During a home thrashing in December by Miami — which was underappreciated at the time — there were rumblings of discontent in the Nutter Center at repeated defensive lapses.
Sargent, though, wasn’t as discouraged as the masses. In the midst of a painful start, he saw potential.
“I thought we were playing very good in pockets. Toledo, we weren’t very good. But Kent State and Marshall, we were good. I thought Butler, the first half, we were good. It was just a matter of our guys stringing a few wins together and getting confidence in winning and figuring out how to win,’” he said.
The Raiders are doing just that. And after three straight forgettable seasons, a massive turnaround appears to be in progress.
They’re 12-7 overall and in first at 7-1 in the Horizon League. And few outside of the players and staff saw that coming (and even some of them may have had their doubts).
They’ve won seven games in a row and show no signs of stopping. Wright State’s longest D-I stretch of consecutive wins was 11 in 2007-08, and that certainly seems within range.
They’re also off to their best HL start in six years. Surpassing their all-time best 10-game starts since joining the league in 1994-95 — 9-1 in 2019-20 and 2017-18 — seems doable, too.
They’re No. 119 in the NET ratings, which is the highest they’ve climbed since the 2020-21 Loudon Love-led team ended the first season of the NET at No. 75.
They’re also doing it in a year when the HL is having one of its better seasons. In NET conference ratings, it’s 19th out of 31 leagues, which is four spots higher than the MAC and tied for its best showing in the NET era.
Not that Sargent wants anyone getting too giddy.
“I continue to tell the team, ‘We’re called to be excellent.’ These guys can be excellent. I cannot wait to get back to practice with them. I can’t wait to dive back into getting uncomfortable when we practice and getting after each other — which they do,” Sargent said.
“I don’t think we’re quite there yet. We can get even better.”
One of the most startling transformations has come on defense. After a pair of disastrous seasons — they were 330th out of 365 teams in defensive efficiency last year and 341st in 2023-24 — the Raiders have risen to 180th.
They lead the league is fewest points allowed at 71.2 per game. They were ninth and 11th the previous two years.
“Now THAT … we pour a ton of time into it — a ton of time. And we’ve really tried to prioritize that with our roster — all of the offseason learning (a new way) and owning apathetic defense and not doing it right, and going through all the pain and suffering of that,” Sargent said.
“It’s just been very difficult, but it’s been real. And like we’re telling our players, if you can own that, you can have a chance to grow. We’re seeing some good fruit there.”
Sargent also made a commitment to testing his team — not with humiliating trips to play major powers in exchange for a sizeable check, but against top mid-majors.
Their non-conference strength of schedule is a respectable 154th.
“I think playing like opponents — good MAC teams, Radford at that point was expected to win — really helps,” he said.
“Going and playing a top-five team, I don’t know how much that helps you. Occasionally doing it can help. But I want to play other mid-major teams that expect to win their league. I think that prepares you.”
The formula is working. But Sargent is adamant about it being too early to draw any conclusions.
“I keep saying this is not an arrival point. I just think there’s more in there, and we need to get it out,” he said.
Next game
Who: Cleveland State at Wright State
When: 7 p.m. Wednesday
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: 1410-AM, 101.5-FM
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