Thoughts

I really look forward to seeing the maturity of freshman guard Kyle Lowry and sophomore forward Will Sheridan. These two players have already far exceeded my expectations and done so in such a short time. It is hard to say where this year's team would have been without these two. The heart, the drive, the never-give-up attitude, young players seemed to be the spark behind this sweet 16 appearance.

I do not mean to downplay the fab four recruiting class of three years ago. It is great to see Randy Foye, Allan Ray, Curtis Sumpter and Jason Fraser finally get some respect. Things had not gone to plan for the now juniors and with the final, senior season left it should prove fun to watch.

We can always play the "what if" scenario surrounding Curtis' torn ACL against Florida. Maybe things would have turned out differently against North Carolina. But maybe they would not have.

No offense to Marcus "Big Dog" Austin and Chris Charles, but I do not feel as though we lose much from this team to graduation. The only thing I would see is missing some bench relief for our post play. I have not seen any recruiting notes, however, so I cannot fully assess the damage.

For now, all we can do is say how absolutely proud we are of this team and look forward to next season. Best of luck and wishes of the quickest recovery possible to Curtis.

Go Cats!