Randolph Childress

By Brendon Rosenau
Love of Sports Correspondent

The ACC Tournament.

The name itself conjures images of college basketball greats. Players like Chris Paul, Sean May, Jason Williams, Tim Duncan, Christian Laettner, Michael Jordan, Len Bias and David Thompson, just to name a few.

These legends of the hardwood have made a name for themselves in one of the game’s most prominent tourneys.

Typically, the tournament’s been ruled by the giants of the conference. Duke and North Carolina and North Carolina State have won the vast majority of the titles. Combined, the trio has won 43 of 55 of them. In the rare instances those schools didn’t claim the crown, there’s usually a fascinating story behind the winner.

Welcome to 1995, a year with a different champion and a new hero on the hardwood. Join us as we reflect on Randolph Childress, who put on a show for the ages at the Greensboro Coliseum in 1995.

That season would mark Childress’ senior year, and it would easily be his finest. He averaged 20.6 points and handed out 5.2 assists a game while being named All-ACC for the second year in a row. He was also named second-team All-American. He was a deadly outside shooter, could carve the lane like a turkey and was cool as a cucumber in the closing moments of games.

In the ACC Tourney’s opening round, the Duke Blue Devils got a taste of just how dangerous Childress could be.

The Blue Devils (remember, this was their one down season in which Coach K sat out for most of it, hence the low seed) jumped out to an early lead on the top-seeded Demon Deacons, creating a buzz in the Coliseum. This was the first time Duke would miss the NCAA’s in over 10 years, and they’d finished dead last in the conference standings. They had won a preliminary game the night before, and there was talk of that Duke mystique floating through the Coliseum.

Twelve minutes into the game, Duke led 31-13. In the next eight minutes, Childress would single handedly destroy the double-digit lead and all the mystiques that shrouded the tournament.

Childress scored 20 points in those final eight minutes and didn’t miss a single shot. By the time the first half ended, he’d already scored 27 points and had made 10 straight shot attempts. It was an amazing display of offense. The Deacons cruised in the second half, going on to win 87-70.

Childress would score a career high 40 points on 13-of-18 shooting in one the greatest individual scoring efforts ever witnessed in the tourney. He made 8-of-12 threes and also grabbed six rebounds.

The next day, Childress hung 30 on Virginia to move his team into the finals. The Demon Deacons trailed early again in this one, but Childress was too much for the Cavaliers to contend with. He and center Tim Duncan combined to score 35 points in the second half to keep the Deacs on the road to a title.

The win set up a finals showdown between Wake and North Carolina. The Tar Heels would advance to the Final Four in 1995 with a team featuring the likes of Jerry Stackhouse, Rasheed Wallace, Donald Williams and Jeff McInnis, all players who seemed poised for the limelight.

However, in the biggest game of his collegiate career, Randolph Childress made sure his name would never be forgotten.

The Tar Heels led 38-33 at the break, but Childress had already scored 15 points and was just getting warmed up. Carolina knew they were in trouble.

In the second half, the two teams battled back and forth in an epic ACC clash. With 1:03 left in the game, Childress knocked down two free throws to put the Deacs up by four. The Heels clawed back and seemed destined to win the game when Stackhouse made an improbable three with four seconds left to send the game into overtime.

The two teams traded baskets in the extra period, but that amount of time just gave Childress more chances to complete his masterpiece.

With four seconds to go in the game, Childress released a floating 12-footer that caressed the bottom of the net. The sellout crowd was beside themselves as the Demon Deacons had pulled out an 82-80 win.

Childress finished the game with 37 points, connecting on 9-of-17 from behind the arc. He was the obvious choice for tournament MVP with a 35.7 scoring average and seven assists a game as well. His 107 total points set a tournament record that still stands.

With their championship, Wake snatched their first #1 seed in the NCAA’s. However, they’d run into a hot Oklahoma State team in the Sweet 16, forcing their premature exit from the tourney. Despite Childress’ 22 points, the Demon Deacons were upset by the Cowboys 71-66.

Childress ended his career as the second-most prolific scorer in school history, with 2,208 points (18.4 ppg). He’s also the school’s all-time leader in made three-pointers (329), a total that’s third in the history of the ACC.

Childress was a three-time team captain, leading the team from his sophomore year in ‘92 until the conclusion of the ‘95 season. In his freshman year, he averaged 14 points per game in just 24.4 minutes and led the team with 18 points in an opening round NCAA tournament win over Louisiana Tech.

His #22 jersey is retired by the school where he’s remembered as one of the greatest shooting guards to ever don the Wake uniform. And that’s why we honor him today with a little Old School Love.