The college basketball offseason is here, and we decided to have some fun over the next few months, ranking ALL 364 teams in D1. Number 227 is Radford basketball.
Before you say we’re crazy – or that all of this is up for debate, let’s go over the very intricate process of how we came to this conclusion. We took a very statistical approach – with the help of Chat GPT – taking into consideration everything from March Madness wins and finishes, to AP Poll appearances, to conference players of the year. And then, a good friend of ours, Scott Blanchard, took our approach to the MAX.
Click here to visit the FIRST article, which explains how the formula works!
Here’s the breakdown of Radford basketball!
NCAA Tournament Success
- Championships: 0
- Finals appearances: 0
- Final Fours: 0
- Elite Eights: 0
- Sweet 16s: 0
- NCAA wins: 1
- Bids: 3
Consistency Over Time
- Wins per season: 15.8
- Bids per season: 0.07
- AP Polls: 0
Player Quality & Talent
- All-Americans: 0
- NBA players drafted & played: 0
- Conference Players of the Year: 4
Conference & Other Success
- Conference regular season titles: 6
- Conference tournament titles: 3
- NIT titles: 0
- Other tournament titles: 0
Overall scoop on Radford basketball
We’ve got a run of southern teams now, with Radford next at No. 227!
The Highlanders are another winning program lately, averaging over 15 wins per season all-time, but since the 2013-14 season, over 18. It’s a testament to what Mike Jones was able to build in Radford, going 174-150 in 10 seasons, taking home two Big South regular season chips and one NCAA Tournament appearance in 2018. The last five seasons without Jones have been a bit of a step back, but Darris Nichols and now Zach Chu have kept them competitive in the conference.
But Jones wasn’t the only good coach in program history. Early on, Oliver Purnell had a 44-42 record in three seasons, eventually moving on to Old Dominion, and then famously, Dayton and Clemson. After Purnell, Ron Bradley took the job and was probably Radford’s most successful coach. In 11 seasons, he went 192-125, marked by a trio of regular season conference titles and an NCAA tourney bid in 1998.
Radford basketball would see a handful of down years under Byron Samuels and Brad Greenberg, but Greenberg still led them dancing in the 2008-09 season.
Three Highlanders have won Big South POY – Jason Williams in 2000, Artsioum Pararkhouski in 2009 and 2010, and Carlik Jones in 2020. But no Radford player has EVER been selected in the NBA Draft. However, Javonte Green would go undrafted in 2015, and has had a solid NBA career that has lasted over 300 games and counting. He just had a career year with the Detroit Pistons (still going on), playing in all 82 regular season games.
Radford is just another example of a program that does more with less and churns out wins!