Hello out there! Things continue to move forward at a fast pace around here, as we are in the midst of the last week of our regular season. From preseason workouts to the start of practice, through the non-conference games and the USA South slate, we are now nearing the finish line.
 
I've always found the college basketball season to be funny in this way. It is a long and grueling road, but you always seem to get to the end of it so quickly. The preseason seems to drag on forever, as you cannot wait for practice to get here. Then practice starts and you are eagerly anticipating your first game. Then the games begin, you start developing as a team, and you look forward to conference play. Then conference play comes and goes and the regular season draws to a close. You look back on everything – so much has happened – but at this point it all just seems to have flashed by!
 
As I write this we are currently cruising in the pitch-dark night down rural Route 17 after a not-too-pretty 69-60 victory at Shenandoah. Whether it was the three and a half hour bus ride or the unlimited salad and breadsticks at Olive Garden during our pregame meal, we came out sluggish and struggled through the first half against a tough and energetic Shenandoah squad. Fortunately, we had some guys step up in the second half, played better defensively, and pulled out the 'W'.
 
The win marked our 20^th victory of the season, which is a great accomplishment for any college basketball team. This is in addition to our other recent achievement of winning outright the USA South regular season championship, which we clinched with a win over Ferrum College on Super Bowl Sunday (A CNU men's basketball championship AND a NY Giants Super Bowl championship on the same day – how can it get any better than that?).
 
We followed up that Ferrum win with a 106-79 decision over Greensboro College – a game in which we seemingly couldn't miss a shot. I've been on the receiving end coaching in those types of onslaughts, not as much on the winning end, so that was nice to experience for once.
 
As you may have figured out by now, I am not the most “glass half full” kind of guy. However, as a coach, seasons like the one we are having do not necessarily come around all the time. Some coaches will go years without winning twenty games in a season. Some coaches never get to experience the feeling of winning a championship. So although we still have miles to go and much more to accomplish, our season thus far needs to be appreciated for what it is, and the rest of the journey should be enjoyed while it lasts.
 
That said, we face a tough road ahead. This is a tricky phase of the season for coaches. It is undeniable that this is THE TIME of the year when the team needs to be playing its best basketball – playing hard, intense, and at high level of energy and execution. However, this is also now five straight months of going very hard everyday in practice and facing tough competition on game days. So for us coaches it is a delicate balancing act between keeping the team rest and refreshed, and continuing to compete and work hard at a very high level of intensity (which is what got us to this point).
 
Coaches utilize many different theories and methods to deal with this. Hopefully we will push the right buttons and get the job done. Come the postseason, you only get one shot to get it right, so you better be mentally and physically prepared to do so.
 
We will try to build some very important momentum for the conference tournament on Saturday as we close out the regular season versus Averett. It is also Senior Day, a special occasion for the program during which we will say goodbye to four great student-athletes: Conley Taylor, Loren Farris, Hector Feliciano-Ayala, and Jacob Capin. I hope you can make it out and help us honor our seniors, and hopefully cap the regular season on a high note against the Cougars.
 
After Senior Day, the USA South Tournament looms large on the horizon. Help us stay on the right path by getting the Freeman Center rocking on Saturday and turning it into a huge home court advantage for us over the next week. Until then, Route 17 has turned into Interstate 95 and we continue our trek home. Once we get back, we will have the chance to win a conference tournament championship without having to leave again. That's a pretty special opportunity; all that's left to do is make the most of it!