Wow, it's finally here. What a whirlwind of an offseason. Never before can I think of that we experienced anything like this with the question marks of a new season following 4 years of remarkable success. When BG took over, we pretty much had the same team in place for his first year that was a 4 seed the previous season so we expected success. When AM took over we came off a bitter season so there wasn't any high expectations. But this is so different. Normally if you lose a very successful coach and 4 starters, you go in with low expectations. But this seems different. Before we knew that Archie was leaving I think we all had it in the back of our minds that we probably had players ready to step up. Afterall, Archie wouldn't leave himself in a position for a dramatic drop with 5 returning juniors and one returning senior would he? Add in one returning Sophomore and a redshirt freshman and a senior, we probably expected some dropoff, but just a hiccup. We figured AM had a plan.
So we've got a new coach, lost 2 of those juniors and 2 freshman who were replaced by one active freshman so what does that do for expectations? How important was Mikesell expected to be for this team and have we lowered the expectations due to his absence? I haven't.
I'll admit I'm nervous about tonight and the upcoming tournament in Charleston. But my expectations are that we will be in the hunt for most of the season, maybe at least bubble, for a trip to the big dance. I also feel that if we do have a talented team, that maybe we will have to finally win the A10 tourney to get there. Maybe this is a team that can't earn their trip through the regular season but will improve enough to have a great shot of taking down the tournament.
However it turns out, I have never been this intrigued by the start of a basketball season as I am today. And if we do play well and win, look great doing it, I must temper my excitement as we all know the adrenaline of the first game of season at UD Arena is rarely a window into the rest of the season.
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