By Luke Mich
On Oct. 9, the Saint Vincent men’s and women’s basketball teams commenced their seasons with its their annual Media Day, where both teams took group photos, as well as and individual photos and filmed player introductions.
For each of these teams, the outlook for each team is highly optimistic.
For the men’s team, Terrance Smith, formerly who has been an assistant coach for past the last the five years, took the reins and is now head coach this since this past season.
“There is a lot more responsibility involved, but it’s not much different [from assistant],” he said, though it still took time that there is still more time to become accustomed to the new role.
As for the team’s expectations, the bar is set high.
Coach Smith answered, “We are expected to win the PAC. That is our expectation every single year. No excuses,” Smith said.
Josh Duda, senior guard for the team, agrees with the prediction.
“They’ve been realistic for the last three years. The sky’s the limit for us. The only thing that can stop us is ourselves,.” he said.
The team has finished atop the conference for the past few years, but they have failed to win the conference playoffs each time.
David Stephen, another senior guard is also hopeful.
“I think we definitely have the potential ] of doing some great things, and I think this year, especially with our team, we have a chance to make history.,” he said.
The history Stephen speaks of to is to win an NCAA tournament game – something no PAC team has ever done.
“We want to make history not only for Saint Vincent but for the whole PAC program,.” he said.
The women’s team also have has an optimistic view on their approaching season.
Coach Jimmy Petruska, entering his tenth season, stated that he believes his the team can win the PAC for the second straight year.
“As long as we stay healthy and focused, this team has all the right ingredients to be very dominant and very successful on the court,” he said.
Interestingly enough, he said, that the team’s main goal isn’t is not to win the conference title.
“It’s to get better every day,” he stated. “That’s our number one priority."
Paige Montrose, senior forward for the team, agrees.
“We’re trying to focus on one practice at a time, one game at a time,.” she said, adding that the girls' team is mainly upperclassman, which will be a great benefit.
"[The team members] have definitely built a lot of chemistry and experience to be comfortable playing with each other, and I definitely think that will help us this season," she said.
Both teams started practice two weeks ago on Wednesday, Oct. 16 and will play next week.
The men's team opens up their season on Friday, Nov. 8 against Ursinus, and the women's team begins their season at home agianst Carnegie Mellon on Saturday, Nov. 9.
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