RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -David Gonzalvez says it seems so long ago that Richmond finished his freshman season with an 8-22 record. For him, it’s like it took place in another lifetime.
That’s understandable, since by all accounts Gonzalvez was a different person then.
A self-described “jerk” as a freshman in 2006, Gonzalvez transformed himself in the offseason, in many ways becoming the glue that put the Spiders and coach Chris Mooney onto the same page.
This season, led by the ever-positive and emotional Gonzalvez, the Spiders went 26-8, tying their school record for victories in a season. They’re back into the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2004. When they play St. Mary’s on Thursday in Providence, R.I., they will wear white jerseys as the higher seed for the first time.
scoring list with 1,709.
None of the team or individual success may have happened had Gonzalvez decided to transfer – which he was close to doing. But following a tough first season, and with the help of others, he realized that the changes he needed to make were in himself.
“Freshmen hear stories about the guy that I used to be and they refuse to believe it because they know who I am now,” Gonzalvez said. “It’s humbling and it’s rewarding too.”
And along the way, the change helped Mooney build the program he envisioned when he left the Air Force Academy and took the Richmond job in 2005, and then brought in Gonzalvez and six other freshman to get going.
Immaturity was a problem that first year, and the losing record didn’t help.
“It’s difficult for a freshman to understand college basketball, the coaches’ role, the players’ role, their parents’ lack of role, and so that’s all in there,” Mooney said. “It’s all difficult.”
Especially when one of the building blocks didn’t want to fit in.
“I was a jerk,” Gonzalvez said, speaking of his once-strained relationship with Mooney. “That’s the only rule that he has around here: ‘Don’t be a jerk.’ “
When the season was over, Gonzalvez told Mooney he wanted to transfer. That’s when the bond around the tight-knit Spiders team began being developed.
place that would be the right fit for me,” Gonzalvez said. “I was taken aback by that because I’m thinking, ‘I’m leaving your program and you still are trying to help me? Why?”’
Mooney had other plans, and began seeking support from his other players.
“He came to me and he said, ‘We’re going to try to keep David because I think he’s a special player,”’ fellow senior Ryan Butler recalls. “At the time, I didn’t see it because I was thinking if a guy wants to leave our program, why do we want to keep him?”
But Mooney asked Butler to trust him, and quickly the freshman saw why.
“I knew, as soon as coach Mooney told me that I had to trust him, that Dave was going to do whatever it took to make sure that he got on the right side for us again,” Butler said.
Within a week, he said, Gonzalvez’s attitude did an aboutface, and he began pledging to teammates that he was not only staying, but turning things around.
“He came to me and he said, ‘Dan, I really messed up. I’m really trying to get my life together. I’m trying to get everything together,’ and he really did,” center Dan Geriot said.
“He’s really become just an unbelievable person.”
Gonzalvez credits former Spiders running back and current Arizona NFL star Tim Hightower with steering him back to the Christian upbringing his mother provided in Marietta, Ga.
ost took me in, he made me a part of his life as his little brother. We used to get up in the morning and we used to have Bible study early in the morning before school, like 6 in the morning, and then like at 9 at night.
“What he did for me, I can’t even put words to it.”
And on the court, the Spiders are reaping the rewards.
“I’d say he’s gained more fire, especially now realizing he can be competitive and be everything and be up in guys faces and still be the nicest guy in the world,” Geriot said. “We always say he looks so intimidating with the bald head out there.
“He comes out there and he’s in guys’ faces, making great plays and little do they know that’s probably the nicest guy in the whole conference.”
Nice, and dangerous.
Gonzalvez hit the game-tying, contested 3-pointer that sent the Spiders’ regular season game at Xavier into overtime – a game Richmond lost. He then scored 26 points as the Spiders exacted their revenge in the tournament semifinals, beating the Musketeers in overtime.
He gives the credit for his success to backcourt mate Kevin Anderson – the A-10 player of the year – whenever possible. The pair is one of the nation’s top guard combinations.
Mooney counts the tale as one of the joys of his coaching career.
“I’ve said this before: He’s the most genuine person I know and he’s one of my favorite people in the world,” he said.
zalvez, well, he feels good, really good.
“When I wake up in the morning and I think about our record and what we’re doing and our last win over Xavier, which was really good for us, I feel good,” he said. “When I go to sleep, I feel good. When I’m eating my lunch, I feel good.
“We’re going to the tournament. I’m thinking about how we’re leaving Wednesday and I miss class Thursday and Friday to go play in the NCAA tournament. It’s just a good feeling.
“Look at the smile on my face. Do you see that?”
It’s hard to miss.
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