Eke, Randall have role to play for Rider
LAWRENCEVILLE » Devine Eke, by his own admission, wasn’t his usual high-energy self during the first half of Rider’s season.
Then the 6-8 redshirt sophomore got the pep talk he needed.
“Coach Ben Luber told me the way to get on the court is to be myself,” Eke said. “I wasn’t trying to be myself in the beginning, so be the personality — scream, yell, have fun, all of that stuff. It’s always going to be a positive thing.”
Eke not only rediscovered what has made him a fan favorite, but emerged as a key contributor off the bench during the Broncs’ three-game winning streak.
The Plainfield native has gotten the bulk of the backup center minutes in the last three contests and is coming off a career-best nine points in 15 minutes against Fairfield. He’s 7-for-8 from the floor with 14 rebounds in the last three games.
“I knew deep down inside that this is what I do, this is what I like to do,” said Eke, who played at Union Catholic and then spent one season at Maine before transferring to Rider. “All that other stuff will come and I just had to wait my turn. Also when I was waiting my turn, everyone was finding a groove, we were winning, so I was just king of sticking with the groove. Whenever I get my chance, I get my chance.”
Head coach Kevin Baggett appreciates what Eke, and others like freshman guard Tyrei Randall, have done when given a chance.
“It’s a credit to them because I know everybody wants to play, and as a coach I want them all to play, but we only have 40 minutes and it’s hard to delegate as many minutes as they would like,” Baggett said. “I give them a lot of respect because those guys are being selfless in order for us to be successful and have a good year. That’s when you get good teams, when you have guys that don’t mind doing that for the betterment of the team.”
Randall is the other player who has worked his way into the rotation of late. The Aurora, Colo., native really made an impression with a sevenminute second half shift that helped the Broncs swing the momentum in a win at Manhattan.
Since then Baggett has looked for ways to get the sharp-shooting lefty (40.6 percent from beyond the arc) more involved.
“It took me a while, but I’m starting to get it,” Randall said. “I just have to slow down a little bit more and soon enough I’ll be where I need to be.”
Rider (14-7, 7-2) hosts Saint Peter’s (8-11, 2-6) on Friday night. A victory for the Broncs would put them in a tie for first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
“In order to win, we need everybody from the top people all the way to the walk-ons,” Eke said. “You never know when something will happen. We need the walk-ons to bring it in practice. Everyone’s role is going to increase as the season goes because, god forbid, injuries may come, and everyone’s role will increase a tremendous amount. You need everyone to win, not just five people.”
Both Eke and Randall are ready when their number is called.
They’ll probably smiling, too.
“It’s always good to have people to keep the good vibes up because sometimes we do go through hard struggles,” Randall said, “but as long as we got those people that are there to keep us up and going, we should be good.” be