Break Out The RAID, Let’s Squash Some Yellow Jackets

That time is almost upon us, Eagles fans – less than twenty four hours until the AU men’s basketball team takes to the court for the first time since our heartbreaking loss to the Villanova Wildkittens this past March. This is a particularly exciting time as so much has changed over the past few months.

This time last year we knew what to expect going into the first game of the season, and we handed St. Francis (PA) a lovely 67-46 beating while we watched our first Patriot League championship banner raised to the rafters. We knew Garrison Carr was going to nail the three time and time again, and we knew that Derrick Mercer was going to drive the ball around opposing players more than twice his size (and make it look easy, too). We knew that Brian “Jesus” Gilmore was going to make the clutch plays just as we needed them, and that Jordan Nichols would block even the best of shots with his inhumanly long arms.

Alas, those players – and indeed our entire starting lineup – have graduated. They’ve moved on, each one with a valuable AU degree and a bright future. This leaves our team, however, young and malleable. We’ve heard all the reports from Patriot League Media Day (and if you haven’t read them yet check out Bill’s recap here and here). We know the vast (VAST) majority of the team has never seen significant play before at the college level. We know Vlad “The Impaler” Moldoveanu will be on the sidelines until December. We also know that this means that our team has near limitless potential – and our hapless opponents certainly won’t know what to expect.

This leads us back to the moment ahead of us, at 7:30 PM tomorrow evening. This year we aren’t opening against a Division 1 opponent, but we’ve been graced with the good fortune of having not one, but two Division 3 matchups to test our mettle before the real W’s and L’s start being recorded. Yet just because these are exhibition games doesn’t mean we shouldn’t take them seriously. Rather the faithful Blue Crew – students, alumni, faculty, friends, neighbors, and fans alike – should be there in full force. We need to show this young team that we will be with them from the beginning, and show Randolph-Macon and Catholic what happens when they come into OUR arena.

Of course, this is all just fanboyish rambling. You already know this. This isn’t why you’re here. You want to know what might go down tomorrow night. Well, if you’ve read this far you certainly care, so throw on your Red and Blue and hold onto your seats, folks – this might not be pretty…

Here’s the truth: we might not come out of tomorrow night’s game with that W. It’s a bit of a catch-22 – if we win, well, of course, they’re D3. If we lose, then our team really has some work to do.

Here’s the facts:

• D3hoops.com has tagged Randolph-Macon as the #19 D3 team in the country.
• They've killed before...this time last year Randolph-Macon opened up with an exhibition against neighboring George Mason – and walked away with a 73-72 win
• The Yellow Jackets went 20-6 overall and 14-2 in their conference last year, and return 12 letterwinners and 3 starters
• To reiterate, roughly 3 of our players eligible to play tomorrow have had more than 10 minutes of court time in an NCAA game
  

Now, before you break out the lanterns and pitch forks and come after me for predicting we’re going to be solidly trounced by a D3 team, take quick breath and reconsider. I’m not saying we’re going to lose, or even that we’re likely to – fact is we do have the better team no matter how you slice it. The other glaring fact is that our team just hasn’t had the time to gel yet, and might make mistakes that just won’t happen later on in the season.

It might be close, though, and if we don’t walk away with the W it will be a good wake up call for our players. Luckily it doesn’t count toward our regular season one bit, and it’s important that even if we’re on the receiving end of a hornet’s sting that we aren’t discouraged…we have an entire season ahead of us, and our team will certainly get better.

So come out tomorrow if you can, and most importantly be BLUE and be LOUD! Let’s cheer our team on to an early victory, and even if we lose, just buck up and look ahead (trust me, Catholic is likely to be a breath of fresh air with that lovely winning smell). Plus, AUEagles.com has pointed out that we'll be seeing some "new look Eagles", whatever they mean by that (maybe new uniforms?). If you can’t make it to Bender Arena tomorrow, then make sure to check out AU Basketball Central (this very blog) for the best recap you’ll find out there.

See you tomorrow at 7:30 in Bender! If UPS is speedy I'll be striking fear into some Yellow Jackets' hearts with this badass Eagle mask I got here for $10:

Go Eagles!
Josh