Excerpt from the Dayton Daily News
Scott Nagy, who is in his fourth year as Wright State basketball coach and 25th season overall, has probably never enjoyed a preseason more than this one.
He’s got an ideal mix of proven performers who are self-motivated and confident newcomers who may be even better than he thought.
He never has to plead for more intensity in practice. The competition takes care of that.
“We really expected that our freshmen wouldn’t play a lot for us because we’re so deep,” Nagy said, noting they have four fifth-year seniors, a fourth-year junior and two third-year sophomores. “We thought the experience (of the veterans) would overtake the freshmen. But our freshmen are good. They’re putting pressure on the older kids to play.
“It makes us better. We’ve had very few flat practices. Everybody has to do what the coach says, or we just put in the next guy. Everyone understands, in order to play, you’d better do well every day.”
The Raiders, who went 21-14 last year and reached the NIT, return their top three scorers, including Horizon League Player of the Year candidate Loudon Love. But while they fell short of their goals in 2018-19 because of too few options off the bench, that won’t be an issue this season.
A talent-rich roster — which includes a pair of graduate transfers in guard Jordan Ash from Northwestern and forward Aleksandar Dozic from Marist — not only will allow Nagy to keep his players fresh, but also give him the flexibility to attack opponents in a variety of ways.
He’s so optimistic about the season that he believes the Raiders can reach new ground as a program.
