Veteran Flames guards will use leadership roles, tournament experience in Friday’s March Madness return

When Liberty University’s men’s basketball team made program history in 2019 with its first-ever win in the NCAA DI men’s basketball tournament — an 84-73 upset over No. 5 seed Mississippi State — its roster was anchored by upperclassmen like guards Caleb Homesley, Lovell Cabbil, and Georgie Pacheco-Ortiz and forwards Scottie James and Myo Baxter-Bell. At the same time, Head Coach Ritchie McKay and Flames fans witnessed guards Darius McGhee and Elijah Cuffee making a significant impact early in their Liberty careers, offering glimpses of what they currently do as players and leaders for this year’s March Madness-bound squad.

McGhee was a 5-foot, 9-inch freshman with a rumored 48-inch vertical leap and deadly range on his jumper; Cuffee was a sophomore who excelled as a lockdown defender and could guard anyone on the perimeter. Many saw the duo as Liberty’s pivotal returners when the four upperclassmen graduated, and the potential was already in action on the floor.

A year later, when the remaining core seniors were robbed of their opportunity to make a final run in the NCAA Tournament due to the onset of COVID-19, Cuffee and McGhee were two of the main names in the conversation when it came to who would rise up to become team leaders on the floor and in the locker room the next year

To say they took up that responsibility would be an understatement, as McGhee and Cuffee clicked with Liberty’s new crop of talented players and brought the program its fifth consecutive 20-win season. The Flames finished undefeated at home (13-0) and once again clinched first place in the ASUN regular-season standings before winning their third consecutive ASUN Conference tournament to clinch a spot in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

“When you’re a leader, you have to value the small details and you have to bring that same awareness and alertness to everyone on the team,” McGhee said. “Back (in 2018-19) I was still getting familiar with things. But now that I feel like I have a good grasp on what we want and what we do on both ends of the floor, I think it gives me more confidence and it adds value to the team. And (other) guys on the team do that as well, the way (Cuffee) communicates and the way he leads even me gives me a little more confidence in our ability as a whole to get the job done.”

McGhee finished the season having made 93 3-pointers (third-most in the country), was fifth in 3-point attempts, and became Liberty’s second consecutive ASUN Player of the Year after Caleb Homesley in 2019-20. Cuffee, who was named as the ASUN’s preseason Defensive Player of the Year in November 2020, continued his prowess on both ends of the court all season and earned the title of ASUN Defensive Player of the Year.

Cuffee also became the winningest Flames Basketball player ever with 104 victories in his four years at Liberty. His 133 career games ranks third in all of Division I among active players.

Now that they are back in the atmosphere of March Madness, both McGhee and Cuffee said that they’ve been able to encourage their first-year teammates to not let the large stage distract them from staying true to Liberty’s style of play.

“I think (my encouragement) is just letting them know that what we do works,” McGhee said in Wednesday’s press conference. “It’s easy to get lost in what’s ahead or who we might possibly get matched up with, especially before the seeding played in, but (I’m) letting guys know that all we can control is today so let’s make sure we go out and give it our best effort.”

“Me and Darius can help our teammates know that this is just like any other game,” Cuffee added. “It is March Madness, but keeping our team from getting too high or too low within the game is going to be one of the biggest keys for anyone who’s playing at this point (in the year).”

McKay expanded on the idea that the Flames’ renewed opportunity to prove themselves after the abrupt end to last season has been a motivator for the players to stay safe in the regular season and tournament under COVID-19 precautions.

“I think the guys who had it taken away last year and with the (current protocols) — you test positive, you go on pause — I just think our guys have done a really good job of appreciating the opportunity to have the ball get thrown up and that we get to play,” McKay said in a press conference. “The accomplishment of winning the regular-season championship was really good, but I think you can see that our guys weren’t just satisfied with that.  … We’ll get to Indianapolis with a desire to see if we can compete and give our very best.”

The Flames would not be back in the tournament, however, if it wasn’t for the often under-recognized efforts of the rest of their roster. The team’s greatest strength, McKay explained, is its unselfishness and effort level that keeps the ball in motion on the court.

“Our group is humble, but we have a sense of confidence that is reflective of how hard they’ve worked and how united they are,” McKay said.

“We’re an unselfish group of guys who play collectively on both ends of the floor,” McGhee added. “We take pride in both ends of the floor, and we take things one thing at a time.”

The 13th-seeded Liberty Flames will face 4-seed Oklahoma State on Friday, March 19, in the first round of this year’s NCAA Tournament, with the tip-off scheduled for 6:25 p.m. EST televised live on TBS.