Basketball Recap

Well, State's season is over.

I predicted a 19-20 win season back in November. And you'll get no excuses from me. I was just flat out wrong.

The first half of the SEC schedule was brutal and the defections of Sharpe and Houston hurt the team, this season and in the long run. Don't get me wrong, Sharpe was probably more of a distraction than an asset, but Stansbury has to view losing him as a failure, because the guy has talent.

The biggest failure of this past season is again the team's inability to build any kind of depth. Stansbury continues to struggle with the task of keeping non-starters happy. Maybe he promises these kids the world when he's recruiting them, but damn, I've never seen a team that consistently has so much discontent coming from the bench. And Houston being pissed about getting 10 minutes a game as a red shirt freshmen is just ridiculous. We missed his contribution this year and will really miss him the next three years. He could have been a 15 minute guy next year and a sixth man his junior year and probably a starter his senior year. Every program needs that type of depth.

The team will have plenty of talent in the starting five next season, but Stansbury better do whatever he has to do to ensure that Goodridge and Rimmer develop in the off-season. And he should probably sign a JUCO big man that can be a solid role player next season as well.

Overall, I'm disappointed in the outcome this year. An NIT bid should have been the minimum accomplishment of this team. I don't think you can call any tangible result of this season a success.