Wadsworth's Solomon Callaghan to live out his dream as Wright State plays in NCAA Tournament

Solomon Callaghan can't help but smile when he thinks about his next men's basketball game. After all, it will be the realization of a childhood dream when he and his Wright State teammates take on Virginia in the first round of the NCAA Division I Tournament at 1:50 p.m. Friday in Philadelphia. "It's been a dream of mine my entire life to play on that court that says, 'March Madness,'" Callaghan said. "It's going to be a really good moment for me." The good moment will be another in a season of them for the former Wadsworth standout, who spent a good part of his redshirt sophomore season averaging more than 10 points before falling a bit to 9.9. One of those moments was the Horizon League Tournament Championship game, where top-seeded Wright State defeated third-seeded Detroit Mercy 66-63 in a game that epitomized March Madness. With the Raiders leading by two points in the final seconds, Detroit Mercy's Orlando Lovejoy drove to the basket with a chance to tie, but Kellen Pickett blocked the shot with one second left and the Raiders split free throws to clinch the game. "I was right there when Kellen made the block," Callaghan said. "(That possession) was obviously tense just because you're so tight, you want to win the game, and you came all this way, you don't want to lose it. But, at the same time, we were super prepared for the moment. We have seen Kellen making play like that over and over again." When the final buzzer sounded and the Raiders had secured their spot in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2022, the team enjoyed the fruits of its labor. "The celebration was crazy," Callaghan said. "We're just such a connected group. None of the guys wanted to leave each other. Even when we got home, we just stayed up all night, just reliving all the moments from the game, just hanging out together, spending a bunch of time together. Everybody was wearing the hats, everybody had their nets. It was just a surreal moment." A stretch during last season gave Callaghan the belief that he could play at this level. After starting Callaghan only twice in the first 23 games, head coach Clint Sargent called on Callaghan to start the final nine. He averaged 10.8 points during that span, including a five-game run where he averaged 15.8 that included a season-high 21 against Green Bay. "As I started going on that stretch, as I was getting more comfortable, I felt like I could definitely do this," Callaghan said. "It started to feel a little bit like high school, that free flowing, that confidence, just knowing that you can do what you want to do. That was definitely a good jump pad into this year. I felt comfortable because of the guys that are around me and the staff." The comfortability as a unit has allowed Callaghan to be himself this season and not worry about what his teammates might think if he happens to have an off game. "Staying connected with my teammates is a big thing for me," Callaghan said. "It's super important this year, just because everybody's so close, we spend so much time together, and everybody has the ultimate belief in everybody. I'll go games where I don't score a point, and everybody still believes in me the next game to go out there and shoot the same amount of balls and do my thing. "I didn't feel like I was looking over my shoulder maybe since I didn't score last game, they don't want me to shoot this game. It was nothing like that, like I just had endless confidence for the staff and the guys around me." That led to four games of at least 20 points this season for the 6-foot-2 guard, including a career-high 27 points in a 94-84 win over Oakland on Jan. 11 where Callaghan shot 8-for-11 from the floor, including 6-for-9 from 3-point range, and hit all five of his free throw attempts. It was like one of those many nights in his 1,460-point high school career where the ball seemed to find the bottom of the basket each time it left his hands. "It just felt like the basket was as wide as the ocean," Callaghan said. "The guys were getting it to me in the right spots, and I started to get it going off the dribble, too. It was just an easy-flowing game, and once the ball starts going in, you get hot a little bit, you start feeling confident, it's easier to get on a roll." As busy as Callaghan has been, he still had time to keep an eye on his alma mater, as the Wadsworth girls basketball team made a postseason run of its own by reaching the Division I state semifinals. Wadsworth competed at the University of Dayton Arena, a short drive from where Callaghan now calls home. "I was keeping up with their run, and they were doing crazy good," Callaghan said. "Once a Grizzly, always a Grizzly." Callaghan and the Raiders now have their own tournament run to prepare for, as they drew the No. 14 seed in the Midwest Regional. They will play third-seeded Virginia at Philadelphia's Xfinity Mobile Arena, but the Raiders aren't going to the tournament to say they were there. "We want to go into the tournament and try and win games," Callaghan said. "We're not just going there as participation trophy. We want to go out there and try and represent the Horizon League well." No matter what happens in the NCAA Tournament, winning the Horizon League and being able to celebrate with his guys are things Callaghan will always remember. "It was just good to live it out with the guys that you go to battle with every single day," he said. "To come out with a championship and a (piece of) net on our hat, it's crazy. I haven't stopped smiling since we cut down the net." Contact Ryan Isley at sports@medina-gazette.com.