Beaver Nation, 

College basketball is back, and with it comes a lot of enthusiasm. Something about college hoops just gets me excited! I have never been into the NBA much at all. A friend of mine, at a young age, tipped me to the thought that the league is rigged, and I have thought that ever since. Maybe in a blog down the road I will cover that issue.  

This blog, on the other hand, is about the new-look Beavers. Both the men’s and women’s basketball programs underwent some changes this offseason: both programs have new coaching staffs. The Beaver women are now led by long-time assistant, Dana Christen. The men are directed by Todd Lorensen, who has been very successful in his previous coaching stops. I want to say thanks to former women’s coach, Janet Barry, and men’s coach, Brian Van Haaften. It was amazing to see both winning cultures built, and I am sure that will continue. A little change isn’t a bad thing.  

The Beaver men remind me a lot of the movie Hoosiers, where a small school in Indiana in 1954 gets a new coach. Long story short (I hope you have all seen the movie), Milan High School, known in the movie as Hickory High, plays the biblical role of David in the movie and wins the state championship. Milan, or Hickory High, had a high school enrollment of only 161 students, compared to the “Goliath” in Muncie Central High School, the school they played in the title game. Muncie’s enrollment was at 1,662 students.  

Maybe this Beaver team will have a star like Milan’s Bobby Plump (Hickory’s Jimmy Chitwood) come out of woodwork! I think this Beaver team can be like Hickory High and slay some Goliaths.  

This year the Beavers don’t have much size compared to other schools in the conference. What the men do have is a new coach and a new style. This will also be the first time in 22 years in which the BV men will be led by a coach with hair (Sorry, VH.) 

I expect a rough start to the season, so don’t be like the people of Hickory and run the new coach out of town prematurely. I think by the time conference rolls around, Coach Lorensen and his Beavers will be cooking with peanut oil. The ARC, better known as the IIAC, will be tough, as usual, with defending National Champion Nebraska Wesleyan back with its solid core. I expect the Beavers to hold their own, but with a limited core returning, many new players are going will have to step up. The BV men are picked seventh in the preseason poll. I see a higher finish than that. 

#rollbeavs #moosestrong