He was able, with the administration’s blessing, to put together holiday events as an assistant for coach Scott Nagy in their first two seasons here.
They had the Men Against Breast Cancer Classic presented by Premier Health over Thanksgiving week in 2016, playing home games against CSU Bakersfield, North Dakota and North Florida.
They had the Wright State tournament during Thanksgiving week in 2017, getting games at the Nutter Center against Gardner Webb, Jacksonville and Fairfield.
Though it meant a financial commitment from athletic officials, they wanted to provide Nagy with a somewhat soft landing at the school, rather than doing battle in somebody else’s gym.
Not surprisingly, the Raiders went 3-0 in both events.
For Sargent’s first year, they Ok’d another home tourney. But it never got off the ground.
“We tried like crazy to host a tournament. I’ve done a ton of them. Our administration was awesome. We tried so hard,” Sargent said.
“We thought with everything that left (meaning 2,000-point scorers Trey Calvin and Tanner Holden graduating), their production on paper, it’d be a great time to sign up for that. But we just could not get yeses from other teams.”
Sargent said the school was committed to pulling it off financially and paying the standard fee for visiting teams, and Sargent and his staff were highly motivated to plug in three much-needed non-league home games.
Asked how many schools they contacted, he said: “That’s a great question. I mean, it was a lot. I didn’t do it specifically myself this time around, but you’re calling 50 to 100 teams.
“There’s competition. A lot of teams are trying to host them, and everybody competitively is trying to find their best match-up of games you can go win. We just couldn’t get the yeses.”
The Raiders will play Thursday through Sunday in Myrtle Beach.
The ESPN-sponsored event is in its sixth year, and the field includes three preseason league favorites.
Wright State opens against one of them: Ivy League power Princeton.
The Raiders are left with a non-league schedule that includes seven of 11 games away from home. And Sargent was a little miffed at the some of the disingenuous communication from his peers.
“We had some teams that were in, but then there’s just all this shuffling around. Until you get everybody contracted,” it’s not official,” he said.
“The scheduling world, it’s a grind. It’s similar to recruiting. It’s pretty cutthroat and highly, highly competitive. And getting people’s honest word and commitment is a difficult thing.”
But he’s not complaining.
“You’re left with the next-best option, which was to go play in a tough field and cut your teeth. on the road. And that’s fine by me.”
THURSDAY’S GAME
Wright State vs. Princeton, 8 p.m., ESPN+, 101.5, 1410
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