I, by no means, am in the kind of shape to compete at the college basketball - let alone Division I - level. I might have been at one time, but not now.
But I do know that after seeing the Coastal Carolina men's basketball team lose to Coker by 21 points in its season opener - only to follow that up by losing at Savannah State - there is something seriously wrong with the Chanticleers.
In basketball there often is little separating a Division I player from a Division II player all the way down to those just playing pick-up games. I know this because I've played against the likes from all levels over the years. This was on display Saturday, and I can give you a personal example: Josh Poston and Lukas Varga, two guys I've played with for years in high school and after, helped the Cobras beat Coastal on Saturday. These two are very good players - don't let Josh shoot and good luck chasing Lukas around - who have not played Division I, which makes one wonder why Coastal didn't look in its backyard for talent at Socastee High - in this case - that wound up taking it to them.
I talked to Poston after the game Saturday and, while saying his team played very well, also said Coastal played very badly and had trouble making shots. OK, so maybe the Chants were off that night and perhaps Poston and Varga had extra motivation to beat CCU - which didn't come calling for two local products who played at USC Aiken and later reunited with the Cobras. Maybe that was a combo for a shocker. But when Coastal lost to Savannah State on Tuesday -albeit 66-65 in the final seconds - it reaffirmed that it may be a long season for the Chants.
It's a long season and hopefully for CCU's sake the Chants can turn it around. But they don't seem to have an identity - or a player like Jack Leasure or Pele Paelay who they can count on to be big-time scorers. VMI beat Kentucky already and UNC Asheville looked pretty good on ESPN's telecast Tuesday. Coastal better get it together before conference play.
But applaud Poston and Varga - as well as the rest of the Cobras. The two locals proved something in that win: If you want it bad enough, you can do great things in basketball. And they sure did. Meanwhile, Coastal has to live with the fact that two players it could have had beat them.
I'm not sure if I have eligibility left or not, but if Coastal continues on this path I might just have to find out - and I'm not that good anymore. It's that bad right now for Cliff Ellis' team.
Put me in, coach.
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