‘He loves Eastern Kentucky.’ Devontae Blanton leads as EKU basketball pursues history
When he was asked to depart, Devontae Blanton took his time.
The fifth-year Eastern Kentucky men’s basketball wing knelt to the ground, kissed the midcourt logo at Baptist Health Arena at Alumni Coliseum and slapped it three times for emphasis.
Sure, Blanton will probably play at least one more game inside the venue, a result of the enviable position that his EKU basketball team has in the Atlantic Sun Conference standings.
But Tuesday night was about Blanton.
It was his 22-point, 12-rebound double-double that allowed EKU to take down Lipscomb and keep pace in the race for what would be a historic ASUN regular season championship.
It was Blanton who opened the scoring in a game that EKU never trailed in, nailing a jumper just 21 seconds into the contest before hitting his opposing defender with a “too small” gesture. It was Blanton — a “super senior” who has spent all five of his college seasons at EKU — who was the lone Colonel honored pregame on Senior Night.
It was Blanton’s name and number (10) that was displayed on T-shirts worn by his teammates during Tuesday’s game, a gesture that took him by surprise.
So with 19 seconds remaining in Eastern Kentucky’s wire-to-wire 66-57 triumph over Lipscomb, Blanton took his time.
He kissed and slapped the court. He dapped up his teammates. He motioned to a crowd that gave him a standing ovation. He delivered an emotional hug to A.W. Hamilton, the only college head coach that he’s known.
“It’s just a whole bunch, a rush of emotions coming in all at once,” Blanton said postgame. “Just looking around, seeing all the times I’ve been here, late nights. All the memories I’ve had since I’ve been here just came out. It was wonderful to see the standing ovation... Coming out at the end of the game, it was amazing.”
Blanton’s EKU career still has at least four games to go. Perhaps even a magical March Madness run awaits. But regardless of the future, Blanton was celebrated in fitting fashion Tuesday for all he has given to Eastern Kentucky.
“The career that he’s had, (it) may never be matched,” Hamilton, EKU’s seventh-year coach, said of Blanton.
A 6-foot-6 wing from Macedonia, Ohio, Blanton has had nothing short of a remarkable college career since arriving in Richmond in 2020.
In the EKU record books, Blanton ranks second all-time in scoring (1,978 points), fifth in assists (410) and eighth in rebounds (820).
“It’s the transfer portal era. Guys don’t stay at schools anymore. He could have played anywhere in the country. He could have gone to any program in the country. He could have played at any level,” Hamilton said.
As a true senior last season, Blanton averaged 14 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game as a starter on the first EKU men’s basketball team to win a regular season conference championship in more than 40 years.
That season ended in heartbreak though, as Eastern Kentucky lost at home in the quarterfinals of the ASUN Conference Tournament, a defeat that denied a special group of Colonels the chance to play in the national postseason.
Still, Blanton chose to come back to an EKU team that lost 82% of its rebounds, 77% of its assists, 77% of its minutes and 75% of its points from a season ago.
In his fifth year of college hoops, Blanton boasts per-game averages of 16.7 points, 6.5 rebounds and 4.6 assists. He plays an average of 34.5 minutes per game and has been even more indispensable for the Colonels recently while leading scorer George Kimble III (18 points per game) is sidelined with a knee injury.
“It’s a been a long one,” Blanton said of his college journey. “A very long one. But I wouldn’t change anything. The ups and downs. All the lessons I learned. I wouldn’t change any bit of it. I’m just grateful for all the people I’ve met since I’ve been here.”
“He’s an everyday guy. He’s a leader. Everybody wants that guy,” Hamilton added. “And he stayed here. And all the things that he’s accomplished. They’ll be talking about Tae Tae Blanton forever here. He’s a once in a lifetime type of player.”
EKU basketball still has chance to win the ASUN Conference
As his college basketball career enters its twilight, Blanton is playing as well as ever before. And, accordingly, so are the Colonels.
EKU is on an eight-game winning streak, the program’s longest string of consecutive wins since the 2020-21 season, when Eastern Kentucky was still in the Ohio Valley Conference and Blanton was a freshman who came off the bench. Furthermore, EKU’s eight straight wins against conference foes is the program’s longest such streak since the mid 1960s.
“These guys are just putting their energy in the right place,” Hamilton said of his team’s current play.
This winning run has vaulted the Colonels into contender status for another ASUN regular season title.
North Alabama (20-8 overall, 12-3 ASUN) is the solo league leader by one game over EKU (17-11, 11-4) and Lipscomb (19-9, 11-4) with three games to go. EKU beat Lipscomb twice this season, which gives the Colonels the tiebreaker over the Bisons. In early January, North Alabama rocked EKU by 21 points in those teams’ only meeting of the season.
If Eastern Kentucky is able to continue its winning ways and mount a late charge to the ASUN regular season title, it would mark a historic moment for the program. EKU men’s hoops has won seven regular season conference championships, but the Colonels have never done so in consecutive seasons. Last season’s Colonels won the ASUN regular season crown with a 12-4 mark in conference play.
Even if Hamilton’s team falls short of another regular season title, the ASUN Conference Tournament is held at campus sites with the top seeds hosting each successive round of the event. A home-court edge with a potential trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line should serve EKU particularly well: The Colonels are 7-2 in true home games this season in Richmond since Baptist Health Arena at Alumni Coliseum returned to use in January following renovations.
And for all that Blanton has accomplished during his 148-game college playing career, an NCAA Tournament appearance is a box that’s still yet to be checked.
“He loves Eastern Kentucky,” Hamilton said of Blanton. “He loves his teammates, the guys that came back with him. This is a special place. You feel the energy in our arena. You can feel it. It’s amazing. You can feel the love that they have for Tae.”
