The players’ Coach Allen is getting are really gems that the bigger schools on the east Coast should not be missing on. Tremendous athletes especially on the frontline seem to find their way to Norfolk.  Allen rotates in as many as eight guys on the front court that are capable at playing at the next level.  This type of talent is something you usually see at an ACC school.  No other CAA school (or mid major for that matter) could even hope to have this much talent up front.  How does a private school that started as an off shoot of William and Mary just a few decades ago in Norfolk Virginia ‘rise up’ to such heights in both programs?  Well let’s look into the recent past. 

The success of this program all leads back to the day when the administration decided to take a chance on the Freshman Coach from Marshall University, his alma mater.  When William ‘Sonny’ Allen took over the reins of this program they were playing in a depression era gym that might have seated two hundred people.  The Monarchs had never recruited a black player (they had never given anyone a basketball scholarship at all to be fair) and the coach before him was primarily the baseball coach who moonlighted for the 18 or so games the team would play during the winter.  That all changed as Allen quickly implemented his fast break style and started bringing in kids who could play his brand of basketball.  One of his first recruits was a Navy kid who was a 22 year old kid who has just ended his enlistment (Norfolk has the largest Naval base in the world after all) but was all of five nine.  Dick St. Clair was a small-town kid who was a good high school player but was not recruited at all.  Well, Allen was taking what he could get at this point and this kid fit what he was trying to do to the T.  The athletic point guard loved to dunk (yes at five nine and he is anglo saxon) but what he was really good at was pushing the ball up the court.  St. Clair is one of the best passers in the country and his ability to run the court and set up teammates set the tone for the kind of fast break offense Smith wanted to play.  This kind of entertaining offense led to Smith’s ability to recruit better players (another white point guard was the next major one ironically) including some of these big guys that the Monarchs have become known for (after all big buys love easy baskets and playing with great point guards who get them the ball makes them look good especially when they flush one down on the break).  Soon with these athletic big men being fed the ball and running the court, the ‘Runnin Monarchs’ were running up the ranks of college basketball.  The first step was to gain independence from their sponsor and they did finally achieved that status in 1962. They quickly became a full time University and that’s when Allen came aboard.  They were one of the best D-2 programs in the country, even winning a national title, but the climb was like a Mighty Zep song.  It just keeps moving forward.  They were accepted into D-1 and jumped into the Sun Belt Conference but that was not enough and did not fit geographically (something some of the new school AD’s and Presidents should keep in mind) so kept moving forward.  The Monarchs finally settled in the Colonial where they soon became King of the castle.  And not long after that these rulers were building the 8500 seat Ted Constant Convocation Center and filling it up nightly with their rabid fans.  The Lady Monarchs actually were an off shoot of the development of the men’s program as they hired Marianne Crawford Stanley and she went and got Donovan and Lieberman and the rest is history.  The rest of the country might know the women’s team a little better as they have made multiple final fours but in Norfolk the Men Monarchs are indeed King! 

Going into the season the Monarchs are the favorites of the Colonial but not as prohibitive as it once was.  Smith has a solid group of Uppeerclassmen plus the now regular recruitment of new young talent to keep this machine turning.   Perhaps the Monarchs had shown they were not quite ready to take the next step to the big time or what is probably more true is that their Colonial brethren have stepped up to the gauntlet this program has shown and become a viable power amongst Mid Majors. 

The strength of the Monarchs might be their front-line power and strength but the basis is the point guard play of St. Clair and Junior Dave Twardzik.  Smith wanted to run so much he played the two together at times to get all the quickness he could on the court next to his talented big men.  Twardzik is without question the most important player on the roster.  Smith had recruited Twardzik out of Middletown Pennsylvania to lead his program.  And that is what he did.  With boots on.  Of course, when he was recruited the Monarchs were still in Division Two but this kid has more than shown himself capable of handling the responsibility of playing at this higher level.  Twardzik is the consummate point guard on both ends of the floor.  Twardzik is one of the best drive and distribute players in the country setting the table for his teammates with his innate ability to weave through defenses and either score or drop off a pass for an easier shot for his teammates.  He is also the key to the success of the vaunted Monarch fast break.  Twardzik never stops running and can flat out fly up and down the court.  Many players can get up and down the court but not with the non-stop abandonment and desire to get to the hoop as this Junior stud does.  Pinball as his teammates call him for banging through the key on his way to the hoop is without question the leader of this team.  His defense is almost as good as his offense as he can shut down other point guards with his tenaciousness and smarts.  Twardzik is without question the leader of this team and is the most respected player in this league.  He earned first team all-league honors but easily could have been named MVP of this ever improving conference.  To put it quite simply in Norfolk Virginia, Dave Twardzik is the man. 

As far as St. Clair was concerned he has acquiesced the starting role to Twardzik but was playing big minutes off the bench (sometimes next to Twardzik) when he hurt his leg and was lost for the season.  The Monarchs did have depth here as Junior Oliver Purnell and Sophomore Frank Smith were both solid point guards.  Purnell might even be more of a leader than Twardzik and really knows the game and Smith is almost as gifted of a passer so the Monarchs did not miss much when Twardzik came out which was not much.  The two guard was a different story.  Senior Leo Anthony has been the main man as far as scoring in Norfolk for the last three years but unlike point guard there is no one on the roster even close to him in talent.  Anthony was adept at getting open and firing off jumpers even with double and triple teams and this team definitely needed this.  He has plenty of beefy teammates to run off screens from and he does this well but Anthony is not the biggest wing on the planet (6’0) so he has to work harder than most.  He can run though which fits Smith’s style to the T and he might be the quickest white guy in the DC area.  Anthony is a good finisher and mid-range guy but needs to get better from behind the arc as you can’t run the break on every possession.  Sophomore Keith Thomas got some minutes which increased throughout the year and he is one heck of a defender.  Thomas is 6’3 and can shoot (he is a terrific free throw guy and can get to the hoop) but needs to get better, like Anthony, from behind the arc as this team needs someone who can relieve the pressure down low and as we all know the three is King nowadays even for Monarchs.  Seniors Bob Pritchett and Harry Lazon are also here and Pritchett can flat score but neither is good enough defensively for this level.  Allen has got to find some wings who can both defend and shoot the three to keep up with the Jonese’s (ie VCU) in the Colonial or in danger of getting surpassed.  The weird thing is that most of Allen’s best recruits are bigs and not wings as the machine keeps turning.  There is one kid who has potential from NC and like Thomas is a shut down defender but can he shoot?  Time will tell!               

Now for that vaunted front line.  As stated before, Allen has the luxury of being able to rotate several players up front.  Yes, the Monarchs are that deep.  At small forward Allen has several choices.  The Monarchs leading scorer the second half of the season up front was junior Ronnie Valentine.  Valentine started off the season backing up fellow Junior Jeff Fuhgrmann but an injury gave Valentine the starting job and he excelled.  Fuhrmann was the first true three for the Monarchs as he can both bang inside and run the court like a gazelle.  Still, he was a little out of sorts against this type of competition.  He was already splitting time with Valentine when he went down.  Valentine is a gifted inside out scorer who is a tough matchup for anyone because of his size and shooting ability.  This 6’7 210-pound hometown kid does not get the cred he is due as the Monarchs are filled with stars up front but he was a vital piece of their success.  He cemented the three spot on both ends and does everything well.  He, however, has able backups pushing him for minutes with a group of more athletic natural wings including Sophomores Ronnie McAdoo, Anthony Carver and Mark Davis.  McAdoo is a knockoff of Valentine with his inside out game but he showed most of that on the JV until the Copeland injury.   McAdoo is only six foot six but plays more like a power forward at times which this team is full of.  Carver is in the same boat but brings an ability to shoot the three which should help him get more minutes in this in home battle.  This team could really use his perimeter shooting and especially his consistency as he made a three in every game he played last year though most of them were on the JV.  Davis really fits the bill of a small forward as he can fly up and down the court and finishes with a splash but was is going to play in front of Valentine.  He did get some productive minutes when he got his chance off JV.  All three of these second year studs could probably start on any other team in this conference but understand when they got here they would have to wait in line as that is the Monarch way.  You have to sit in your cocoon and develop and when it is your time to shine then you show your beautiful wings and fly baby fly!  

At power forward, ODU has senior Randy Leddy, junior Joel Copeland and sophomore Kenny Gattison battling for time.  All three are extremely physical players who can dominate underneath.  Both Anthony and Gattison have the bodies you wish for underneath with raw muscle and incredible strength.  Copeland has even got some range on a jumper and was the perfect complement to Valentine at the forward.    On a gifted team of front court players Copeland may be the best.  He is for sure offensively.  And has by far made the biggest impact.  He was a freshmen (who were ineligible back in the day) but in his first year got a reprieve (and a rule change) that allowed him to play in the final four of the D-2 tourney.  The Monarchs eventually won which they would not have done without his presence.  At six seven 215 he can ‘hang on the blocks’ but will have to hold off some of the ‘new kids’ who are a bit bigger to keep his job.  Copeland can really extend defenses with his smooth stroke and of course he can run the court but 6’7 is 6’7 and Allen has got some huge physical specimens waiting in line.  Gattison goes 6’8 225 but plays much bigger than that.  This Wilmington kid loves to bang in the paint and has the body to do it.  He is not quite the offensive player Copeland is but man can he bang and board.  And supposedly Allen has about four more coming down the 337.  Leddy almost assuredly will have to take a seat at the deep end of Chesapeak Bay but he was the first big man that dominated for the Monarchs.  Leddy is an extremely motivated guy who was raised in Princess Anne and came to Norfolk to become a fighter pilot.  This rebounding machine will not mind taking a seat as it will enable him to focus on his studies more but man could this dude grab a board back in the day.  Of course that was D-2 then but Randy was the one who set the template for all of the great big men who followed for ODU. 

At center the Monarch have another trio of wide bodies that dominate the paint.  Junior Wilson Washington starts now, fellow junior Skip Noble used to start and still contributes but sophomore Mark West gets plenty of minutes off the bench.  Washington has a little more offensive game but West is a defensive stopper who loves to block shots.  Both eat up space and have a mean streak but Noble was the guy who led the team to their first trip to the D-2 final four with his stellar play.  He got very limited minutes however as Allen was completely content with his new duo who could match up with anyone down low.  Washington is a hometown kid from Norfolk who had been recruited by Lefty Driesell at Maryland but after about a month there decided not to go there and came home.  This was the Monarchs good fortune as he became the main man down low for ODU.  He led this program to the glory they had in Division Two with his inside play.  His offense was solid but his board work and low post defense are majestic.  He is a man amongst boys.  West may even be better and is without question the best shot blocker in the conference.   He does not have a low post game as he relies on dunks and putbacks but this lefty can sure flush them when he gets the ball down low.  No team on in the Colonial and maybe on the Chesapeake Bay has a better combo of big men than Washington and West.   The one thing about all of the big men for the Monarchs is they are not the best ball handlers in the world.  The term ‘Black Hole’ was meant for these guys as not one of them averaged even an assist and a half a game.  Obviously most of the ballhandling was done by the back court and especially Twardzik who dribbled often and passed usually only when leading directly to a basket as his almost seven assists a game can attest. 

The Old Dominion Monarch have recruited as many talented players as any mid major school in America.  Coach Sonny Allen has built the machine around Norfolk Virginia by bringing in big strong athletic big men who are true physical specimens who love to play the game.  Once the word got out that Allen loved to run and would let his kids play the big men came running.  They love to score and with most of these guys having some limitations on their ball handling they wanted to play for a team that would get them the ball where they could score easily.  Allen had that in a plethora of point guards who could handle the ball and could distribute to the big guys for easy baskets if they worked hard and could run the floor.  These big guys worked hard all of the time.  And Dave Twardzik and company get them the ball.  The Monarchs have become use to dominating the Colonial conference and have their eyes set on bigger prizes. But this year the Monarchs were challenged for supremacy of their conference and an Achilles heel sprung up that might have cost them their chance at dancing.  The Monarchs as dominant as they were inside could not shoot from the perimeter.  In today’s world that is huge as the three point shot is king. The Monarchs only had a handful of players who could hit the three ball and they were inconsistent.  Still, this team could run and score even without the three averaged almost 90 points a game.  And that was with making less than threes than any team in the conference.  Of course they did get more dunks and easy baskets than any other team in the Colonial and did average almost four boards a game more than anyone else and blocked 7 shots a game to also lead the league but who’s counting?    This is not a new routing for a small school from Virginia who’s women’s programs has set the bar for mid majors in college basketball.  Now if they could just convince Miss Lieberman to play two guard for this team.