Explorers striving for improvement

This is a challenging time for student-athletes across the country with final projects and exams taking place. Their lives are dominated by demands of school and basketball. It is a time of growth and achievement, but sometimes the quality of play can slip. I am especially proud of how my players are working in their studies and practice. Like everyone, occassional problems can occur but for the most part we get good results from their efforts. For example, Yves Mekongo Mbala has received numerous academic honors, Paul Johnson will graduate this year with strong grades, and Vernon Goodridge recently was honor by the NCAS (National Consortium for Academics and Sports) for his academic progress.

On the court, the good news is we have built good leads in all our recent games and have played well against good opponents. The bad news is we have let leads slip away. We clearly have a lot of potential, but we also clearly have harmful lapses. The process of improvement is ongoing.