With a team roster composed of 14 total players, six of whom are freshmen, MSU men‹¨s basketball head coach Rick Stansbury is hoping that State’s 2005-06 team will be more like a fountain of youth, rather than a bunch of inexperienced kids running aimlessly around the court.
Only three seniors highlight the roster this year, guard Jamall Edmondson, guard/forward Michael Boler and center Wesley Morgan. Stansbury is as unsure as anyone about how his team will be when the season begins.
“There’s one thing that is very obvious [about this team],” Stansbury said. “We’re new. There are a lot of new faces, we lost our top six players from last year. We return four guys who haven‹¨t played much at all and six freshmen, so it’s a learning process every day for us.”
Although the inexperience of the incoming freshmen has been displayed during practice, Stansbury and the veteran Dawgs are impressed with the discipline, determination and dedication the rookies have shown.
“I couldn’t be more pleased with my freshmen,” Stansbury said. “When you have freshmen that are detailed off the court it carries onto the court. That saves you a lot of headaches when you don‹¨t have to worry about a young man being on time, going to class and study hall. This is 12 weeks, and I have yet to have a freshman late for anything.”
Freshman Vernon Goodridge, who hails from Brooklyn, N.Y., believes that the team discipline should be automatic.
“If [Coach Stansbury] sets a time for you to do something, then he wouldn‹¨t try to make it impossible for you to do it,” Goodridge said. “You get out of this at a certain time and you have time to go home and do your homework or whatever it is you have to do. And you get enough sleep and then be up here ready to practice at 6 in the morning. Stuff like that I don’t look at as being impossible or something hard. It is just something that you have to do.”
Stansbury believes that his freshmen have a lot of work to do, and some have adjusted already better than others.
“The Delks (Reginald and Richard Delk) are where I thought they would be. I like their abilities and basketball awareness. Their strength level is something we can‹¨t change overnight and will be a factor, but they’ve gotten better in every area.”
“Jamont Gordon is as good a freshman as you can ask to be right now, physically and mentally,” he continued. “Most freshmen have an adjustment physically and mentally, he’s got that. He’s probably a little better than I expected. Of all the young kids Vernon definitely needs more work. But he’s a great kid and got a great attitude.”
Naturally, because MSU has lost so much experience, the Bulldogs aren’t expected to succeed as much as in previous years. Stansbury doesn‹¨t seem to be worried about such forecasts.
“We’ll use [the low rankings],” he said. “I can’t change where we are in experience and youthfulness. Naturally our goals are the same, we’re not going to use it or lack of experience as an excuse. We’ve got to do other things to offset that, and offset it with togetherness and toughness.”
“Only time changes youthfulness. There are no pills, no drills I can give them,” he added.
Not to be forgotten are the veteran Bulldogs. Now is the time for players such as Wesley Morgan, Jamall Edmondson and Dietric Slater to become leaders.
“I definitely love being the leader,” Morgan said. “I love stepping up and being first in the drills and just trying to show the younger guys about how we practice and how tough we have to play.”
Edmondson, who has been trying to make adjustments to fit the point guard position, is improving at a slow-but-steady rate, according to Stansbury.
Slater has qualities that Stansbury believes that the entire team needs to develop. Slater will be this year’s energy guy, the one who is responsible for keeping the team’s and fans’ morale up, Stansbury said.
“One thing about Dietric is, when he steps between the lines he gives you everything he’s got every day and every possession,” the eight-year coach said. “What we need from Dietric is this: he has something this team desperately needs, and that’s toughness.”
Coach Stansbury is excited about this season, and he likes his team. He isn’t a believer in excuses, including youth and inexperience.
MSU opens the 2005-2006 basketball campaign with several tough games against teams such as Chattanooga and Charlotte.
“We’re going to do it the best we can do it, give everything we’ve got every day and every possession,‹¨ Stansbury said. “Expectations are where we want them to be. I said that years ago. We like expectations, and we’re surely not going to run from them because we’ve developed them. We‹¨re going to approach things the same way we always do.”