THANK YOU Spider Family…The last 4 years have been pretty great! Although it wasn’t completely smooth sailing, that is always part of the journey. I couldn’t be more proud of what Dji accomplished in his 4 years here at Richmond. He leaves here as a graduate, with an A10 Tourney Champ, NCAA Tourney trip, A10 Reg. Season Champ, the A10’s Most Improved Player and two NIT trips. He considers himself a Spider for life, as do the coaching staff and hopefully the fans will too.
I have enjoyed the board here for the last 4 yrs, made some friends from the board along the way and even found a nemesis🤭. We support Dji as he made this decision on his own but with counsel from us and his inner basketball circle. We are excited for what the future holds for him as he looks to make more of his dreams and goals come true! I’ve said on here multiple times that the reason he entered the portal wasn’t for money, but money is certainly something that plays a part in college basketball today. The opportunity to play in one of the best college basketball conferences in the country is something that Dji has dreamed about his entire life.
The staff is amazing and laid out how Dji can get to his goals of the NCAA’s and professional goals. Player development and playing in an NBA style system is also something that brought us in. Dji still has things to work on like 3pt shot and FT% which are fixable. I would never doubt my son’s ability to get better and certainly we are just thankful that Richmond and now LSU didn’t “see all they needed to see”🫣 There was one up here that said what my own child was and wasn't numerous times, now he's not a P5 guy(Yikes way off on that one) and won't play, won't be successful...jokes on that "know it all" Dji's decision is life changing...so cry more while you sit at your PC and google stats and plays. Shout out to Ply, Native, 8legs, SF, Sman, 23, 97, Sec 9, GKiller, and URfan1 , Spiderlaw, SpiderRick and many others that engaged in meaningful back and forth. If I left you out it wasn't on purpose...well, one was🫣
LSU has a solid history of basketball success and putting guys into the professional ranks and Dji is simply betting on himself. Obviously, he will also be able to get his Masters and is planning on an MBA. How many students are able to get two degrees, do what they love at the highest collegiate level, have put some nice money in their pocket and leave college debt free? We will be pulling for the Spiders every season and I hope to return in the future for some games.
This isn’t Will Wade's LSU and Coach McMahon is an amazing coach and their staff is top notch and have a track record of developing their players and doing it the right way. The only downside for mom and dad is the distance…we will miss being able to get in the car and be at every home game as we did here. I will end with this…the love and support that Dji has received from the fanbase not just this year but all 4 yrs has been great. The support from almost all of you guys on the board has been great. Thank you for the love and support you have shown and as I said earlier…we are Spiders for life and we hope that the fans see us that way as well! #OneRichmond🕷️🏀❤️