During the current state of athletics across the country, the Kennesaw State athletic department looks to fill the void by highlighting the amazing stories of select student-athletes both past and present as well as the faculty and staff that help to make KSU the unique and special university that it is. This week we continue our in-depth look at the 2004 men's basketball Division II National Championship season.
Part One
Refusing To Lose
"We just had so many weapons and competitors," said Izzy Ingle. "Everybody had confidence in everybody. We battled it out and worked through some kinks so by the time we hit conference, we were really good, but there were games that we scratched out small margin of victories. Our guys just knew how to win. No matter what happened, we'd be down 15 and no one was in a panic, we knew what we were going to do."
Finishing non-conference play 10-4, the slate was wiped clean as the real season began, conference season. And as fate would have it, the Owls took the trip south to open Peach Belt play against none other than rivals and defending PBC Champions Columbus State.
With all-time leading scorer Yandel Brown at the helm, who finished the season ranked among the NCAA's top-10 averaging over 20 points per game, the Cougars looked to let the Owls know who ran the PBC.
"Back then, Columbus State and Clayton State were the two teams you circled on the calendar every year," said assistant coach
Stace Tedford. "It was a tough place to play, but there was just a different feeling going into that game. There was no one cutting up on the bus on the way down, everyone is very focused in the stands watching the girls' game. When the game started, it's a heavy weight contest. It was as good a basketball game as any division one game you're going to see on TV."
The two squads battled tooth and nail with KSU holding a slim 40-39 lead at halftime, and that would continue into the second period as the neither team could gain the edge heading into overtime tied 69-69.
Brown was true to his game, leading all players with 29 points, but the Owls had too many weapons with five players finishing in double-figures.
Both Reggie McKoy (12 pts, 14 rebs) and Georgi Joseph (10 pts, 12 rebs) finished with double-doubles, while Tommy Thompson, who played all 45 minutes, dished out 14 assists, two shy of the all-time single-game record.
Rey Luque had 21 points and Terrence Hill added another 15, including the game-winner in OT as KSU edged out the Cougars for a 77-75 victory to open conference on top.
"It was huge for us," said Kenan Knight. "I think it gave us the confidence that we probably still needed at that point. Columbus State was a great team and beating them at their place really showed us that ok we can do this. We're on the right track."
And they never looked back.
Following that game, the Owls ran through the Peach Belt, finishing 16-0, a PBC record.
Despite another overtime victory at USC Spartanburg, KSU overpowered opponents with an average margin of victory of 14.3 points, flying by Columbus State in their rematch at the Spec Landrum Center, 92-72.
Both Hill (5th) and Luque (9th) ranked in the top-10 in the league for scoring, Tommy Thompson ranked third for both assists per game (5.3) and steals per game (2.3) and McKoy was the only player in the PBC to average double-digit rebounds, 11.2 per game.
During the conference stretch, McKoy set the boards on fire with back-to-back games of 20+ rebounds. After pulling down 22 rebounds against Armstrong Atlantic, he set the KSU and DII single-game record with 27 rebounds during a 77-45 victory over Augusta State.
McKoy finished the year with a KSU record 363 total rebounds, recording over 300 boards in both seasons with the Owls. Only one other player in KSU history, Aubrey Williams, has recorded over 300 rebounds in a season, netting 347 rebounds in 2016-17.
"After Columbus, it seemed like throughout the season we got better and stronger after every game," said Luque. "Once that confidence got into us, it was over. We won the game before we ever stepped on the court because it was a mentality, it was a mindset. We just beat up on guys. We were truly special and we swept through the conference."
But despite what the final record showed, that success never came easy. It took focus, motivation and practices that became notorious for its competition.
"Every practice we made sure that the starting five was going to work their ass off," said Cardale Talley. "It was like a championship game, you better bring it because we are coming for sure. We couldn't wait for that time to come just so we could bust the starters' ass. So when they do start to play against other schools, they'd been playing against us all week and they are nothing."
The team took practice to a whole new level to raise each other's game.
"I have six stitches in my eye and still have a scar to this day from Terrence," said Izzy Ingle. "Everybody just played so hard. We got after each other. Tommy Thompson was one of my best friends in the world and we might square up and fight one practice. It was so competitive on the court trying to get the best out of each other and even if it got physical or we would mouth off at each other, when practice was over we all still loved each other. It was never anything personal, it was like I'm going to give you my best, you better give me yours too."
That intensity helped propel the Owls to their season success, but the competitive nature hit a breaking point one practice.
The day before the Owls squared off with Armstrong Atlantic, the back-and-forth became too much for Head Coach Tony Ingle who struggled to break through the team's chatter.
So he walked off just 20 minutes into practice.
Shocked and confused, the team went to the locker room before captains Hill, McKoy and Justin Thompson finally headed for Ingle's office attempting to bring coach back to prepare for tomorrow night's game.
"That's what I thought was the turning point," said coach Ingle. "I said guys I'm not going back out there, we've got a major communications problem here today. Here's the difference, I'm coaching every second of every day to win a national championship and y'all are just hoping you can beat Armstrong Atlantic. I said you're going to beat Armstrong Atlantic, but that is not what I'm worried about. if you listen to me and do everything I ask you to do we'll win the damn thing, and they know I don't swear. I think then they all said hey we're good, but we all have to come together and they did."
The next day they beat Armstrong Atlantic by 15.
He would go on to say later he knew the team was ready, but he needed to make sure their mindset was there.
It was another example of the ability of coach Ingle to not only motivate the team, but to keep their eyes on the bigger picture, a national championship.
"There were times that we got a little arrogant," said Justin Thompson. "And the coaches were great at helping us get back down to reality and realize this could have gone this way really quick and fast. It was the little things that we were looking at like okay we missed five free throws. That five free throws could have been the game. If they would have made five more of those free throws, y'all would've lost the game. So not only did we have to continue to perform, but you need to be mentally sharp because you can be beat."
Another way to keep them sharp, three-game brackets consistently hung in the locker room.
Once you reach postseason, it takes three games to reach the next stage, three to win the PBC, three to win the regional title and three to win the national championship. So every three games the Owls received a new three-game bracket, instilling in them that even though they had just won, all that mattered was the next game.
If you can win three three-game tournaments, you can win a national championship.
So after five perfect 'practice' brackets to close out the regular season, the first real test came in the form of the Peach Belt Conference Tournament.
At The Buzzer
"We were at our best, but we knew from the previous year, the conference tournament is a different beast," said Hill. "We were feeling confident, on top of our game, but conference play was a different animal. Did we feel comfortable, yes, but we knew the slates were clean and we had to go in with that mentality."
After rolling USC Aiken in the opening round of the tournament, 96-61, the Owls hit their first speed bump in Clayton State.
One of the top defensive teams in the country, Clayton State finished the season ranked seventh in the NCAA holding opponents to an average of 62 points per game. With KSU's defense ranked among the top-25 in the country as well, what followed was a gritty low-scoring semifinal game.
The Owls only scored 16 points in the opening period, trailing 22-16 at the half.
Neither team shot over 37 percent for that game, with Hill (11) and Joseph (10) being the only players on both teams to hit double-figures.
In what you could call his 'flu game,' a sick Hill at one point following a defensive stop where he ran off the court, threw up in a nearby trash can, ran back up the court and scored on the ensuing possession.
The Owls buckled down in the second half outscoring the Lakers 27-17 to come out on top 43-39.
"That game was a dogfight," said Luque. "They took us out of our game. It was one of those things, who was going to get the most stops and see if we can convert any of those stops into a bucket. It wasn't so much that they had good players, but a good system and it kind of threw us off our game. It was an ugly game and we end up pulling it out the same way. Georgi Joseph played an incredible game, he's a man amongst boys. He was the difference of that game."
And who would the Owls square off with in the championship game?
None other than Columbus State.
What followed was another classic Kennesaw State Columbus State battle.
The Cougars took control from the start and never let up as the Owls played from behind the entire game, trailing 41-32 at halftime.
But coach Ingle never panicked.
Down 14 points with over four minutes still to play, he called a timeout and as calm as can be sat down in front of his squad and told them "we're going to win this game. We've got them right where we want them."
"And I meant it, I felt it," said coach Ingle.
"That was one thing about him, he never really panicked, and we're down in possibly the biggest game of our season at that point," said Darrell Fisher. "To say that, it definitely loosened everybody up and that was the type of personality he had. It was like you have to look up at the scoreboard, maybe coach is drunk, maybe he's reading it wrong."
Still calm as ever, Coach Ingle broke it down. If the Owls can cut it to nine with two minutes to play, they'll win and he broke the huddle telling the team to repeat after him.
Your want, is my want. Your hurt, is my hurt. Your need, is my need.
Now let's go win a ballgame.
Two minutes roll off the clock and coach Ingle calls a timeout.
The Owls are down six.
"I say six points, shoot man that's nothing," said coach Ingle. "A team like you? As great as you are, let's get out here and let's finish this game, win the championship, take home the trophy, keep this winning streak going and show everybody that we are the true champions. Now let's get out there and take care of business."
Whittling it down to a one-score game with just seconds left and the championship on the line, the Owls had the ball. With their designed play breaking down, the ball found itself in the hands of Hill.
Driving the lane and stumbling, he pulled up, leaned back and put up a fade away jumper.
Buzzer. Net. Game.
"It was like we knew it was going to happen," said Izzy Ingle. "It's hard to explain but especially with Terrence, he is such an unbelievable performer when it's knockout time and the game is on the line, there's nobody better. We knew it was going to happen, but we still went crazy when it did happen."
The improbable comeback was complete.
"I remember we were all yelling and happy and I look back and almost all of the Columbus State players were on the ground," said Luque.
The win marked KSU's first conference title in program history.
"To have that trophy, to hoist that trophy, it was not only for us and the coaching staff, but for all the family members that would drive to see us play," said Hill. "It felt good because this was a collective effort. We won for everyone, we won for Kennesaw State. We won for the school that always got overlooked, the school that people didn't think would be in this position."
The conference championship was theirs, but the journey was not over, the goal not yet reached as the NCAA Tournament loomed large.
"It was a special special moment," said Justin Thompson. "The fact that we put it all together and won. We definitely celebrated that night, but bright and early coach got us back together like hey, I'm not going to take it from you, y'all have done something special but let's go. Get back focused. This team is special and we're destined for more."
Continued in Pt. 3
