Are the Spartans hitting their stride?
That may seem like a strange thing to say for a team that is 2-4 on the season, but 77-54 over Wofford? Um...wow. I was at N.C. State's last-minute win over the Terriers, and I can tell you that should be an upper division SoCon team. I think Wofford confirmed that when it went on the road and knocked off Cincy. For the Spartans to just destroy the Terriers ... again, wow.
Granted, the G was picked to win the Socon North in the pre-season, but the Spartans also dropped four straight to start the season. Maybe it was integrating in a bunch of freshmen into the rotation, maybe it was the schedule. Whatever it was, the Spartans figured it out against Wofford.
If Mikko Koivisto (what is it with UNCG and its Scandinavian athletics pipeline? First Iceland, now Finland) can turn into a more solid third scoring option that Kevin Oleksiak has been in the past and if Ben Stywall can provide some relief in the paint for Kyle Hines, this could be more than just a good start for the Spartans. This could be something special.
One major caveat though - there could be some tricky chemistry on this team between the established stars, Hickman and Hines, who were recruited by former G coach Fran McCaffery, and the infusion of freshman talent that Mike Dement has recruited. Also, Dement has a very demanding personality. Will it drive this team to improve, or wear them down?
Stay tuned. We'll try to check in regularly with UNCG blog updates as the season progresses.