A Final Four Of Hope

Butler is in their second straight Final Four.

VCU is going to the Final Four.

One of them will play for the national title.

And this gives me hope for the Mocs yet.

Look- I know that the Mocs are not perfect. I know that there are plenty of imperfections. What I also know is that Keegan Bell is a top grade point guard, Omar Wattad is an excellent shooter, Ricky Taylor and Chris Early are nice pieces, Drazen Zlovaric is a talented center, Emmanuel Ochenje is a very solid recruit, Xavian Rimmer should be a good point guard, and there may be three more top recruits coming in this year.

Are there warts? Sure there are. But that doesn't mean that there isn't hope.

Watching VCU and Butler over these last two weekends has reminded me why there is always hope for a college basketball program like ours. Don't forget- the CAA had never had two teams in the NCAA Tournament before just five years ago. Now they've had two different programs reach the Final Four.

Can the Mocs reach those heights? I'm not sure. I have faith that some day the Mocs will see that level. I'm not sure if we're closer to that or further away from that than we were in 1998.

But I do know one thing- I feel better about our chances than I did two weeks ago at this time.

Of course, the sting of the first round loss to Furman is wearing off a little bit. So maybe it's just related to that.

Look- here's what I'm expecting next year. I'm expecting big things. I'm hoping for an RPI in the Top 90, a SoCon regular season and tournament title, to go along with a 12 or 13 seed in the NCAA Tournament. If all that happens, then the Mocs could win a couple of games in the NCAA Tournament. And, as VCU proved these last two weekends, all it takes is getting there and there is a chance for anything to happen.

I want the Mocs to be working hard this offseason. I want some great recruits to sign up. The signing period will go a long way to determining my feelings in the coming months.

GO MOCS!