Murray State University Athletics
Racers Set To Open '03-'04 Against Wagner On Saturday Night
11/21/2003 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Since last April, Murray State basketball coach Mick Cronin has been anxiously anticipating this day: opening night.
After spending five seasons an assistant coach at Cincinnati, then Louisville, Cronin makes his head coaching debut Saturday night against Wagner College.
"It's definetly a major moment in my career, as well as my life," explained Cronin. "It's been a dream of mine to become a college head coach and that came true when I was hired last April. But that excitement won't be anything like Saturday night when I coach my first team in my first game."
Saturday's game is the first of two home games the Racers will play as part of the Pittsburgh Holiday Classic. On Dec. 13, the Racers will host Chicago State before heading to Pittsburgh to face the Panthers and Georgetown (Ky.) College.
Cronin, 32, will have many friends and family members in attendance to support him in his first game, which is a much tougher opener than most coaches would prefer.
Wagner College comes into Murray to open its season after posting a 21-11 mark a year ago and earning a spot in the NCAA Tournament. Though the top two scorers are gone, two starters return from last year's Northeastern Conference championship team.
"They lost Jermaine Hall, the Player of the Year in their conference, to graduation and they also lost Dedrick Dye, who was an excellent shooter," said Cronin. "But, their point guard (Courtney Pritchard) is back, and as a pressing team, that's the first thing we look at in our opponent. He's a real quick guy and an excellent ball-handler. He's going to be a tough guy for us to rattle and wrestle into a trap. Hopefully, we'll be able to corner him a few times."
Pritchard averaged 10.0 points and 5.0 apg last season and is a former NEC Defensive Player of the Year. Forward Nigel Wyatte, a 6-9 senior, avearged 11.4 ppg and 8.6 rpg, while 6-2 guard Teoine Carroll put up 9.4 ppg a year ago.
"The question is really going to be with their new guys," said Cronin. "They only have two starters returning, so, how well the bench players from last year and the new guys they added through recruiting handle everything will tell the story. I know they're starting a player named Sean Munson, who's a big guy, that didn't start last year. He put up about 30 points in their first exhibition game."
In his first game out, Cronin will be going up against one of the top coaches in the country. Mike Deane, who is making his coaching debut at Wagner, has lead three different teams to the NCAA Tournament during his career: Marquette, Siena and Lamar.
"He was in Conference USA at Marquette when I started at Cincinnati," the Racer coach said of Deane. "His team's play tough, hard-nosed defense. They're very fundamentally sound, and they set meaningful screens on the offensive end. It could be a test of styles because his team's tend to be more ball-control, and obviously, we're trying to get out and make it an up-and-down affair."
Murray State went 2-0 in the exhibition season, and Cronin is pleased with his team's progress as the 2003-2004 season gets underway.
"We're still picking up our system," he said. "We're still missing some screens. We're still missing some assignments on both ends of the floor, and we're still missing some defensive rotations. We're probably not in the game-shape yet to play our style, which is to press for 94 feet and push the ball for 94 feet, and it's going to take a little bit of time. But with all of that said, I do think we're about as good as we could be right now."
