7 on the season and 12-3 in CAA play. They’re also currently trailing Delaware by nine points but that’s a different story. They have two games left in the regular season, both against James Madison (which is weird) but then they also have a third game left but actually only about 48.5 percent of that third game (which is weirder).
(Towson’s Jan. 27 game against Delaware was suspended early in the second half due to unplayable court conditions. It will be completed Feb. 28 and Towson will trail 38-29 when it restarts.)
Please don’t allow the silliness to distract from what really matters. This is at least the best Towson team since the 2013-14 squad that was led by future NBA player Jerrelle Benimon. This Towson team currently sits just a half game behind UNC Wilmington in the CAA standings and just POUNDED the Seahawks by 24 points on the road last week.
This Towson team has an excellent opportunity to end the area’s longest NCAA Tournament drought and go dancing for the first time in 31 years. This Towson team is worthy of your freaking attention.
And unlike when I’ve implored you to go a singular special player, what makes this Towson team so compelling to watch is how much of a “team” they truly are. The Tigers were picked eighth among 10 teams in the CAA preseason poll and didn’t have a single player among the league’s 18 preseason All-CAA selections.
While Nicolas Timberlake leads the team in scoring at 14 points per game, five other players are averaging more than 8.3 points per contest. And seven different players have had at least one 15-point game this season. Of the seven, four are transfers (Antonio Rizzuto, Terry Nolan Jr., Juwan Gray and Cam Holden). Coach Pat Skerry has done an excellent job of putting the roster together, building chemistry and orchestrating the group. It has helped to know that any of those regulars might be “on” on any particular night.
Perhaps the best in-season story has been the emergence of junior big Charles Thompson. Through the first 19 games of the season, Thompson was averaging 7.7 points per game. In the nine games since, he’s averaged 16.7 points per contest, including double-doubles against Drexel and William & Mary and another in the huge win at Wilmington. Thompson has totally taken over games at times, demanding the ball and finishing with authority.
The best off-court story is easy. Grad student Terry Nolan Jr. (Mount Carmel) returned home this season for a chance to play in front of friends and family. That family has grown. He became a father for the first time in November and has spoken gleefully about how parenthood has shaped him as a man, helping him stay more even-keeled as a basketball player. And on the floor he even mixed in a spectacular windmill dunk in a blowout win against Elon.
Speaking of thunderous dunks, Timberlake’s rise is worth retelling. He had no Division I offers coming out of high school. He decided to play a year of prep ball and that decision paid off. Four years later, he’s the leading scorer for the top team in the CAA.
Holden made a new poster in the Tigers’ comeback win at Charleston Feb. 19. He broke his jaw but continued to play in a win at Navy in December. The injury was expected to keep him out for weeks. He instead kept playing through with facial protection.
Gray had to come back from an Achilles injury that ended his season in January last year. He’s scored in double digits six times this year, all but once coming off the bench.
And 6-foot-1 junior guard Jason Gibson is a Severna Park native who is capable of being a lethal shooter. His 44.4 percent shooting (55-124) from 3-point range is tops among any CAA player who has attempted at least 60 outside shots. He joined former NBA guard (and current Calvert Hall coach) Gary Neal as the only players in Towson history to make eight threes in one game (Dec. 11 against Coppin State). He then turned around and did it AGAIN five games later against Hofstra.
It is a special group. It is a group worthy of your attention.
You can see them at SECU Arena Wednesday night when they host James Madison. You could make the short trip down to D.C. to watch them in the CAA Tournament March 6-8. You could listen to all of their remaining games via their website with their legendary play-by-play voice Spiro Morekas.
And since I’m here, I’d also encourage you to pay attention to the outstanding women’s basketball team at Towson and the great season the Navy men’s basketball team is having. I’d also GREATLY encourage you to check out the CIAA Tournament this week in Baltimore. Shining a light on the Towson men should not be misconstrued as a dismissive statement about other wonderful college basketball happenings in the area.
But like when Navy football finally beat Notre Dame in 2007 and Maryland lacrosse finally won another national championship in 2017, this special Towson team has the opportunity to end decades of heartbreak. The Tigers are worthy of your acknowledgement.
Photo Credit: ENP Photography