The latter was the case midway through the second half of Wright State’s victory over Northern Kentucky in the semifinal of the Horizon League Tournament in Indianapolis 10 days ago.
Raiders guard Dominic Pangonis flicked the ball away from an NKU player and it ended up in the hands of WSU teammate Michael Cooper, who started to bring the ball back up the court quickly when he spotted point guard T.J. Burch out ahead of him.
Burch gathered in the pass and headed toward an unimpeded layup when he heard a familiar voice behind him.
“Actually, we had thought about the play just before that,” said Andrea Holden, who the Raiders list as a 6-foot-6 sophomore forward who comes off the bench, but often has more in common with some of those halftime thrill acts that leave people gasping and cheering.
“T.J. had the ball on that first play too and I called out,” said Holden, who was trailing a few yards behind.
He was hoping for a lob pass off the backboard that he would grab at the peak of his leap and slam down for a rousing dunk. It’s a play the Raiders often do to wrap up their warm-ups before a game.
“On that first play, he looked back and saw there was a defensive player just in front of me and he didn’t want to risk it, so he made the layup.
“The next time, though, I knew he was going to throw it.”
Burch sent a scoop pass off the glass. Holden grabbed it and rocked the rim with a two-handed jam. He landed with a full-throated roar and NKU — now down by 11 and on the way to a 103-90 loss — called timeout.
As Holden came toward the WSU bench, one joyous teammate after another met him with a chest bump. A grinning Burch just nodded to him.
“I wouldn’t have had to call out to him,” Holden said. “He just knew and so did I. That’s part of our chemistry. We’re just so connected.”
Holden and Burch spent a few minutes reflecting after their final practice Tuesday in preparation for their trip to Philadelphia and Friday afternoon’s first round NCAA Tournament game against No. 3 seed Virginia at the Xfinity Mobile Arena, the home of the Philadelphia 76ers.
Holden and Burch have more in common than the ability to turn a routine layup into a SportsCenter Top Ten Play of the Day.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Both ended up at WSU after they decommitted from the original schools they planned to attend when the head coaches at each suddenly announced they were taking jobs elsewhere.
Holden — who had starred at Hamilton High — had been committed for nearly a year to play at Tiffin when, he said, “the coach quit without telling us.”
Some Division I schools had talked to him in the past, but always bypassed him. Some of it had to do with him being an undersized post player. Some of it his mom once told me may have had something to do with his GPA.
He couldn’t get bigger, but he could bolster his academic resume and that’s why WSU assistant coach Travis Trice made overtures to him.
Head Coach Cliff Sargent was especially intrigued by him when he saw him play in a regional tournament game at Xavier.
He told how an opposing player “cheap-shotted him, just blew him up right in the chest and jaw.
“And Andrea didn’t break stride, didn’t engage, didn’t retaliate. I was like, ‘Man, that is different!’”
Sargent said the more he’s gotten to know Holden the more he appreciates his stoic, unwavering demeanor.
“He may not always express it the way you’d expect, but he is the realest, the wisest guy we have here.
“I absolutely love coaching him and being around him and seeing how his way influences me.”
A strong debut
Burch, whose athletic family is rooted in Warren, grew up there until sixth grade when he moved to Dallas, where his dad, a former University of Toledo cornerback, had a new job as a teacher and coach.
After graduating from high school and spending a season at a prep school, he planned to go to McNeese State, the Louisiana school he’d committed to a year prior.
“I really had a good relationship with Coach Will Wade and was excited to go there,” he said. “But then he told me, ‘T.J. I’m leaving here next year so you’ll have to decide whether you want to stay or go into the portal. He thought I’d be better off going to another school.
“I was uncommitted for about two months and it was getting late. I worried all the roster spots would be taken so I needed to find someplace quick.”
That’s when Michael Lewis at Ball State contacted him. He had a roster spot open and knew a little about him.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
Burch joined a veteran team and averaged just 9.5 minutes and 4.5 points a game last season.
He said when his position coach and some players decided to leave at season’s end, he did too.
After visiting NJIT (New Jersey Institute of Technology,) he was contacted by WSU coaches and said before the car ride from the airport to campus was over, he decided Wright State — without seeing the campus, the Nutter Center, the practice facility or getting to know the team — was the place for him.
He sensed the coaches truly cared about him and could make him better.
Although that realization was the same for Holden, his adjustment didn’t come as quickly or smoothly last year.
He was asked to redshirt to develop more academically, socially and on the basketball court and didn’t especially like the idea at first.
He was strictly a practice player and spent game night’s on the bench in street clothes.
But in early January (of 2025) — after sitting out the first 15 games — he said Sargent asked him if he’d like to begin playing.
His answer was emphatic and in just over 21 minutes of his debut against Green Bay, he made 5 of 6 shots and finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots.
‘We’ve grown together’
Coming into this season Burch spent the first 11 games coming off the Raiders bench and being used mainly for his defense. He also missed a game, so when he was moved to the starting lineup WSU was 5-7.
He added a burst of energy and fearless play — as Holden does when he comes off the bench — and that has changed the whole tenor of the team.
With Burch starting at point, WSU has gone 18-4. The Raiders won the Horizon League regular season title (15-5) and the tournament, coming from behind to beat Detroit, 66-63.
That put them into the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time since the school became a Division I program in 1987.
Burch averages 12.3 points per game, second on the team to Cooper. He’s the team leader in assists and his 83 steals are tied for fifth best in the nation.
“I owe this to my teammates and the coaches who believe in me and have trusted me,” he said. “They helped me get better, but they let me be me, too.
“That’s given me confidence and that opened doors for me that I never thought would open.”
A first team All-Horizon League selection, Burch also was named the Horizon League Newcomer of the Year and the league’s Defensive Player of the Year.
Last week he was named the MVP of the Horizon League Tournament, as well.
Holden, who didn’t start playing basketball until the eighth grade and is still learning the game, is going to continue to blossom, Sargent said:
“People now don’t realize the kind of player he’s going to become,” Sargent said.
Credit: Bryant Billing
Credit: Bryant Billing
He said the joyful energy, the fearlessness and competitive fire the two bring to the court not only has helped transform this team, but have changed him as a coach.
He said as much as they both needed Wright State to give them a sense of belonging, he needed them to appreciate the positive things they add that might differ from some of the preset ideas he had as a young coach.
“We’ve grown together,” he said.
That’s why he claims he didn’t flinch when he watched their razzle-dazzle play in the tournament semifinal:
“I’ve told them, ‘I trust you guys.’ We told them before that we need to risk it all sometimes. Nothing gets done with passive, careful play.
“I love that they were willing to risk failure to give us a boost.”
That’s been the story of the Raiders’ midseason turnaround and it’s why Burch said he and his teammates can’t wait to play the 29-5 Cavaliers, who are 18.5 point favorites:
“People say we have nothing to lose and yeah, that’s true, but we’re looking at it more as a chance to really show what we’re about. We want to show everybody that we can compete.”
To do that, he said they want to be aggressive and fearless:
“And we want to have fun doing it.”
That’s how the Raiders turned around their season.
That’s how they got into the NCAA Tournament.
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