Men's basketball looks to win first tourney game

The Winston-Salem State Rams, coming off of a 21-7 record last season, are looking to improve on that and make some noise come tournament time.

It won't be easy for the Rams this season because there are 12 new players.

The team will have to gel quickly if they plan on making it far in the NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament.

Last season, the Rams finished second in the CIAA Southern Division to Livingstone and lost to Slippery Rock in the opening round of the Div. II Tournament.

The Rams also lost key players from last year's team.

Some notable names that won't be back are Marcus Wells, Justin Glover, Wakefield Ellison and Michel Ofik-Nzege.

Even with those departures, the additions the team made will definitely benefit it this season.

Junior forward WyKevin Bazemore, an All-CIAA selection last season, returns for WSSU as well as senior guard Tyre Desmore, who played valuable minutes last season. The team brought in several key transfer players too.

Senior forward Preston Ross is a transfer from Western Carolina and Brian Okam is a transfer from Appalachian State.

Both look to do big things at WSSU this season.

With these key additions made by head coach Bobby Collins, WSSU should win the CIAA Southern Division or come in no worse than second place.

As I mentioned earlier, the Rams lost in the opening round of the Div. II Tournament last season, but this season they are destined to get past that opening game.

The team has been to the tournament each of the past three seasons, but has lost in the first game each year.

This season, the Rams have the talent to break the trend of first-round losses; it's just a matter of whether the team can come together and reach its full potential.

I feel that by the time the tournament comes around, the players will have had more than enough time to get to know each other's games, and I think the Rams can be one of the top teams in Div. II.

With a lot of depth at each position, I expect the Rams to win anywhere between 20 and 25 games, win the CIAA Southern Division and get past the opening round of the Div. II Tournament to compete for a national championship.