Inside HOKIE SPORTS | Vol. 12 No. 2 | October 2019

30 Inside Hokie Sports IHS extra Kenny Brooks felt confident in Lydia Rivers ’ future impact on the program when he sought her as a graduate transfer, but his confidence was reaffirmed shortly after his team returned from its European trip in mid-August—and that confidence came from nothing she had done on the court. As he walked into his office one morning, he noticed a card in the floor. He picked it up and read a beautifully written thank-you note from Rivers, expressing her gratitude for being allowed to go on the Hokies’ summer trip to France and Italy. “She’s a wonderful kid,” Brooks said. “I mean, wonderful . “We went on the trip, and she wrote me a long note, thanking me for the opportunity, not only for the trip, but also to be a Hokie. Those are the things that you do this for. That’s why you’re in this business. You can have a lot of things go bad, but when a kid slips a note underneath your door, and they’re unprompted, and they’re thanking you for the opportunities and the things that you’re giving them, that’s what makes you feel like you’re doing your job and doing it well.” For the soft-spoken, borderline shy, Rivers, the polite gesture represented the least she could offer. “It was just a huge blessing to be able to do that because, coming from Radford, we never went on a foreign tour,” Rivers said. “Everything you get here, it’s just like, ‘Wow.’” Rivers made the decision to come to Tech after spending the past four seasons at nearby Radford—she missed a season because of a torn ACL and took a redshirt year. The 6-foot-2 forward played well this past season for the Highlanders, finishing with 15 double-doubles and averaging a double-double with 12.2 points and a Big South-best 10.4 rebounds per game. She led the Highlanders to the Big South tournament title and an NCAA Tournament appearance. At the midway point of the 2018-19 campaign, Rivers started thinking about spending her final year at a different school because she wanted to get a master’s degree in leadership—and Radford lacked such an opportunity. Ultimately, she let Radford head coach Mike McGuire know before the season ended that she planned on becoming a graduate transfer. “I told Coach McGuire about midseason, honestly, just because I knew there wasn’t a program that I wanted to do there [at Radford],” she said. “You have that extra year. I didn’t want himto feel at the end of the year, ‘Oh dang, I have to recruit.’ I wanted him to know. “It was hard because I had a great experience at Radford. I had great coaches, and my teammates are like my sisters now. I talk to them all the time. It was a tough conversation, but I felt like it was a good move.” When they found out that Rivers wanted to transfer, Brooks and his assistants immediately Education, family connections lead to Rivers joining Tech women’s basketball program By Jimmy Robertson went after her—and she made them work. She actually visited Purdue and considered several other schools before deciding on Tech. The university’s graduate program in leadership played the primary role, but the Hokies also had other things working in their favor. Her father, John, played both football and basketball for the Hokies in the early 1990s, and a four-year starter in basketball (1988-92), he led the Hokies in rebounding all four seasons of his career—he ranks sixth for career rebounds at Tech with 903. He and Brooks, a JMU graduate, actually faced each other four times during their careers, with each team winning twice. In fact, in one game, John Rivers scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Also, Lydia’s mother, Mary Leinonen, originally attended Tech before transferring. “My parents were like, ‘Whatever makes you happy. It’s your life. It’s your decision,’” Lydia said. Then she added, smiling, “But of course, there were times when I’d talk about other schools, and dad would be like, ‘Well, you know, Virginia Tech …’ I was like, ‘OK, I don’t need your biased opinion right now.’ But he was all for it.” In addition, Tech assistant coach Britney Anderson had recruited Rivers—who plans to wear the same No. 21 as her father—when she attended Kinston High School in Kinston, North Carolina. The two knew each other from that relationship, and that, too, helped the Hokies. “She’s known me for a while, and we’re very familiar with Virginia Tech,” Rivers said. “Virginia Tech and Radford play each other all the time. Coach Brooks, literally every coach I talked to said, ‘I can’t say a bad thing about him. He’s just awesome.’ That wasn’t the same for everybody that was recruiting me. So, I had to go where I fit. It’s [Virginia Tech] only 20 minutes down the road [from Radford], so I can always go back and visit my besties. It’s a change, but it was just an easy transition.” The Hokies’ European trip offered her an opportunity to get to know her new teammates. She played in all three of their exhibition games, beginning the process of building on-court chemistry with them. Rivers figures to replace a chunk of the production lost with Regan Magarity’s departure, especially the rebounding component. In addition, she possesses the ability to face the basket and knock down shots. But maybe most importantly, she brings experience and leadership. Brooks wants her to become more vocal because he already has seen how her teammates interact with her and respect her. “Just her presence,” Brooks said. “She does a really good job of bringing everyone together. She’s not as vocal as I’d like for her to be because I think that if she’s more vocal, it’s kind of like EF Hutton [a brokerage company], people would listen [the company’s slogan was ‘when EF Hutton talks, people listen’].” Tech opens its season in early November, and Rivers said she is ready to get things going. She started her Tech career by going on a trip to Europe with her teammates. She hopes to finish it with a trip to the NCAA Tournament. “I’m excited,” Rivers said. “I’m excited for the season and for the future of the program. It could be fun. It’s been great so far.”