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Award-winning columnist Tom Archdeacon — an old-school storyteller in a brand-new venue — writes about sports, the city, southwest Ohio and anything else that catches his fancy… or yours.Home > Blogs > Through the Arch > Archives > 2009 > March > 06 > Entry
blog: A Conversation with Paul Biancardi
When I heard the about the All-Horizon League honors Wright State got the other day — Todd Brown on second team and Will Graham on the All-Defensive team — I thought back to former Raiders coach Paul Biancardi.
These two guys are the last of Biancardi’s recruits still at WSU — and each, in his own right, is a good one.
I got on the phone with Biancardi — who now works for ESPN — and as it turned out, he was about to go to lunch with former Raiders’ player Jaron Taylor.
Taylor is now an assistant coach at his old junior college team, Catonsville, in Baltimore and Biancardi was in nearby North Bethesda, Md. to do ESPN2 commentary work on Thursday night’s super-prep showdown between Oak Hill Academy and Montrose Christian, ranked No. 3 and No. 6 in USA Today’s Super 25 poll.
Interestingly, Saturday night Biancardi will be in-studio at ESPN to do commentary work on the two Horizon League semi-final games on ESPNU.
He left Wright State three years ago and was replaced by Brad Brownell, but he still keeps an eye on the Raiders and especially on his former players.
Brownell is a heck of a coach and so was Biancardi. And it was with almost all Biancardi players that Brownell guided the Raiders to the NCAA Tournament his first year at WSU.
For WSU to get to the NCAA Tournament this year, it would mean winning three tournament games, beginning with tonight’s match up with Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Then Saturday night, WSU would have to beat No. 22 Butler to get to the title game.
Biancardi, by the way, beat Butler six times in seven games while at Wright State.
He admitted he thinks about Wright State and what could have been “almost every day.”
He’s got a good job with ESPN and he and his family live outside Charlotte, N.C., but he said “I could have lived in Bellbrook the rest of my life. The people back there were great and a lot of them are still our close friends.”
What a nice phone call with an old friend.
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By Raider Nation
March 7, 2009 4:40 AM | Link to this
why are the _lyers afraid to play the Raiders? we’ll play you anywhere anytime!!