Ever the optimist, our Craig Leighton tried convincing me prior to the season that this edition of the Friars may not make the NCAA Tournament, but they’d at least position themselves to have a shot down the stretch.
There were too many questions marks for me to buy in.
When asked how the Friars were shaping up prior to the season I told anyone who asked that the season figured to be a struggle — that it would be intriguing to see who would emerge as a future building block on the current roster.
Cooley doesn’t take well to losing, and when faced with what looked to be a rebuilding season I was also interested in not only how he would keep this team together, but how he’d handle it personally.