Writer: Zeke Beam
Charleston Southern University’s men’s basketball program has been rebuilt — in more ways than one.
This past season, the Buccaneers claimed their first Big South regular-season title in 26 years and reached the postseason for only the second time in school history with a berth in the NIT.
CSU head coach Barclay Radebaugh, who just completed his eighth season, takes none of the credit for the Bucs’ turnaround. He says it is all a result of God working through him and his coaching staff to better the lives of the young men they coach.
“We have put the Lord first in this program, and we have seen an incremental growth,” said Radebaugh. CSU has rocketed from nine wins in 2008-09 to 19 in each of the last two seasons. Last year’s campaign was the first winning one for CSU since 1996-97. The Bucs also made their first Big South Championship appearance in eight years.
Radebaugh’s rebuilding process at CSU hasn’t been an easy one. CSU struggled in his first four years. He admits the first thing he had to change was his heart and to start coaching in a way that he felt would please the Lord.
“The first person He had to change was me,” Radebaugh said. “I really believe we have started to coach the last few years the way God would coach. We’ve tried to be highly organized and highly efficient, but we also want to bring out the best in our players through positive reinforcement and unconditional love. That was a real change for me.”
Recruiting is the Alpha and the Omega in college basketball, maybe more so than any other team sport. Radebaugh changed the way he recruited players to Charleston Southern, bringing prayer into the process.
“God started to bring great players here,” Radebaugh said. “It is almost like God hand-delivered those players here. We’ve tried to build a foundation of unconditional love, discipline and toughness.”
Radebaugh found himself turning back to one verse of Scripture, Colossians 2:2-3: “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ.”
“[The Scripture] says God made the heart to encourage,” Radebaugh said. “Fear doesn’t motivate. Anger doesn’t motivate. Nothing motivates like love. When our team knows that our coaching staff loves them and cares about their hearts, it can become a very strong force.”
Radebaugh’s mission and message is seen in the men he coaches and leads. Forward Paul Gombwer is part of a talented sophomore class for the Bucs that has expectations sky-high. But Gombwer, like his teammates and coach, is not taking the credit.
“This year, everything we have been able to achieve has been because of our faith in God,” Gombwer says. “He has brought us closer as a team. If we win, to Him be the glory; if we lose, to Him be the glory.”
Gombwer knew Charleston Southern’s program was different the moment he heard of the Bucs, and Radebaugh was the reason.
“Coach Ray has been a great influence on me,” Gombwer said. “When I was being recruited, I didn’t know anything about CSU. I had a lot of options coming out of high school, but the only person to stop and say, ‘Do you have time to pray together?’ was Coach Ray. As soon as he said that to me, I knew Charleston Southern was a different place, and this is where I wanted to be.”
Nigerian-born, Gombwer came to the U.S. as a freshman in high school after earning a scholarship to a prep school. He worked out at a fantasy basketball camp put together by Nigerian basketball legend Ejike Ugboaja, a former draft pick of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Gombwer’s selflessness is evident on the court. He is the team’s leading rebounder and spends the majority of his time doing the Bucs’ dirty work: screening, defending and doing whatever it takes for his team to succeed. Not surprisingly, his actions away from basketball are just as selfless.
Last summer, the Bucs spent a week in the Dominican Republic playing exhibition games and doing mission work. It was a week that tore at Gombwer’s huge heart.
“I expected a better living situation in the orphanages, but the conditions were not good,” Gombwer said. “All the orphans have is each other.”
Gombwer has already reached out to the orphanage near his home in Kaduna, Nigeria. He shipped camp T-shirts and basketballs back to his home, where his sister is holding them for him to give to the children this summer.
After visiting the Dominican Republic, Gombwer wants to do more for the orphanages. “I want to hold fundraisers and drives at CSU games to give back,” he said. “I see that there is so much more I can do, that we as a team can do.”
The Bucs set five goals for the season before the year began. They achieved four, coming up just short of a berth in the NCAA Tournament.
With a young roster, and leaders like Radebaugh and Gombwer guiding the program, that dream could be realized in the very near future.
— Zeke Beam is assistant athletic director for media relations at Charleston Southern University.