by Malcolm Butler
With the graduation of CUSA Player of the Year Isaiah Crawford and the influx of seven newcomers, Louisiana Tech head coach Talvin Hester is glad it’s still early.
Coming off a 22-win season last year, Tech does return preseason Conference USA Player of the Year Daniel Batcho as well as arguably the best point guard in the league in junior Sean Newman.
However, Hester knows this year’s Bulldog Bunch still has a lot of improvement to make as they set their sights on the start of the 2024-25 season.
“Thank goodness it’s still October,” said Hester in a press conference last week. “We are still a work in progress. But this time of the year I think most everyone is in the same position. It gives me hope that everyone is struggling with the same things we are struggling with.
“I’m just excited we get to line up against somebody else in a meaningful game. We have had a long road since July establishing who we are and letting these new guys know how we play. We are not all the way there yet, but I don’t expect to be at this time. We just try to keep pushing forward.”
The Bulldogs open the season tonight with a 6:30 p.m. tipoff against talented NAIA foe LSU-Alexandria at the Thomas Assembly Center.
Tech was picked as the preseason Conference USA favorites a few weeks ago, but Hester isn’t allowing his players to lean on preseason projections entering the year.
“I told them that quite honestly this isn’t an award that you guys have earned as a team,” said Hester. “Most of you guys weren’t here last year. This isn’t an accomplish that we got picked (No. 1) preseason. It’s just something (the voters) see we have a couple of returners who could possibly lead the way.
“We have a chip on our shoulders. We know we aren’t going to walk into anybody’s house this year and get overlooked. I promise I’m giving my best in practice every day to make sure we are putting the work in and earn everything that we get moving forward.”
The Bulldogs participated in a pair of close scrimmages against Lamar and Arkansas-Pine Bluff in October, giving Hester an opportunity to see his new group on the hardwood against a different opponent.
And although he returns two stars in Batcho and Newman from last year, team chemistry is something that Hester said is a challenge in this day and age of NIL and the transfer portal.
So how do you get so many new guys pulling in the same direction?
“It is hard because we are living in a what-have-you-done-for-me, transaction society,” said Hester. “My message to the players is you guys have gotten more than anybody ever in the history of college athletics. You guys have more say so. You guys can transfer. You guys can ask for things that other people in the history of (college athletics) haven’t been able to do.
“So all we ask is that you give your best every day. That you come here and that you earn what society says is yours. That’s my message. At the end of the day I think our guys are working hard. My job is to get them to work more consistently. It’s not about our talent level. Effort and execution beats talent every day. We want to be a team that is talented and learns how to execute and outplay people.”
Tech fans will see some DI transfers on the court this year, including the likes of Amaree Abram (Georgia Tech), Will Jeffress (Pittsburgh), and Kaden Cooper (Oklahoma). Freshman AJ Bates and juniors Al Green and Sean Elkington could also see significant minutes for the Bulldogs early in the year as Hester and Co. work through playing time.
With one of the most dynamic and versatile players in Tech hoops history gone with the graduation of Crawford, what will this year’s Bulldogs look like and what will they lean on in clutch moments.
“That is a question that I think we are still learning,” said Hester. “Last year I could say that we were older. We had four grad transfers. We had Isaiah Crawford back for a fifth year. We had Daniel Batch who was older.
“We are a little younger this year, but I think we have more hope. Sometimes when you are older you may start giving up hope. … We are more optimistic as a group because we are younger. I think guys are dreaming a little bigger and hopefully we can live up to that.”
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