Kaspar Excited About Prospects for 2002-2003 Season
10/10/2002 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Oct. 10, 2002
The Lumberjacks enter the 2002-2003 season looking to take the next step in their quest to contend for the Southland Conference title. In only his second season as the head man with the SFA basketball program, Danny Kaspar led the 'Jacks to a 10-10 Southland Conference mark in 2002 and a number five seed in the postseason tournament.
While getting to postseason play was the first step for the rebuilding program, Kaspar and the 'Jacks want to continue that process, taking the next steps toward an appearance in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament. With seven returning lettermen, including three starters from last year's 13-15 team, and the addition of four talented recruits, Kaspar feels that now more than ever, he has the pieces in place for a very good year.
"I am excited about the prospects for a very good year. We have set goals for ourselves to finish in the top four in the Southland Conference and hold a home court advantage in the postseason tournament," said Kaspar.
"Not only do we have the seven lettermen returning from a fifth place team, but we also return student-athletes that have exhibited leadership traits that we need. Joining those seven young men are a recruiting class that I feel, represents the best recruiting year we've had in terms of getting the type of young man that best fits our system," said the third year coach.
"We were close last year in terms of having a good year. When you look back at last season, we had about three of what I would term nail-biter wins, games that were decided in the final minute of play or by less than three points. We had the two overtime wins early in the year, then the one point win over UL-M in the final seconds of play. Conversely, we had five games in which we lost by four points or less. If we win just three of those games, we post a winning record and possibly could have earned a higher seed in the tournament," said Kaspar.
Kaspar feels that with the year's experience in his system, his returning players will have a better grasp of what is expected of each of them, and with the addition of a strong group of recruits, the time is right for the 'Jacks to finish in the upper echelon of the conference standings.
