Dixie State's Troy Randall has grown used to playing bigger men in the post. The 6-foot-7 Rebel player has faced men taller than seven feet several times in the last few weeks.
"We've got another challenge this week," DSC coach Jon Judkins noted as the Rebels prepared to play BYU-Hawaii today and Thursday. Tipoff is scheduled at 7:30 p.m. each day. "BYU has a guy who was picked to be player of the year. He's not seven feet, but he's 6-10." And he's averaging 23 points and 10 rebounds a game.
"This weekend the best case scenario is for us to win all three," Randall said. The Rebels play Hawaii Pacific on Saturday. "We still have a chance at winning conference. If we win these three games this week, we move up." Chaminade leads the conference with a 7-0 mark. BYU-Hawaii shares second place at 4-2. Dixie State is 2-3.
"We need to approach these games like we're 0-3 again," Randall said. He said that mindset helped the Rebels against Grand Canyon two weeks ago. DSC had a bye last week. "That put some fire in our bellies."
Randall is a senior majoring in business management and is a team captain.
While basketball is obviously important to Randall, he is excited at the prospects of becoming a first-time father. His wife Brittany is due to deliver Tyce David Randall in three weeks.
"Troy brings a good inside presence along with Kasey Winters," said Judkins. "He can score on the inside and outside. He was our leading scorer last year. We need both those guys because one is going to be doubled so the other has to step it up."
In Randall's last outing against Grand Canyon he scored 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds. He is averaging 9.6 points and 4.0 rebounds a game.
Randall was an all-state player two years at East High School in Salt Lake City.
He started his collegiate career at Eastern Wyoming College.
"I ended up walking away from everything after a week-and-one-half," Randall recalled. "I was done with basketball. I was just going to work."
A half-year later, Dave Hammer, who had coached him on a super league team, found him and noted that he had an opportunity at Western Wyoming.
"It was a growing moment," Randall said of his brief time in Torrington, Wyo., a small town on the eastern border. "It was the longest week-and-one-half of my life. It was the wrong decision but at the time it was the best decision. I was just fortunate to have a second chance."
Randall earned all-conference honors at Western Wyoming. More importantly, he met and eventually married Brittany. He also earned academic All-American recognition.
Several NCAA Division II schools sought his services. He trimmed his options down to Alaska-Anchorage and Dixie State and finally headed to St. George.
"To me the transition from high school to junior college wasn't that big a step; it was just bigger bodies," Randall said. "Division II was the same scenario times 10.
"It took some time," he said of the learning process. "It was a matter of just being more careful with the ball and quicker with my moves. That was something I had to adjust to."
Once Randall's collegiate career is over, he will focus on graduating in December. After that he will likely move into the financial planning arena.
"It's important for him to graduate and get his degree," Brittany said. "I'm proud of him for that. Me, not so much. Two years of school was about all I could do."
