Virgin Gorda and Henderson State University Junior Randy 'Chino' George

 Virgin Gorda’s George winds up season with game winner

BY DEAN GREENAWAY

Virgin Gorda’s Randy ‘Chino’ George, a junior on the Henderson State University Reddies basketball team in Arkansas, wrapped up his season by hitting a game winning shot during the team’s last winning streak, where they won five of six games to close out the season.

Despite the team finishing with a 13-14 overall record and 8-8 in conference—its first losing season following seven straight 20-win seasons—George had one of his best games and tipped in the game winner winning lay-up with 0.2 seconds remaining in overtime, to beat Central Arkansas University 80-79. The February 12 victory was the second game of the Reddies five game winning streak before losing their season closer. In that game, George scored 22 points to go with seven rebounds.

The former HLSCC Stingrays player, who transferred to Sauk Valley Community College in Illinois before moving on to Henderson State, said his season has gone smoothly after red shirting last year. “I got a bit of experience learning coach (Joe) Redmond's system quite well and I have been able to see how it is by watching the team from last year which included Steve Parillon,” George said in a recent interview. “At the beginning of the season, I wasn't starting but as time went by I have been working harder and harder in practice everyday. That showed the coaches how dedicated I was so they put me into the starting lineup at the small/power power forward position.”

Leading up to his best game where he scored the game winner and hit 22 points, George said the game in which he played the most was against Christian Brothers University in Memphis Tennessee, where he played 36 minutes. His best statistical contest was the 17 points and 12 rebounds he had against Arkansas Baptist University. After being a starter for much of the season at Sauk Valley, George said it wasn’t really difficult coming off the bench for the Reddies.

“While at Sauk, coach didn't plan on starting me in my sophomore year, because he had this other 6'9"-275-lbs player that was being recruited by schools like Wyoming,” George explained. “But, that never deterred me from working hard in practice everyday and just playing hard. I used to just outwork people on the practice floor and it paid off. He made me the starting power forward and I started every game the rest of the way.”

However, he’s quick to point out the difference between Junior College and Division II play. “The talent is on a whole other level now because you go up against guys that are 6'9" and 6'10" on a nightly basis,” he noted. “So you just have to go out there and compete on the highest level.”

George averaged about 26 minutes of play, and saw his minutes increased as injuries decimated the team. He averaged eight points and 7.5 rebounds a game through the first half of the season and had 10 points and 8 boards a game in conference play. At Sauk he played about the same amount of minutes and averages 13.8 and 7.6 rebounds per game.

Henderson State had a 23-7 record in the 2003-04, season following a 30-5 record in 2002-03, when they advanced to the NCAA Division II South Region final. Last year, they won their record sixth Gulf South Conference title and made their sixth straight appearance to the NCAA South Regional, had three All-GSC selections and one All-American. Against that backdrop, George said it was hard this season for Coach Joe Redman who took over the team leading up to the 2003-04 season, after being an assistant coach.

“We have a rich tradition of winning here and we were picked to win the Gulf South Conference West title again,” George noted. “But, we have been plagued with injuries from the get go. We were hoping to bounce back as time went on, but we didn’t because of all the injuries.”

While he was second on the team in rebounding and fifth in scoring, George said he thinks he can work on many things to make himself better as a player and to help his team in general during his senior season. “I think I have to just be and overall leader on and off the floor,” he said. “I also have to feel confident night in and night out that I can help my team get the job done, whether it’s scoring, rebounding, or just my presence on the floor. That means being able to communicate with my teammates on the floor and just playing my hardest every night as if it was my last game.”