By Christopher Boulay
Predictions came and predictions went for Blue Devils men’s basketball. Hopes were high at the beginning of the season, but the consensus seemed to state that this team was a year away. Then, the terrible news of Ken Horton’s injury that would prevent him from play, and his eventual redshirt came.
So from the thought of “just a year away” came and went, the new thought of “definitely a year away” came to the forefront.
One could spend all day on the negatives of this CCSU men’s basketball team. Starting out 4-11 out of conference, was a poor start to say the least. No Horton, Ptacek out for much of the conference run, and it looked certainly dire for a while that the team may miss out on the 12th straight postseason tournament appearance. The team was young, short and seemed to just not have it in them to do anything.
But without a deep look through this season, one so filled with rough patches, finding the positives might be hard. So to make it easier, let’s get them out in the open.
Joe Seymore improved greatly in his final season with the Blue Devils, including reaching the 1,000 point milestone, Ptacek returned for the final run of the season and started to show the real contribution that he could make for the team, Shemik Thompson carried the Blue Devils in an almost Javier Mojica-like fashion (while being ill seemingly the entire time) and Joe Efese made his introduction to the team, a player that every fan will come to know and love over the next couple years.
The team rebounded in the second half of the conference campaign, winning seven out of 10 games, and positioning themselves in seventh place in the conference, locking up a match against Robert Morris.
The Blue Devils weren’t able to pull the upset, but they did get close, coming within a point multiple times in the game. It’s a bitter ending to a tough season, but certainly not surprising, with all of the injuries that occurred.
Coach Howie Dickenman has to be applauded for the work he did this season with the team. He dealt with great adversity, and did what great coaches do; find a way to get out of it and make something positive happen. Making the NEC tournament was that positive fans were looking for, even if the fans don’t know it yet.
Despite the problems that plagued the team this season, even though the next season is far away, the future is bright. Thompson, Simmons, Efese, Horton, Ptacek and Markeys Deans make an experienced core of players that could not only make some noise in the conference next season, they very well could be fighting for a tournament berth. With that said, there will be a long hill to climb.
There’s no guarantee that the team will get the bid next season, obviously. But, looking at what the players have done over the past couple years, it will be hard to bet against the Blue Devils next season. You have to suffer heartbreak before you can experience success, and this team is no different.
The expectations will be high on Dickenman’s squad.
