When the University of Charleston's men's basketball team takes the floor for its season opener on Friday night, the Golden Eagles will look much different than they did a year ago.
UC brings back just two of the eight players who averaged 15 minutes or more per game on last year's team that finished 16-14. It's been a challenge that Golden Eagles coach Dwaine Osborne and his staff have embraced as they prepare to get the season started this weekend in the MEC/CIAA Tip Off. UC plays Winston-Salem State at 2 p.m. Friday and Fayetteville State at 5 p.m. Saturday. Both games will be at the Carter Center at Concord University in Athens.
"We have a lot of really tough and competitive guys," Osborne said. "It's been a process right now. We just have to take the time right now and figure stuff out, find out who we are a little more."
With such a new team, Osborne has put a big bulk of the leadership on the shoulders of the few returning players and upperclassmen that he has on the roster.
He singled out two players specifically who will be keys to whether or not the Golden Eagles have a successful season - seniors Justin Coleman and Elliott Cole. Both are Division I transfers, with Coleman averaging 10 points and 8.3 rebounds last year for UC after transferring from Middle Tennessee State while Cole averaged nine points at Chicago State in 2015-16. As the team's only seniors, Osborne has put a large portion of the load on that duo.
The way they come in and play together and lead could be make or break to Charleston's success this season.
"It will be crucial. If we are really good, it will be because those two play well and lead well, make good decisions and make sure their teammates are doing the right things on and off the floor," Osborne said. "If we're not very good, I would tell you it's probably because those guys aren't doing a good job in those areas."
Charleston has made its presence known around the Mountain East Conference as a team that is hard to score against.
In a conference where seven teams allowed more than 80 points per game a year ago, Charleston held opponents to fewer than 70 points on average while finishing second behind Wheeling Jesuit in field goal percentage defense - forcing teams to shoot 41.4 percent from the field.
Overall, the Golden Eagles have been either first or second in the MEC in scoring defense and in the top five in field goal percentage defense in each of the last three seasons. Osborne believes that could be the case for this group again, but having the added wrinkle of being a little more dynamic offensively could help UC improve from where it was a year ago.
"There are so many new parts that we're still trying to figure out what we're going to be right now," Osborne said. "The staple of this program since I've been here is our defense, and hopefully that will be the case. I think we have the potential to score the ball better, and I'd like to see that our offense being a little better can help us get over the hump and get us where we want to be when it's all said and done."
Contact Michael Carvelli at 304-348-4810 or michael.carvelli@wvgazettemail.com. Follow him on Twitter @carvelli3.