While success is the ultimate goal, failure provides the necessary lesson it takes to be successful and the self-reflection to ensure those failures are not repeated.
This is a reoccurring message in sports, from the foundational youth athletics to the highest tier of professional sports. How that message is received, however, depends on the athlete, coach and team.
Insert the 2015-16 San Diego State men’s basketball team, and that message has been firmly grasped, as demonstrated by opening conference play 5-0 for only the third time in program history, which comes after a 7-6 nonconference record to start the season.