March is the month that signifies the end of many college basketball players’ careers and for some, the beginning of new opportunities. While some students may have been thinking of spring break vacations, the Golden Flashes basketball teams were operating full steam ahead, looking toward their chance to showcase their talents to the entire country.
The NCAA Tournament is one of the most-watched sporting events in the country and gives smaller schools a chance to make themselves known. There are NBA legends whose professional basketball career started after a March Madness performance; think Stephen Curry or Anthony Davis.
For Kent State’s team, there was only one way to make it into the dance. Win the Mid-American Conference championship in Cleveland.
However, the Flashes will not be dancing this year after losing to Akron in the semifinals. Akron went on to win the conference and played Texas Tech University in Tampa, Florida for the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
The end of this season will see the departure of three senior student-athletes for Kent State, one of them being political science major Morgan Safford.
“We all wanted to win, because we know how much it means to us and to the university to win a MAC championship,” Safford says.
Despite the loss, Safford says the experience brought some of his favorite memories during his time at Kent State.
“Those are probably the memories I’ll miss most about being in college. Just hanging with my team, being on the bus, doing film sessions and going to dinner,” Safford recalls.
Safford talked about his teammates the way one would talk about their family: “We always support each other. We hang out off the court. We’re just a super close-knit group, and I’ll really miss these guys a lot,” he says.
Having played for Wofford University and Miami University previously, Safford says he found something special at Kent State.
“Kent has become my home, and it’s been a privilege and a blessing to play here … I love my teammates and my coaches. I met some great people here: school administrators and my girlfriend.”
During tough times or unfamiliar territory in games, the sense of family is something that both the players and coaches attributed to their success.
As assistant coach of player development for the Kent State Golden Flashes, Tommy Luce immediately noticed something special about this team.
Before joining the coaching staff for Kent State, Luce played and coached at Purdue University, one of the country’s elite basketball programs, and was a mainstay at the NCAA Tournament for four consecutive seasons.
As an elite basketball school, Luce noted that the vibe among the team at Purdue University was different from Kent State.
“We always treated every day like it was our job,” Luce says, “and coach laid out what you needed to get done [and] how you needed to go about it. We were mature enough and realized that if we did what we were supposed to do and did it together, then it would lead to pretty good things.”
The goal was still the same for every team Safford and Luce contributed to, which was to make the NCAA Tournament.
“Our guys, our seniors especially, have stepped up and been vocal about making sure we finish the job and understanding that we all have to do it together if we want to be able to win,” Luce says.
The team wasn’t able to continue playing later into March, but Safford’s career won’t end here. The senior student-athlete will graduate this spring with a degree in political science with a concentration in American political theory. After he walks the stage, Los Angeles is Safford’s next stop.
“I’m going to pursue a professional basketball career,” Safford says. “My agency sends me to LA. I’ll keep playing as long as I possibly can, and then once the ball stops bouncing, I’ll go into politics.”
While Safford and fellow senior Rob Whaley Jr. are moving on from the team, it’s right back to the grind for the rest of the Golden Flashes. They’ll continue to grow as a team and as a family, hopefully bringing each other to a March Madness appearance in 2027.
Myles Arnott is a writer. Contact him at [email protected]
