Basketball standout and 2020 grad Caleb Homesley now one of the Flames’ biggest fans for March Madness

Former Liberty University Flames Basketball standout and last year’s Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) Player of the Year Caleb Homesley (’20) is excited to cheer for his former teammates as they take on the Oklahoma State Cowboys at 6:25 p.m. EST at Farmers Coliseum in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

“I was very impressed with how they played this season, and I played with some of the guys last year, so I know what type of players they are and what they are going to bring to the court every game,” he said. “I thought it was special to see the seniors step up and bring the younger guys along.”

Homesley helped the Flames win their first two ASUN titles and punch their ticket to the tournament the past two years. With the disappointed cancellation of last year’s tournament due to COVID-19, Homesley said he’s excited to watch his former teammates get another chance to shine on the March Madness court.

After leaving Liberty as one of the finest basketball players in school history, Homesley is now one of the youngsters trying to make it in the competitive world of professional sports. After graduating last May, the talented shooting guard was signed by the Washington Wizards where he would go on to play in the preseason before being placed in the Wizards’ NBA G League affiliate, the Capital City Go-Go. He was later assigned to the new expansion G League team, the Erie BayHawks, as a flex player when the Go-Go declined to participate in this year’s season. (The league played all of its 2020-21 games at a single site in Orlando, Fla., due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Games were held Feb. 10-March 6).

“I just left the bubble a week ago,” he said on Thursday. “I played 15 games in the G League bubble, where we lost in the playoffs. It was a really neat experience and I learned a lot. I’m now just going to be waiting around and getting ready for the next season.”

The 6’6” rookie said that he was well prepared for the professional sporting world thanks to Flames Head Coach Ritchie McKay.

“He did a really good job,” Homesley said. “He told me what it was going to be like and he has people he knows from the University of Virginia who have played in the NBA, so I was able to pick his brain. He also sat me down when I was in school and told me that I was never going to experience something like Liberty again so I needed to live it to the fullest. He was diligent every day in how he coached me, and he coached me hard.”

McKay and the Flames will need diligent and disciplined play Friday night when they face the No. 4 seeded Cowboys and their presumptive No. 1 overall pick in the NBA Draft, freshman guard Cade Cunningham, who was named the Big 12 Player of the Year and Freshman of the Year.

“I would say to our guys that they just need to go in there and not make the game bigger than it is,” Homesley said. “I think that is something that helped us when we beat Mississippi State two years ago in the tournament when I was there. We looked at it as just another game. Yeah, it’s on a big stage, but you play so many games in your career that going out there and playing in the game becomes the easy part. Practice is the tough part.”

As Homesley prepares to train hard this spring in preparation for the G League’s summer season in Las Vegas, which will tip off in August, he will continue to look back on his time at Liberty with joy and gratitude.

“I miss the culture and family vibe that was on the team at Liberty,” he said. “As a locker room guy and as someone who loves to build relationships with teammates, those are definitely some of the things that I’ll always remember.”