NEWPORT NEWS, Va.- Happy Holidays from the Freeman Center! All of us here at CNU men's basketball hope that you and your loved ones are in the holiday spirit and having a great holiday season so far. No word yet if Santa is going to fulfill my Christmas wish for a 6'10" post player. Fingers crossed…

I find myself saying this every year, but it is always astounding how fast the semesters seem to move by. As a coach, every day is filled with so many different elements and tasks that the days and weeks just keep flying by until you've reached another end stage in the journey.

This includes all the traveling a coach does. We as a staff have certainly put our department's Chevy Impalas to good use this fall. Getting on the road to scout opponents or recruit is a vital and necessary part of having a successful program. This fall we've traveled to scout opponents as far north as Scranton, PA, and watched our recruits play all the way up in Princeton, NJ. We've certainly logged the miles and traversed a lot of area so far. In fact, it was so much driving that one time I even put my life at risk by having assistant coach Conley Taylor drive us home on I-95 while I completed a scouting report on my laptop. I consider it a pre-Christmas miracle that we got home in one piece.

Travel stories aside, as a program we have continued to make progress since August, and we've put ourselves in pretty solid position as we get into the heart of the season. Currently standing with a 6-1 record, we have battled through a number of significant injuries to beat some notable opponents – including a thrilling 84-83 victory over nationally ranked Randolph-Macon College back in November. As is often the case with young teams, we've had our inconsistencies, but overall we have managed to find different ways to get the job done.

We are in the middle of final exam week here on campus. Juggling the multitude of demands of being a student-athlete is a challenging task in and of itself – being a student-athlete taking final exams while in-season is an especially taxing time of the year. We gave our guys a break from practice for a few days at the beginning of the week so they could devote their time to exam preparation. It is important that our guys finish the semester strong and achieve the results that they have earned from their hard work throughout the semester.

As final exams wind down we can now turn our attention back to the hardwood, and to our game versus rival Virginia Wesleyan College this Sunday. This is a great early season test for a number of reasons. Wesleyan is currently 7-0 and ranked as the #6 team in the nation. They feature one of the top players in the nation in senior guard D.J. Woodmore. The geographic proximity of our campuses and the storied traditions of both programs always make for an electric atmosphere at these games. The game will be streamed live at CNUsports.com/LIVE – or come on out to Norfolk and support the Captains in person this Sunday at 2pm!

Win or lose versus Virginia Wesleyan, there will be no chance to dwell on it as we come right back on Wednesday night for an extremely important conference contest against Salisbury University here at the Freeman Center. We hope that you can make it out and help us go into the Christmas break on a high note. Until then, indulge in some hot chocolate, wear a few ugly sweaters, put Bruce Springsteen's rocking version of "Santa Claus is Coming to Town" on an endless loop, treat yourself to the great cinema that is A Charlie Brown Christmas, and, of course, keep staying on the "Nice" list. Enjoy the season. Go Captains!