After leading Flyers to a state title, Terrence Hargrove begins life as a Billiken
Terrence Hargrove Jr. was just a 14-year-old freshman at East St.. Louis High School when he received his first college basketball scholarship offer.
It was from St. Louis University.
There would be more offers to come from the likes of Missouri, Colorado, Missouri State, Illinois State and Cleveland State as Hargrove emerged as a two-time first team Class 3A all-state selection and runner-up to Belleville West’s EJ Liddell in the voting for Illinois’ Mr. Basketball in 2018-19.
But the 6-foot-5 Hargrove was determined to stay loyal and close to home.
On Friday at Chafitz Arena, Hargrove and six other freshmen made their first appearance as St. Louis University basketball players during “Billiken Madness,” the first official practice of the 2019-20 season.
“I’m just really excited to be a Billiken. They offered me as a freshman and that was four years ago. It just seems unreal to me that I’m finally here,’’ Hargrove said. “I’ve been here since June so I’ve been waiting for this time to come. I already have a tremendous love for my teammates and I’m ready for this journey to begin.’’
The Billikens, who finished 23-13 a year ago, open their regular season Nov. 5 when they host Florida Gulf Coast. St. Louis won the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament after tying for sixth in the regular season, but lost to Virginia Tech in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
While the Billikens’ season came to an abrupt end, Hargrove and his East St. Louis teammates were crafting their own version of March Madness.,
With Hargrove providing inspired play and leadership, the Flyers captured the first boys state basketball championship in school history, defeating Chicago Bogan 68-63 in overtime at Carver arena in Peoria. Four hours later, Southwestern Conference rival Belleville West repeated as Class 4A state champions.
“I never thought we would win a state title. Nobody expected us to do that. We weren’t supposed to win that game,’’ said Hargrove who scored 32 points in the win. “ We fought hard as a team all year and with all the adversity we went though together, to be able to win the state title ... it really meant a lot to all of us.
“I wanted the ring and when we won it, I cried. Those guys on that team, they are my brothers for life.”
Hargrove’s immediate focus is adjusting to college life and finding his way onto the floor for the Billikins. It’s been a challenge, he admits, but so far, so good.
“My classes are going well and I just feel like God has blessed me,” he said. “Everything is different — basketball is different, classes are different. You just can’t compare high school and college. At first everything was new and I had to adjust to what was going on. Now that I’ve been here for a while, I’m in a routine and things re going great.’’
As one of the seven freshmen on the young Billikens squad, Hargrove should have the opportunity to play a lot of minutes early in his career.
St. Louis U. coach Travis Ford said earlier this week that the coaching staff has been going slowly in introducing the freshman into the Billikens offense and defense. But with the start of practice and the season opener five weeks away, Hargrove and his classmates will have to learn quickly.
“Being so young with the seven freshmen we’ve told them and given them an idea of what we’ll run. But we’ve been careful not to throw too much at them to early,’’ Ford said. “Now with practice officially starting, we’ll start from scratch and break down those concepts in more detail as we move closer to the season opener on Nov. 5.’’
Hargrove’s has had some help making that transition from former Althoff all-state player Jordan Goodwin, one of just two starters returning to coach Travis Ford’s Billikens. He also was the highest-rated recruit to sign at SLU in years and has been viewed as an icon for other area recruits looking at SLU, even as he served a suspension related to an accusations made by three female students that they were sexually assault by four basketball players.
Goodwin’s father told the Belleville News-Democrat that his son was cleared of involvement in the alleged assault, but that he was suspended for violation of school policy, an offense for which Goodwin took responsibility. He was allowed to return to the team later in the season. The university never released the results of its investigation into the allegations.
Goodwin, a two-year starter, says he doesn’t see any problems ahead for his freshman teammate.
“Terrence is going to be a great player here. He’s adjusting to what it takes to be a college athlete,’’ Goodwin said. “He’s come in and worked hard. Right now he’s learning what it takes to compete at this level. The big thing is the speed of the game. It’s so much faster in college than it was in high school.’’
Hargrove played against Goodwin as a sophomore and has come to look up to him.
“When we’re playing he’s able to see what I’m doing and how and what I need to work on to be a better player at the college level,” said Hargrove. “I love him like a brother. But I love all my teammates. ...
“We’re all focused on winning the Atlantic 10 Conference championship.’’’’
This story was originally published September 27, 2019 at 11:04 AM.