FARMVILLE, Va. – Off a historic season for Longwood men's basketball, DeShaun Wade sat down for a quick Q&A to look back on the journey of the past year.

What stood out when you started reflecting on last season?
Our chemistry, our bond. The way we were able to overcome so many different challenges all the way to the conference tournament and how we were able to stay together. That's what really stood out to me. Just being able to fight and never say no.
 
What was it like while you were sitting there thinking about it? Did it ever just wash over you?
Yeah, we think about it. After the season was over, we came back here and we just thought about it every day: we are really champs. We just did something that nobody has ever done. That feeling is really great, to know that you are going to be a legend here forever. Teams are going to be comparing themselves to you from here on out.
 
When you came to Longwood, did you see this coming? A tournament trip?
Not at all. When I got here, we were just trying to clean stuff up. Keep guys wanting to play basketball. Shabooty was here, and we had good leadership, but I can't say the whole entire team liked their role. We have definitely come a long way. And even in the beginning of this season, I thought we were going to be good. I thought we were going to be top four, top three maybe, but I didn't really know we were going to win the conference championship. And that's crazy because now, we're talking about "two-peats". Now we're talking about, "We're going to do it again! We're going to do it again!" And that mindset was never here ever.
 
When did you realize, "We can do this" and win the conference tournament?
I would say after the multi-team event [Jerome Kersey Classic] here. That's when we realized that we were going to be really, really good as long as we stayed locked in and stayed playing together. But winning the conference tournament? I would probably say when we finally beat Winthrop. That let us know, we're the big dogs. They've been beating us up for the past few years. So when we finally beat them, we were like, 'Ok, we beat the top dogs, so we're the new top dogs,' you know? So it was like, 'We have arrived'. It was ours to lose, really. We were already number one. The only thing that could go wrong was if we messed it up.
 
What was it like while you were winning 10 conference games in a row?
That was a good feeling. I remember writing 10-0 on the board too. We've been saying all year, "We're the mob," and to speak that into existence, it was great. Ten and oh? Teams don't do that. We were looking, and it was all over the media, the maps of all the undefeated conference teams. It was just fun, all the stuff that we've never seen before. I'd never seen any of it, even in my previous years of college. I didn't even know that was a thing! The undefeated teams in conferences, with the map, and stuff like that. It was new to me.
 
What was it like going through the conference tournament gauntlet, three games in three days?
I'm not gonna lie, because last year, with COVID, we did two games in a row for conference play. So before the conference tournament, I'm thinking, "Three days in a row? That's gonna be tough." I remember my body was just feeling bad on some days on that second game. But surprisingly, I guess it was that hunger in us, a lot of us kept saying we were a little bit sore like you would expect after playing a game, but nothing like we were expecting. We weren't going to let it bother us. We were all saying, "I'm a little sore, but I ain't worried about that." Yeah, it kind of hurt a little bit, but we were going to do whatever we can to secure this ring. Like I said, it was up for us to lose it.
 
Mob. You all say it on the videos, what does it mean?
It came from Juice [Jordan Perkins]. It just means this is our time. We're the targets. We're the guys that everyone wants to be. We're the mob. We're hungry. That's what it means.
 
Final horn sounds in Charlotte, what goes through your head?
I was just trying to soak in the moment, trying to remind myself of all the things that I went through to get to that moment. I remember looking around and telling myself over and over again, "I'm gonna be back. I'm gonna be back. Somehow, some way, I'm gonna be back."
 
Who was the first person you hugged?
I can't even remember. I do remember pointing at my dad in the stands. Hug…It was probably one of the coaches or players in the locker room. I can't remember who though.
 
What was special about this year's team?
Chemistry and unselfishness. You don't get too many teams where you have a lot of talented guys. I mean, we could have done the Kentucky thing. The second starting five could have been the first starting five. We could have done that. I just have so much confidence in my team, but that's just because they are talented. When you have talent like that, everybody usually starts to think about themselves, their own stats or their own play. But we didn't get too much of that this year. Of course everybody wants to do good, but everybody was saying, "I want to do good for the team, not because I want to be recognized, but I just don't want to let my guys down."
 
How do you develop that unselfishness?
I think it comes from being around each other since June, going through tough mental battles. We got a house, we live with each other, the other guys don't live too far from us. So it was just us always being around each other, always keeping each other's spirits hot. Whenever it feels like it's a day in practice that we don't feel like we can go, somebody is there trying to carry you, making sure you make it through the end of practice. That just all comes together at once.
 
You've been here for three years, can you believe it? How have you grown in those three years?
No, hahaha. I've grown a lot. I've grown in my attitude. I've grown in my self-discipline, and I've grown in my approach to the game of basketball. I got hurt, it wasn't that serious, but I got hurt last year. I had a little MCL sprain. I remember sitting out for seven or eight games or something like that, and I remember thinking that it could all just be taken away from me. If it was a little harder of a cut, or if Zac had run into my leg with a little more impact, my whole knee would be messed up. So I was thinking like, "Man, you have to approach the game as if it could all be taken away from you and as if you are trying to increase and grow every single time you step on the court." Coach always says you never stay in the middle. You're either going down or you're making yourself better. So I just said, "Well, I'm not getting worse today, that's for sure." That's the approach I have.
 
How do you feel like you've grown as a leader?
I've always tried to be a guy who does the right thing. I think I've grown more now verbally. Letting guys know what needs to be done and how it needs to be done. If they don't do it right or if they mess up, let them know its okay. I'm not perfect, nobody's perfect. Let them know that their second attempt, try to make it better than their first. Don't think too hard on yourself. Everybody around here has confidence in you, you just have to have confidence in yourself.
 
Where do you still want to grow?
Basketball is a combination of skill and confidence. So I want to grow in my confidence. I work on my game every day, basically. I think the skill is there, but it's not going to show until I'm as confident as I want to be. So that's where I want to grow, my confidence.
 
Interesting, because when people watch you, it seems like you play with a high level of confidence. You take a shot, everyone watching feels like it is going in.
I think the same thing too, but I think I need to grow in confidence in more than just shooting. I think shooting is a big part of what I do, but there are a lot of different concepts and skills in basketball. Being as confident in rebounding just as much as you are shooting, being confident ball handling just as much as you're shooting, being confident that nobody can go around you on defense is just as important as my shooting. So if I can just get that confidence and stop being down on myself, I think I can be great.
 
What does the end of year-transition into summer look like?
Right now, we're trying to keep our bodies in shape. Actually, I think right now we are overdoing it so we can be not too bad when we come back because we have four or five weeks off. They're trying to do as much as we can right now to keep us moving, keep us fit and get as much protein and as much weight lifting as possible now so that when we get back it won't seem like we've lost too much of a step or anything. Then when we get back, it's about individual development. We'll try to get better every single day. We know it is going to be a grind, and we know it isn't easy because last summer wasn't easy for sure. But we will take it day by day, and when preseason comes around, we'll be excited and ready to go!
 
Does it help that you can point to the championship as a reason to do all of this stuff?
Yeah it does. They always say the championship is won in the offseason. That's what we preach. That's what we display. So that's what we're doing right now, just trying to win a championship right now. Trying to do as much work as we possibly can right now so when the season comes, the games are easier than what we are doing right now.