Greetings from the friendly confines of the Freeman Center! With the speed of Usain Bolt, the months of September and October have gone by the wayside and given way to the crisp fall weather of November. To college basketball enthusiasts, this means that practices and games are in full swing – the new season has arrived!
 
In NCAA Division III, teams have been practicing for the past month. There have been a few scrimmages or exhibitions mixed in, but by and large teams have spent many hours battling amongst themselves in the gym, getting ready for the games to begin.
 
Each October, every program starts practice out rocking with tons of energy. It is once you get into the second and third weeks of practice, when the monotony and everyday rhythms settle in, that the elite teams begin to distance themselves with their enthusiasm and focus.
 
Our CNU squad is led by some great upperclassmen leaders – particularly our senior captain Tra Benefield, junior Mike Cherry, and sophomore Evan Thorpe. All three young men lead in vastly different ways, but what they all have in common is that they "bring it" everyday to practice. Their competitiveness and work ethic is a tremendous example to the younger players, and has helped keep our practices intense and productive so far.
 
As a coach, the first game of the season always seems to get here so quickly. You only have but so many hours in the gym to get the offensive and defense to an acceptable level before the lights get turned on for real. With an extremely young squad (twelve freshmen and sophomores), there has been a ton of teaching going on in practice. This is very fun from a coaching perspective, but on the flip side you also want to be ready to compete at a high level in the beginning of the season.
 
This is especially true for us this season, as we face a challenging non-conference slate. Over the next four weeks we will face several Top 25 teams and a handful of other tough opponents both on the road and here in the Freeman Center. We always say, "to be the best, you have to beat the best", and we're looking forward to seeing early on how we stack up against some of the top teams in the nation.
 
Of course, all of the other elements of a college basketball program don't just stop once the season begins. The fall semester is winding down and the guys have to hit the books extra hard to help balance out the extra time demands of practices and games. Recruiting is at a very important stage, as a number of recruits have made their "official" visits to campus since the month began. We've seen some early successes here and look forward to having some more high school seniors commit to being future Captains in the near future.
 
Our season opener is knocking at the door. Arcadia University is a very seasoned squad, returning most of the key players from a team that almost won a very competitive conference last season. The Knights will certainly come out firing in the Freeman Center on Saturday (5pm tip-off). We come into our opener a little banged up with some injuries, but also with a collection of spirited, very coachable individuals ready to take on the challenges that lie ahead.
 
Our fall sports teams here at CNU have already left their usual indelible mark on the long and storied tradition of our athletic department, with many of them lucky enough to still be alive and chasing that ultimate goal of a national championship. Their respective journeys are coming to a close, while our own long and winding road is just beginning.
 
One of the best aspects of being a college basketball coach is that each season is its own unique story, filled with highs and lows, important lessons, deep experiences, and moments of great joy. It is an amazing blessing to be able to undertake this journey at a special place like CNU and with the terrific group of young men that we have on the team. We'll come out onto the court early Saturday evening here in the Freeman Center and see where the last seven months have gotten us. No one can say where the next five months will take us, but we hope that you all come along for the ride. Go Captains!