Wofford men's basketball has the potential to do great things this season

On Wednesday afternoon in Asheville, N.C., Southern Conference coaches and media members named Wofford the preseason number-one team.

It didn't come as a surprise. In fact, it was almost a given that the Terriers would be the early favorite, seeing as Mike Young's defending-champion squad is largely intact and rejuvenated from the offseason.

The Terriers likely came into this season's Media Day with the expectation of garnering those honors; however, Mike Young knows that this means little in the grand scheme of SoCon basketball. "We don't put a lot of stock in that," the coach, entering his thirteenth season at the position, said to TerrierVision. "[It's a] nice recognition from people I think highly of, but, you know, we're not going to remember this when league play rolls around in January and February."

Yes, to compete in this league, a team must commit and put themselves to work day in and day out.

That's something that Wofford has been excelling at.

Although official practice only began for this program several days ago, this team has been growing into a tight-knight, and hard-working, family over the offseason. "I really like our team," Young remarked. "Good character, hard workers, [they] had a taste of it up here last year...[it was] an unforgettable run toward another championship."

Indeed, this program exemplifies the "WoCo 3D" characteristics: discipline, dedication, and determination.

"To be able to bring most of [last year's] team back, intact, is certainly exciting, but, yet again, [the SoCon is] a very difficult league."

Hopefully, for the Terriers, Wednesday's gathering will be far from the last time Wofford finds a kind of success in Asheville, as they hope to make another run in the conference tournament held there next March.

Karl Cochran, who was tabbed with preseason Player of the Year honors, represented the Terriers on the all-conference team along with Lee Skinner and Spencer Collins.

This program hits the court on November 11, as the Terriers will travel to California to face the Stanford Cardinal.

Perhaps the most intriguing thing that occurred on Wednesday was Young's response to a question posed about the fact that other programs were actively pursuing him. "That's what happens when you have some success," he said. "It would take something very, very special for me to ever leave."

While nothing is set in stone, what is known for sure is that Terrier fans have a team to take pride in this season and for the foreseeable future.

"It's a very interesting group; they understand the process and what is required day in, day out to put ourselves into position to do something special again."