So spoke Patriot Head Coach Don Butcher when asked about his 2004-2005 team! “Last season’s stretch run was a bitter pill to swallow. Our returning players remember and we cannot allow such to happen again.” Entering his fifth season with a 92-34 overall record, he was recalling an early February nationally-ranked team with a sterling 20-2 record; the Patriots then lost six of nine games to fritter away any chance of going to the Big Dance in Kansas City. “We do not like to lose any game, but several of those losses were absolutely inexcusable. We – players and coaches alike – have committed that no opponent is going to play harder than we do. We might get outplayed and out coached, but nobody is going to beat us because we did not play hard enough to win.”

For most teams, a 23-8 season record would be acceptable, but not for the Patriots! “We did not reach many of our team goals last season, but we did lose some players whose contributions will be sorely missed.” Gone are players, who started 44% of the games played, played 45% of the minutes, scored 47% of the points, and took down 55% of the rebounds. But do not despair; all is not lost because there are some solid returnees and some very talented newcomers!

All-Conference 6’1” Jake Elder (8.6 ppg, 4.3 apg, & 4.4 rpg) played more minutes (937) than any other Patriot last season. He and senior 5’11” P.J. Winston will engineer the offense at the point. “Jake is an intense competitor and his mental toughness borders on incredible. We hope to give him more rest time and I expect that he will have a great year.” Winston should spell “relief” at the point. “P.J. joined our team in January last season and may be our best playmaker and passer. He has learned our system and I expect him to produce when he is on the floor.”

Perimeter players who return are 6’4” senior Terico Smothers, 6’5” senior Brent Vernon, and 6’1” sophomore Ryan Williams. Smothers led the Patriots in scoring (15.2 ppg) last season, with a team-high 68 treys. “He can score and will have more freedom offensively this year, but he needs to become a defensive stopper on the other end of the floor.” Brent Vernon (6.9 ppg) is the team’s best 3-point percentage shooter (.406), making 58 treys as a junior. “Brent plays with great emotion and he understands and enjoys every second of every game as much as any player we have ever had.” While Ryan Williams saw little action last season, “he can play multiple positions and spent the summer working on his skills and getting stronger; he should have a good year.”

Senior posts 6’9” Pat Deveney (4.8 ppg & 4.7 rpg) and 6’8” David Morris (3.2 ppg & 3.3 rpg) round out the returning roundballers. “To have any chance to reach our team goals, these guys must play big, play physical, play hard, and rebound like crazy.” Both missed significant playing time with injuries last season, but both returned in superb physical shape. “Pat is a tough cover because he can also score from the outside. We are expecting some impressive numbers of points and rebounds from him.” Morris will gain Academic All-American consideration with his 3.8 GPA. “David is one of the most important people in our team because of his maturity and his final season is going to be his best season yet.”

Five new faces will suit up this fall, four transfers and one freshman. “It usually takes a while for newcomers to mesh into our system, but this group has progressed rapidly.” Junior point 6’0” Korey Moore is a juco transfer who played well (10ppg, 8.2 apg, & 4 rpg) in a very tough league. “Korey has picked up our schemes well and is a tough defender on the ball – he has a shot to play a lot early on.” Junior perimeter 6’5” Chris Simmons (13 ppg, 6.5 rpg, & 3 apg) played on a regional championship juco program last season. “Chris can shoot the trey, as well as slash to the basket, so he is tough to defend. We expect him to rebound and defend with greater intensity as the season progresses.”

Two junior players, 6’4” forward Jermaine Love and 6’10” post T.J. Scarbrough, did not play last season and are having to get back into the playing mode. “Jermaine is as athletic as anyone on our team and we expect him to contribute more and more as he shed the rust of court inactivity. He averaged 16 ppg and 7.8 rpg two seasons ago, so we are expecting him to score and rebound for us.” Scarbrough should add depth in the post. “T.J. averaged 5 ppg and 4 rpg two seasons ago. He plays with great emotion, blocks, shots, runs the floor well, and is getting stronger by the day.”

Freshman 6’2” David Vance (25.5 ppg, 6 apg, & 5 rpg) wowed the 13th Region during his high school career. “He will play all three perimeter positions for us and can really shoot the ball well. It will take some time, but David works hard and we expect him to develop into a major contributor for the next four years – he is going to be fun to watch!” And the Patriots will field another junior juco transfer in January. “Our most impressive newcomer this fall has been 6’4” Pat Cureton (11ppg, 4.5 rpg, & 4 apg). He can play or defend any position on the floor, he rebounds well, and he can put the ball in the hole.”

Team Strengths? “We have more guys who can score! As a team, we should shoot the three and free throws better! We are more versatile in that we have more players who can play multiple positions! We are more athletic and can really run the floor! And this group of players has more understanding of how to play the game and they have absorbed our schemes rather quickly!”

Team Weaknesses? “Several areas concern me at present, but all are correctable! We must get more point production from our posts! We must rebound the basketball better! We must become more physical on defense! If our commitment to playing harder materializes, our weaknesses will diminish considerably!”

Schedule? “Our schedule is an absolute minefield! We play eleven games against teams that make the 2004 NAIA National Tournament, including two games with the team that won the national championship! We have the third-seeded team in the national tournament in our Cumberlands Invitational Tournament! There are no pushovers in the Mid-South Conference! I expect our team to rise to the challenge of this schedule! If we do not, we will get waxed because of our level of competition has risen considerably!”

Team goals? “Our goals do not change much! We want to win every game! We want to win our conference regular season championship and then the conference playoffs! We not only want to make the national tournament, but we also want to win it all! This could very well be the team to pull it off, if we honor our commitment to play harder than every opponent in every game – we must take care of business on the floor.”