Time to kick off Spring Practice stuff, so I thought I would start the old blog again. Not going to add much now, but things should definitely start heating up as practices continue.
On a different note, I am torn. Going in to this past basketball season, I really thought the Lions could win 18-19 games, make a push for the NCAAs or at least the NIT. When they opened the season with 2 road wins vs Illinios and Northwestern, I thought things were going to be different this year. After the disappointing loss to the Gophers, I still had hope.
Then Claxton went down, and I knew that all hope was lost, given what I had seen of the rest of the team. At least, I thought, they'll do so bad that DeChellis will finally get fired and we can get a big name coach to try to build a respectable program. So, imagine my surprise when the young Lions actually finished .500 after the regular season. On one hand, I was dismayed that DeChellis probably would get a pass on this season given the injury situation. On the other, I was incredibly impressed with the job he did with such a young team. You could really see the growth in guys like Jeff Brooks (though he is not as good a ball handler as he thinks) and DJ Jackson (still needs to take it to the rack more often).
Now, there is a nucleus of proven young talent, a Villanova transfer (Jay Wright said all the PC things about this kid, but let's face it, there is a reason that he's not staying at Nova), and a recruit from...TEXAS?? The expectations for this team should be sky high. Is DeChellis the right guy for this program? I still don't know, but I am willing to give him another year.
For the Glory!
