I find myself quite the opposite. Eric Mika was a big loss, BUT the value of returning players (Zac Seljaas, promising big man Ryan Andrus, Dalton Nixon and Luke Worthington) + Heath Schroyer + left handed athletic guard Jahshire Hardnett + 6'5" long athletic combo guard Kajon Brown + Rylan Bergersen have me feeling like this years team will take a big step forward. I think this team will likely return to the NCAA Tournament and compete for the WCC championship.

Why? Well, I felt like the problems last year stemmed from a lack of perimeter athleticism/defensive intensity (See Schroyer, Emery, Hardnett, and Brown) plus inconsistent 3 point shooting (see Zac Seljaas plus the returning guards). Additionally, I feel like Rose is more comfortable running a guard-centric offense that thrives off of steals and long rebounds. Finally, I have seen with my own eyes the evidence of the hard work that Childs and Dastrup have been putting in.

So, I find myself really looking forward to what this team will do.