Seniors helped put Tech basketball back on the map

Almost two years ago, a sports reporter born in New York stumbled his way over from Mississippi to northeast Louisiana as the new beat writer for Louisiana Tech and Grambling.

Since football is king down south, Tech's basketball program was an afterthought when October — the heart of football season — rolled around.

"What is Tech basketball about? Are they any good? I know the coach is from Ole Miss, but what is his name?"

That was me.

I quickly found out there was more to Louisiana basketball than just LSU. Tech fans can thank Speedy Smith, Raheem Appleby and Michale Kyser for that.

Growing up as a basketball junkie in the northeast, the (former) Big East was king. That soon became SEC basketball upon attending LSU.

But Louisiana Tech? Karl Malone came to mind, as did some recent memories of 2013 when the Bulldogs cracked the AP Top 25 and became a fringe bubble team. Other than that, nothing rang a bell.

Off to Google I went.

The roster told me Tech had four seniors for the 2014 season — my first covering the team — in Kenyon McNeail, Chris Anderson, Jaron Johnson and Cordarius Johnson, but after asking around, it became apparent who the heart and soul of the team was.

— Speedy Smith: a floppy-haired point guard from Florida who loved to get his teammates open.

— Raheem Appleby: the Bulldogs' leading scorer who looked like a stick figure.

— Michale Kyser: a lanky rim protecter capable of spiking balls volleyball-style into the stands.

Twenty months later and those descriptions put the trio to shame. They're so much more than that. Tech coach Michael White deserve a ton of credit, but at some point, the game needs to be played on the court.

The seniors embodied Louisiana Tech basketball. They are Louisiana Tech basketball.

Smith, Appleby and Kyser played their final game in a Bulldog uniform in Wednesday's loss at Temple in the NIT quarterfinals, but their careers aren't defined by one or two or even three games. Try 101, as in 101 career wins, which set a program record.

Through it all, Smith, Appleby and Kyser were single-handedly responsible for bringing national attention back to Ruston, a place that hasn't seen an NCAA Tournament game since 1991, and up until last year, hadn't reached the NIT quarterfinals since 1986.

Along the way were runs like an 18-game winning streak in 2013 that led to a Top 25 ranking in the AP poll for the first time since the 1980s. There were also wins like Florida State in 2013, Oklahoma and Georgia in 2014 and Texas A&M this year.

The seniors produced three straight regular season conference titles and NIT berths, back-to-back trips to the NIT quarterfinals and a Conference USA Player of the Year award from Smith.

They also made the Thomas Assembly Center relevant again, a place where the Bulldogs hold a 30-game home win streak. Crowds of 500 fans as freshmen soon grew to 5,000 as seniors.

Not bad for a trio that was barely recruited out of high school.

Their impact on the school took on a life of its own in 2015. As the C-USA preseason favorites, they were faced with pressure from the start, yet still managed a 27-9 record and the first outright title since 1999.

Although two more losses would follow, they went out the right way in front of a home crowd on senior night to rousing ovations.

With open arms, White hugged each of them like sons as they headed to the bench for the last time.

For White, it was a farewell embrace to the trio of players most programs across the country weren't interest in four years ago.

The lasting impression came about one final time in Wednesday's postgame press conference after Smith injured his left ankle and never returned.

"I was probably as concerned of his well-being as I was the outcome of the game," White admitted. "That's how much he's meant to this program, how much I love him."

He would have said the same for Appleby or Kyser.

Smith was the ringleader of the trio, but they all brought their own uniqueness.

There were times Smith wasn't in the mood for interviews, but he did them anyway. There were times when Appleby didn't feel like answering questions about his bum ankle that cost him a third of his junior season, but he answered them anyway.

One of the first things Kyser told Smith and Appleby when they got on campus in 2011 was how Kyser wanted to shock the world.

It's unclear if the world is shocked, but they more than did their part to spread the word about Tech basketball.

It will be a while, if ever, that three players in a single class have such an impact on Tech's program.

And for that, Tech fans owe them a final round of applause.