Of all the things Eric Maynor did in the 2008-09 season for the VCU Rams, one thing stands out above all others. Maynor made his teammates better. “I knew coming in that every team was going to try to key on me,“ Maynor said of his senior season at VCU.

Score aside, fond memories Highlanders’ time on stage was brief but left Radford wanting more GREENSBORO, N.C.—Kenny Thomas and his Radford basketball teammates ran onto the court for warmups, and before Thomas flicked his first jump shot, he opened his mouth and breathed deep. “I was just trying to take it all in and just feel the atmosphere,“ he said later.

The beginning of his college basketball career did not go as Kenny Thomas had hoped. The second and third years were not exactly what he had envisioned either.