Even with aspirations of winning a national champion- ship, the Winston-Salem State men’s basketball team is trying not to look too far ahead and is focused on the more immediate tasks at hand.
These tasks include winning each of the remaining games on the schedule and retaining the conference championship.
“We have to be able to just focus on one game at a time and deal with day-to-day distractions, making sure that we stay focused on what’s at hand,” said Head Coach Bobby Collins.
With just five games remaining on the schedule (as of Feb. 8), WSSU is 16-4 overall (9-2 CIAA). The Rams won the conference championship last year and are looking to do it again, which would be the 12th conference championship in school history.
If the conference standings hold up through the end of the regular season, WSSU will be the top seed in the CIAA Conference Tournament beginning Feb. 25. The Rams claimed the title last season by defeating Elizabeth City State 62-51 in the tournament finale at Time Warner Cable Arena in Charlotte.
Rams are hoping for the same result this year. “We know how it feels to The tournament will again be in that situation so we’re be held in Charlotte and the a little bit more comfortable,
but obviously you can’t expect to win,” Assistant Coach Tim Wells said.
“You have to go out and earn it every single night.”
Coach Wells knows that the conference has many strong teams that will not be easy to beat come tournament time.
“Every team is good,” Wells said.
“Johnson C. Smith is good, Livingstone is good and St. Aug’s [St. Augustine] beat us, so every team is going to be a challenge.”
The coaches and players are confident in their chances of retaining the conference crown, but they are not overlooking any of their CIAA opponents.
“We’re very confident but we do understand that we have to go in and play like we’re capa– ble and not take any team for granted,” Coach Collins said.
“We’re going to get every- body’s best shot so we just have to play Winston-Salem State basketball and come in focused and it’ll take care of itself.”