2003 Top 50 List: Yes
Dan Collins List: Yes
I loved watching Randolph Childress play. I remember him probably as fondly as any player who didn’t wear the red and white. His performance in the 1995 ACC Tournament is something I will never forget. I remember how disappointed I was when the Demon Deacons were upset by Oklahoma State in the Sweet 16. I was really pulling hard for them, and I was disappointed that I wouldn’t get to see Childress play anymore.
Childress and Rodney Rogers came in together for Dave Odom in 1991. Unfortunately, they only got to play together for two seasons. Childress missed the 1992 season with a torn ACL; they both played in 1993; then Rogers turned pro. You can’t help but wonder how good the Deacs would have been in 1994 with Childress, Rogers, and Tim Duncan. But the stars never quite aligned.
The Demon Deacons weren’t all that highly regarded coming into the 1995 season, and as late as February 10, they stood at 5-4 in the ACC. But they ripped off seven straight to end the regular season, including wins over Maryland, Georgia Tech, UNC, and Virginia. It was their February 28 win at the Smith Center over second-ranked Carolina that really got people’s attention. Childress had 26, Duncan dominated Rasheed Wallace inside, and Scooter Banks put the cherry on top with an incredible alley-oop dunk in the final seconds. The momentum carried over into the tournament, and you know what happened there for Childress: 40 against Duke, 30 against Virginia, and 37 against the Tar Heels, with highlight plays galore, including the now legendary crossover on Jeff McInnis.
Childress had a higher profile locally than he did nationally. He never received All-America consideration until his senior year when he made second team. He was the sixth leading vote-getter in the AP, finishing just a few points behind Jerry Stackhouse for the last spot on first team (pretty sure those votes were taken before the ACC Tournament). Wake Forest was not a media darling; they weren’t on the radar nationally until that push late in the 1995 season, and I think that hurt Childress a bit.
I’ve talked about that 1995 ACC season in a couple of other posts. I think 1974 was the best season in ACC history, but 1995 was the second-best. First team All-ACC was Joe Smith, Jerry Stackhouse, Childress, Tim Duncan, and Rasheed Wallace. That’s some team. Travis Best was a tremendous player who I’m not convinced doesn’t belong in the Top 100 – couldn’t crack first team. Bob Sura as a senior – couldn’t crack first team. Cherokee Parks had a tremendous year – couldn’t crack first team. Just incredible depth of talent. The next year, every player I just mentioned was gone except Duncan.
That Scooter Banks dunk looks familiar. I remember him dunking all over Hobbton.
Since I read this post, I’ve been trying to think of any non-NCSU players in ACC history I liked more than I liked Childress. Maybe Len Bias? But that’s the only one I can think of.
Randolph Childress’ numbers from that 1995 ACC Tournament run bear repeating:
He shot 54% from the floor, 52% on 3’s and 90% from the FT line. He averaged 35.7 points and 7 assists in 40.3 minutes per game. He set the record for most points in a single ACC Tournament with 107, breaking Lennie Rosenbluth’s mark of 106, set 38 years earlier. Oh yeah, he also made the game-winning shot in OT of the championship game. AND made Jeff McInnis look dumb. Just ridiculous.
Jake, for your next project I would really like to see a list of Childress’ late-game heroics. I believe he made more late-game go-ahead/game-tying/game-winning shots than any player I ever saw. For some reason, I remember this one at Duke–
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2-NqLf57nDI
But I’m pretty sure there are more.