Chaifetz Arena is not the only new and exciting addition to Billiken Athletics this year. After finishing with a record of 16-15 last season, the men’s basketball team looks to emerge from their youthful inexperience. They will do so under the tutelage of renowned head coach Rick Majerus, now in his second year with the team.
As the 2008-2009 season approaches, fans should be excited about the eight freshmen recruited to play this year. But they should also understand that the inaugural season at Chaifetz will be a valuable time for teaching and learning.
“You guys are here on the ground floor for these guys’ emergence, and I think that if you wait until they are sophomores and juniors, they’ll be really good,” said Majerus, speaking to a group of fans at a meet and greet on Oct. 30. “You know it’s hard to be good when you’re freshmen.”
The freshmen will have the task of replacing role players like Bryce Husak, who provided a steady (albeit goofy) presence in the paint.
According to senior guard Kevin Lisch, a healthy rotation of big men that includes three freshmen and senior Barry Eberhardt will be counted on to establish an inside attack.
“Bryce really did do a lot of good things for us last year,” Lisch said. “Brett [Thompson] is going to have to step in and Willie [Reed] and Brian [Conklin] and Barry, all four of those big guys. They are all going to have to play a big role. When one goes out the other is going to have to come in and pick up where they left off.”
For Billiken basketball fans who followed the team last season: Do not expect to see many of the same faces. Of the players who saw time on the court last year, only four return: Eberhardt, Lisch, sophomore guard Paul Eckerle and senior guard Tommie Liddell III.
Although freshmen dominate this team in number, upperclassmen leadership will be a major key to improvement. Majerus praised the leadership qualities of Lisch and Liddell, and noted that they are each other’s biggest supporters. He also emphasized the importance of the emergence of Eberhardt as a hard-nosed player.
“Barry is a good kid,” Majerus said. “He has to become an undersized warrior. You look at [Charles] Barkley, Barry is Barkley’s size. The thing about Barkley was, if he saw a spot in the lane, he’d say, ‘I want this spot,’ and he went and got it. I don’t know if Barry can do that yet.”
Although much will be expected from the upperclassmen leaders, look for freshmen like Ruben Cotto and Kwamain Mitchell to develop impacts on scoring and leadership early.
How this team’s chemistry develops over the course of the season will be important to overall success, as well as individual improvement.
Preseason polls picked the Billikens to finish seventh in the Atlantic 10 Conference this season; however, the team seems reluctant to guess where they will actually finish.
“I think we have a really good chance of being good and moving above that seventh spot, but, really, I don’t know, and I am not one to make predictions,” Lisch said. “Let’s see how it plays out. Preseason rankings and preseason awards and all that really mean nothing at all.”
Regardless of expectations on how the team might finish in the A-10, this theme seems to be improving and growing closer as a team.
“I think for a young team like this, especially with this many freshmen, I think all you’re looking for is improvement: every day, every practice and every game,” Lisch said. “You don’t specifically want to say, you know, we want to win this many number of games or anything like that. I think the overall, general theme should just be improving.”
The Bills take their first steps toward improvement in front of a home crowd on Friday against the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
Conference play opens up on Jan. 8 at Xavier, a game that will attempt to avenge the thrilling loss at the Scott Trade Center last season, although it will take place over Christmas break.
Other key matchups this season include back-to-back home games on Nov. 19 and Nov. 22, against Kent State and Boston College and road games against Nebraska and Southern Illinois on Nov. 25 and Dec. 2.
Uncertainty about the rest of the A-10 Conference should also make for some interesting matchups and challenges later on in the season.
