The 2005-06 men’s basketball team is gleaming with talent and ambition. They will begin putting it to use this Tuesday evening, Nov. 1. The disciplined members of this team are looking not only to improve on last year’s record but to exceed the expectations of their fan base.

Under the leadership of Head Coach Chris Reese, the team has been working since last season to improve their game. A combination of hard work, determination, and unity is what this team will use to conquer opponents and work its way toward the national championship. “I don’t want to say that we will win a specific number of games, but one of our goals is to have a record of .500. Another goal of ours is to finish in the top four of the MCAC conferences. These goals that we have set for ourselves are realistic and I have confidence that we can achieve them,” said Reese.

The team, which lost four seniors, is returning seven players and welcoming a handful of new faces. “The new players will add athleticism, speed, great attitudes, good work ethic, and needed inside play,” said Coach Reese. One of the new members is Isaiah Peterson, who shocked everyone at Midnight Madness with his dunking techniques. Another freshman is Garrett Jones from Edmond, Oklahoma. “I look up to and respect the everyone on the team. Being a freshman, they don’t really treat me any differently than anyone else on the team. I hope that we can all stay close and stay together,” said Jones.

A returning face to the OWU men’s team is 6’4 sophomore Austin Johnson. Johnson began preparing for the upcoming season just as soon as last year’s season ended. “This season will be a lot different from last year. Last year we had six seniors that all had different personalities and wanted to lead us in different directions. This year we only have two senior captains that are both focused on the same goal. The captains are putting the team before themselves and they know that we are a young team so they are focused not only on team success, but also on the development of the young guys,” commented Johnson.

Recently, the team has begun displaying their talen as they polish up their skills. First, they scrimmaged each other with the OWU student body as their audience at Midnight Madness, an event held during homecoming that introduces the players and to display what we are to expect from both the Men’s and Women’s basketball teams. Next, they scrimmaged some of the Alumni basketball players during homecoming weekend. Then they traveled to Oklahoma City to scrimmage MidAmerica Christian University.

“Our team still has a lot to learn, we’ve got a lot of new guys so this will be a growing semester. Everyone on the team works so well together and they all respect and look up to the seniors as leaders,” commented Reese, who added: “This year’s team is a lot different from previous years. They are quicker and will speed up the game. They have flashy plays and will be very exciting to watch.”

The team begins its season at home Tuesday, November 1, at 8pm versus St. Gregory’s University.