Matt Brady press luncheon Monday

   O'Neill's bar & grill was a bit crowded on a snowy Harrisonburg afternoon as Matt Brady made the opening statement of his weekly press luncheon. All ears turned to the situation and status of Rayshawn Goins, who was arrested by the Harrisonburg Police Department not 24 hours ago.

   “So there was a situation that developed in the last 48 hours with one of our players concerning Rayshawn Goins and it is being handled internally,” Brady said. “We hope to have it resolved rapidly, I know people are working on it quickly. And however it works out, it will work out in the best interest of everybody.”

   It remains to be seen if Goins is allowed to travel to his home state of Ohio. It is also unclear if his two charges will prevent him from leaving. 

   "I'm hopeful that he will travel with the team," Brady said. 

   "The NCAA calls for decisions like these to be made in-house. The JMU student-athlete code of conduct states that any athlete who’s arrested or served with a warrant for a major misdemeanor “will be immediately and automatically suspended from participation in the next regular competition scheduled," this reported in the The Breeze.

   Goins was a huge factor in JMU's dominant victory over Northeastern in the CAA championship game. He finished with 14 points and 13 key boards.

   “When we played those three games at the Richmond Coliseum, he had two great halves,” Brady said of Goins. “There were four halves he wasn’t great. He’s a big part of our team and he’s a big part of the reason we beat Northeastern."

   In the other four halves (W&M/Delaware games) Brady refers to, Goins scored 17 total points while pulling nine rebounds. Nothing compared to his beastly performance on Monday night. 

   As the team preps for their departure, it was reported that Goins is currently practicing with the team inside the Convo. 

   “He’s going to play a huge part of what we do this weekend and we’ll figure out when he’s a part of it," Brady added. 

   While I have not been able to scout LIU-Brooklyn religiously yet (my plan for tonight) I do know they are fast and gritty. The Blackbirds run a very up tempo offense similar to a Hofstra squad if that helps you become familiar with this style. Many have compared their look and feel as a team to Duquesne, who beat JMU 90-88 in overtime earlier this season. 

   “Ray can play at that pace for periods of time,” Brady said of a uptempo game. “What we learned going into December is to give him more breaks, not longer breaks.”

   Either way, the team is about to embark on a journey the school hasn't experienced in 19 years. There is no looking back.

   “We’ll be ready to play either way,” Brady said. “We have guys that will be very excited to get into the game.”