Rachal is doing it all for Tulsa
Brandon Rachal may already be Tulsa's best rebounder and defender. And he's just as tough of a competitor.
Those characteristics are only a few qualities that Rachal, the 6-foot-6, 220-pound juco transfer and former LSU player, brings to the table for Tulsa basketball.
“He’s a tough dude, he’s a tough guy,” said TU coach Frank Haith of Rachal on TU basketball Media Day on Oct. 24. “He’s a hell of a defender, a hell of a rebounder.
“Brandon will be our leading rebounder. He’ll be our leading defensive guy when we want to stop somebody. He’s a winner. Whatever team he plays on, percentage wise, normally wins in our competitive situations in practice.”
Rachel is so good at defense that he's drawn comparisons from Haith to former TU star and current NBA defensive standout Shaquille Harrison.
“He’s a tremendous defender. Like Shaquille Harrison, when Shaq was here,” Haith said of Rachal. “That’s how we viewed Shaq, as being that guy. How we viewed Shaq as a player. Shaq would put it on his shoulders in win time. That’s the way Brandon is.”
A former four-star recruit out of Natchitoches (LA) High School, Rachal had many colleges recruiting him out of high school and after his year at Pearl River JC in Mississippi. Rachal talked a little about how he ended up at TU.
“The process was crazy. I came out of high school recruited by a lot of schools and chose LSU. Had a coaching change before I even got there, stayed there a year, left, went juco for a year,” Rachal said of being recruited by Johnny Jones and playing for Will Wade. “I was a juco All-American, did a lot of good stuff, then I was lucky enough to be recruited by coach Haith and his staff.”
Rachal felt welcomed right away by everyone in Tulsa during the recruiting process.
“When I came on my visit here, it just felt like home. It felt like somewhere I could thrive,” Rachal said. “Just the love they showed while they were recruiting me, always checking up on me. Building relationships even before I committed here.
“Coming out here on my visit, just seeing it and getting to run up and down with the team, getting to see the type of team they already had, seeing who else they were bringing in. And coach Haith, his vision, his plan, and the way he goes about things.”
Rachal had a solid freshman season on an LSU team that finished 18-15, and was really coming on at the end of the season. He averaged 4.4 points and 3.3 rebounds in 15.9 minutes per game while shooting 53.3 percent from the field as a freshman.
But it was his last three games which showed what Rachal can do. He averaged 7.7 points, 9 rebounds and 28.7 minutes per game while shooting 61.1 percent from the field, including 10 points, a team high 9 rebounds, and 32 minutes on five of seven from the field (71.4 percent) in LSU’s SEC tourney game against Mississippi State.
At Pearl River, Rachal averaged 15.7 points and 8.7 rebounds while leading the school to its first ever NJCAA Tournament appearance. He was a second-team All-American at Pearl River.
“I bring a lot of versatility on both sides of the ball,” Rachal said. “I can play any position on the court and guard any position on the court. Somebody who is always going to be able to slash, get to the paint, get to the rim. Step out and shoot it. Get my teammates the ball. Just an all around player.
“Wherever coach needs me, I can do it for him.”
At Tulsa, Rachal has been playing on the wing but can also slide to the power forward position. He says he can play any of the five positions on the court, but offensively, is more comfortable in certain areas.
“On the wing, being off the ball on the wing, that’s where I’m most comfortable with cuts, scoring off cuts, driving, shooting, pick and roll, being on the wing and being able to play my game,” he said.
Not known as a three-point shooter, having made only one of five for the season at LSU, Rachal believes he can do that as well. In his first four games with TU, he has connected on three of eight shots from beyond the arc (37.5 percent).
“I work on it every day,” Rachal said of shooting three-pointers. “I have confidence in my shot. Every time I shoot it, I expect it to go in.”
Haith has faith in Rachal’s offensive skills.
“He scores in a lot of different ways. He can slash, he’s got a low post game, he can shoot threes,” Haith said. “Brandon can make threes, but his game is slashing, scoring around the basket, pull-up (jump shots).”
Helping the Hurricane to a 3-1 start, Rachal leads TU in scoring at 17.0 points per game and rebounding with 7.5 per game.
Haith feels Rachal will wind up playing at the next level after his time at TU.
“Offensively, he’ll make his money playing on the wing, and that’s where he will get his time,” Haith said.
But it is on defense where Rachal is most versatile.
“Brandon can guard a point guard,” Haith said. “Defensively, he can guard anybody. I’d feel confident with him guarding a 6-10 center or a 5-9 point guard, and anyone in between, he’s that versatile defensively.”
Rachal already has nine steals and two blocks this season, and he talked about his strengths on defense.
“I’m pretty good off the ball - I’m a good help defender,” he said. “I’m a pretty good on the ball defender, I can get a lot of steals. I can read other people when they are telegraphing passes. My defensive IQ is on a different level. I get some blocks here and there.”
After his basketball days are over, Rachal feels he will be prepared for the next phase of his life, where he plans on being a basketball coach. The rigorous pace at TU, whether it be in the classroom or on the court, is something that Rachal feels will prepare him well for life after his playing days.
“The only job I can see myself in is coaching,” said Rachal, who majors in Organizational Studies and Sports Management. “I’ve got to be around the sport.
“They take their academics serious here.I feel like academically here, what I’m learning here, once I leave here, life after basketball will be good with a degree from Tulsa.”
Rachal and the Hurricane take on Southeastern Louisiana at the Reynolds Center on Wednesday, November 20, at 7:00 pm.
