Regan Truesdale

Regan Truesdale (born July 31, 1963) is a former college basketball player at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. He was twice named Southern Conference Player of the Year, is the second-leading scorer in The Citadel Bulldogs basketball history, and continues to hold several records at the school. Truesdale was born in Heath Springs, South Carolina, and lives there again now that his basketball career is over.

College career

Truesdale, who is the second leading scorer in Bulldog history as of 2011–12, amassed 1,661 points and 688 rebounds in 109 games. His teams finished 58–55 for a .513 winning percentage. The Bulldogs finished 26–1 at home over Truesdale's junior and senior seasons. An especially notable statistic is that 313 of his 688 rebounds were on the offensive end.

His freshman year he came off of the bench, averaging 2.3 points per game behind leading scorers Felipe de las Pozas and Louie Gilbert. His sophomore year began the prolific scoring for which he became known. Installed as a starter for 19 of the 28 games, Truesdale averaged 13.1 points per game, second on the team behind de las Pozas. In a February 5, 1983 game with eventual national champion NC State, Truesdale scored a game-high 21 points. Truesdale posted his highest field goal percentage in his sophomore campaign at 53.2%.

In his junior season, Truesdale became the focal point of the Bulldog offense, averaging a career high 22.0 points per game, good enough for fourth all-time on The Citadel's list. Truesdale scored 617 points in the 1983–84 campaign, trailing only his effort in his senior season in Bulldog record books. This season resulted in his first Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year Award. Notable games in his junior season included a January 9, 1984 meeting with Marshall in which he scored a career- and game-high 41 points. He finished 22 of 28 from the free throw line, including 13 of 15 in the first half as the Thundering Herd attempted to contain him with fouls. The game was particularly heated as Marshall head coach Rick Huckabay had told media he thought the Southern Conference should eject The Citadel and military rival VMI in order to improve the conference's RPI ranking, among other disparaging remarks. In front of an especially rowdy Corps of Cadets at McAlister Field House, the Bulldogs upended Marshall 84–76. This game kicked off a 22–game home win streak for the Bulldogs that extended through Truesdale's senior season. Also during his junior season, Truesdale scored a game-high 26 points in a February 4, 1984 match-up with top ranked North Carolina as part of the North–South Doubleheader, which featured college teams from North and South Carolina.

Truesdale's senior season saw him average 21.5 points per game, with a career and all-time Bulldog high of 624 points. Regan earned his second Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year Award, one of only ten players with this honor in the sixty-year history of the award. He was also named an Honorable Mention All-American by the Associated Press. This season was also the last for legendary Bulldog coach Les Robinson before he took the job at NC State.^[1]

Statistics

Professional career

After his college career, Truesdale played two years in the Continental Basketball Association, one season each with the Kansas City Sizzlers and the Savannah Spirits. He then played a season in New Zealand followed by a season with the World Basketball League's Memphis Rockers.^[2]

Player recognition

The records section is accurate through the 2011–12 season.

Honors

Honored Jersey January 23, 2010^[3]
Citadel Hall of Fame (inducted 2003) ^[4]
Twice Southern Conference Men's Basketball Player of the Year (1984 and 1985)
Honorable Mention AP All-American (1985)

Records

References