With all the subtlety of an air horn in a library, Tre’Shaun Fletcher and the Toledo basketball team make their entrance.

The Rockets preface each game with a final walk from the locker room to the court and a question.

“Who they talkin’ to Tre?” a teammate asks.

To which Fletcher goes full-on Ric Flair and replies:

You’re talkin’ to the Rolex-wearing ...

Woo!

Diamond ring-wearin’ ...

Woo!

Kiss-stealin’ ... wheeling-dealin’ ... limousine-ridin’ ... jet-flyin’ ... son of a gun.

Weaving through the arena’s catacombs, Fletcher’s deep voice — and the punctuating cries of his teammates — booms louder with each step.

And I’m having a hard time holding these alligators down! Now, can I get a two-clap for the Ric Flair?

WOOOO!

Fletcher saw the famed wrestler’s outlandish old routine on YouTube in the fall and, after gauging the team’s interest, the best — well, most fun — new tradition in college hoops was born. It is a spot-on take, with one notable exception.

“Sometimes,” Fletcher said, “we’ll say MAC championship ring wearing, instead of diamond ring wearing.”

Which is perfect.

The one-and-done senior transfer has introduced himself no less emphatically on the court, and because of that, Toledo is indeed in unexpected pursuit of some serious bling.

The Rockets (21-9, 13-4 Mid-American Conference) can clinch a share of the regular-season league title Friday with a home victory against Eastern Michigan and a Bowling Green upset of first-place Buffalo and, more important, will co-headline the short list of favorites at the league tourney in Cleveland. At stake, of course, is the school’s first trip to the big dance since 1980.

Like manna from the rafters, Fletcher dropped in this winter for the best cameo since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in Airplane!, shoving what was a solid but stale program back over the top.

In search of an opportunity to shepherd a team after three seasons in the chorus at Colorado, the 23-year-old swingman has proven the league’s leading man.

I mean, is there any debate?

If Western Michigan’s Thomas Wilder is the MAC’s top-rated pro prospect and Buffalo guard CJ Massinburg is the top player on its top team, Fletcher is its best and most valuable player.

Take Massinburg off of UB and the Bulls — who have four of the conference’s top 14 scorers — still are a contender. Fletcher? He’s the do-it-all twine that ties the Rockets together, his big personality and bigger game just the sort of galvanizing combination a team filled with nice supporting pieces — including soon-to-be all-league guard Jaelan Sanford — needed.

The most telling stat: Fletcher is one of three players nationally to rank among the top five in their conference in scoring (19.0 points per game), rebounding (8.3), and assists (4.4). (The others are Jahad Thomas of UMass Lowell and Xavier Cooks of Winthrop).

“Best player in the league? Without question,” Toledo coach Tod Kowalczyk said. “And I think it’s far beyond what he brings to the table as a player, which is tremendous versatility and playing both ends. It’s the impact he’s had with his positive leadership and energy and that becomes contagious. ... In my opinion, he will go down as having if not the best single season in school history, certainly one of them.”

We’re not sure about the best — that’s a bit far for a program that counts Steve Mix among its greats — but his point is well taken. Even if we hardly knew ye, Fletcher’s place in school history is secure. Jay Lehman, the Rockets’ hall-of-fame point guard and radio color man, said he’ll be “very shocked” if Fletcher is not named MAC player of the year next week.

For perspective on the achievement, the Rockets’ last league player of the year is now 59 and living in France, where he played overseas and later settled.

Reached by phone Thursday, Harvey Knuckles said he planned to look up Fletcher’s highlights. “I’m always rooting for the Rockets,” he said. “Hopefully, Mr. Fletcher will put us back on the right track to the tournament. That would be awesome.”

And a dance-step back in time. 

Knuckles’ tour-de-force 1981 season marked the unofficial end of UT’s heyday. Since the Rockets won their third consecutive regular-season league title that year, they have had many fine players. Ken Epperson. Greg Stempin. Craig Thames. Juice Brown. The list goes on.

But none enjoyed a season quite like Fletcher. And, for that matter, none of those teams restored Toledo to its March heights.

The best player in the MAC has a chance to do just that.

If you think these wheeling-dealing, limousine-riding Rockets have been fun so far, Fletcher suggests we’ve seen nothing yet.

“We're not done,” he said. “We still have a lot of work to do. This could get really fun.”

Contact David Briggs at: dbriggs@theblade.com, 419-724-6084, or on Twitter @DBriggsBlade.

First Published March 1, 2018, 8:51 p.m.