This season for SXU men’s basketball, looking from the outside, could just be a “throw away” season, as the Cougars were unable to win the amount of games the SXU body has become accustomed to.
From our athletes’ perspectives, though, it should be seen as the total opposite. The youthfulness of our basketball team has been very well-documented, as the team had to lean on underclassmen more this year than any other year in recent memory.
The season should not be looked at as a failure, even if you are one to compare this to previous years. Instead, our 10-20 record, as a result, should be looked at as a building block leading to a promising future for our men’s basketball program. Reason being, the different experiences and lessons learned by the young team this season will be very vital for the upcoming years.
Our trouble this season could also serve as a way for us to become “sleepers” for a change, and allow us to sneak up on opponents that may have forgotten how good we usually are. By the way, majority of the team’s losses were by only a few possessions.
Also, looking deeper into the outlook of the entire Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, a very rare occurrence in sports took place this past weekend: the eighth seed won the CCAC championship game!! Having struggled all season long, the Fighting Saints of Saint Francis snuck into the final playoff spot late in the season. They ended up winning the entire tournament, earning themselves a slot in the national tournament, taking place in South Dakota in the coming weeks.
The good thing about this occurrence is that it shows us that the older, more well-rounded teams in our conference were not as strong in the big games as they had shown during the regular season. Anyone could have been beaten on any given night this season, but the slow start from our Cougars dug us a hole we could not quite get out of in the time allotted. Next season, though, our team will be expected to come in with the proverbial “chip on their shoulder” and expose the frauds (those teams who finished ahead of us) for who they really are.
Headlining our most productive returners, there is junior wing Jack Brody, who was named to the All-CCAC Second Team this past season. Brody, who was already a two-time Honorable Mention selection for the CCAC, averaged 14.4 points per game, and also led the conference with 9.4 rebounds per game.
Also returning, there’s sophomore guard Josh Niego, who, on January 16th against eventual conference tournament champion Saint Francis, scored his career high 31 points in a win over the Fighting Saints.
Lastly, but certainly not least, sophomore wing Jeffery Mayberry returns to us in what could possibly be a breakout season, as he has shown flashes of brilliance in several performances in his two-year career.
Look forward to the upcoming success of our Cougars, and do not be surprised. Join the bandwagon as soon as possible, we’ll be sure to save room.
Keep those grades up, Cougs!!
Dallas Haywood
Sports Reporter
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