For the first time since March 5, Darius McGhee was back in front of a microphone to talk to the media. However, this time, it was a much different feeling in the room and under significantly different scenarios.
On that Saturday night in early March, McGhee sat next to Liberty head coach Ritchie McKay and teammate Isiah Warfield coming off a loss to Bellarmine in the ASUN Tournament semifinals. That loss ended a streak of three consecutive conference championships and kept the Flames from returning to the NCAA Tournament. It was the end of the 2021-22 season and, most thought, the end of Darius McGhee’s career at Liberty.
That changed when McGhee announced that he will return to Liberty for his final season of eligibility this past Friday. The two time reigning ASUN Player of the Year could be a Preseason All-American entering the 2022-23 season as he takes advantage of the extra year of eligibility granted due to the COVID pandemic significantly altering the 2020-21 men’s basketball season.
“I definitely wanted to come back and get that fourth championship,” McGhee said on Wednesday about why he decided to come back to Liberty. “I feel like I left the opportunity out there for grabs. That was definitely a major factor in my decision. I think it’s rare for people to (win) four conference championships in college unless you go to Gonzaga.”
“Feeling like we left the opportunity on the table and understanding my growth as a basketball player, it can be through the roof if I stay another year here,” he continued. “I didn’t feel rushed to go jump into the professional world and try to grow as a player while also establishing myself in the same sense.”
Much of McGhee’s motivation for a return is to come back and finish the job. Losing in the conference semifinals is not the way he wanted his college career to end.
McGhee said he thought about the decision for several weeks but he had pretty much made his mind up about a week after the conclusion of the 2021-22 season. Still, he went through the process, consulted with his family, and talked openly with Coach McKay throughout the process.
“I always tip my hat off to Coach McKay because he wasn’t wearing his coaches’ hat, he was wearing his father figure hat,” McGhee said of his coach throughout this process over the past several weeks. “That played a big role. He solely wanted the best for me, even though he is my coach. He did as much as he possibly could to get me as much feedback as I could possibly have.”
The 5’9″ guard from Roxboro, North Carolina became the first Liberty player to ever be named conference player of the year for a second time. He finished this past season as the top scorer in the conference and ranks among the national scoring leaders. At 24.6 points per game, he finished the year ranked 2nd in the country just behind Bryant’s Peter Kiss who averaged 25.2 points per game.
He also averaged 4.5 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game while maintaining a field goal percentage of 45.6%. He’s reached No. 5 on Liberty’s career scoring list while having three 40+ scoring nights this season. He’s also set the record for most three-pointers made in a single season and career at Liberty, and became the first Liberty player to average 20+ points per game in a single season since Seth Curry averaged 20.2 points per game during the 2008-09 campaign.
At 24.6 ppg, McGhee finished with the highest scoring average in a season by any Liberty player since Bailey Alston averaged 27.0 in 1987-88. He is one of only four players to be ranked in the top 20 of Liberty’s career scoring, rebounding, and assists lists, joining Larry Blair, Caleb Homesley, and Lovell Cabbil.
“He didn’t go and put his name in the portal and explore his options,” Ritchie McKay said on Wednesday. “He decided to stay at a ‘mid-major’ and use an additional year here which I think speaks volumes to the teammates he has, the experience that he’s enjoying at Liberty, and just the blessing it is to do life together. It’s a pretty good recruiting feather in your cap because we weren’t anticipating him coming back another year. Needless to say, we’re blessed by his decision.”
More than his personal stats and records, McGhee cares most about winning, and he has been part of some of the best Liberty basketball teams of all time. He was on the 2019 team that won the program’s first ever NCAA Tournament game. McGhee and the Flames won the ASUN Tournament in each of his first three seasons. Coming up short by falling to Bellarmine in the ASUN semis this past season will be a primary driver of McGhee and his teammates this offseason and into next year as they seek a fourth ASUN title in five seasons.
“Knowing the potential we can have – second year playing together, the only person we lost was Keegan (McDowell) that was highly in the rotation,” said McGhee. “You think about the year of growth and then they have this off-season, if everyone just puts int he work and expand their games, it’s no telling how far we can go.”
