Growing pains aside, Aggies are ready for conference play
December 30, 2019
GREENSBORO — Same jerseys. Same logos. Same arena. Much has not changed about the N.C. A&T’s men’s basketball team except their roster.
Primed for another run at the Mid-Eastern Atlantic Conference (MEAC) championship, the Aggies entered the 2019-2020 season with eight new players.
At the time of this writing, the Aggies are 3-11 — but this is not unfamiliar territory, as they were in a similar situation at 5-9 through 14 games last season and finished their season 19-13 thanks to a 13-3 record in conference play.
The Aggies are understandably going through growing pains with a mostly new roster that includes four true freshmen.
Interim Head Coach Willie Jones was enthused about the positives the team could take away even in the losses during the non-conference portion of the schedule.
“We get to learn a lot about the team, and we get to grow and see where our chemistry is,” Jones said.
“We want to put out a gritty team that scraps and claws to win games, and ultimately, we want a group of guys going into conference play that want to work one game at a time and look to win games,” he added. “Our focus and slogan this season is to be 1-0 every game and not look too far ahead.”
N.C. A&T was able to capture the No. 2 seed in the 2019 MEAC tournament and earned a first round bye partially because the team got off to a blazing 6-0 start in conference play.
Jones elaborated on the importance of getting off to a good start this season in conference play just as they did last season, especially with the influx of new talent on the roster.
“[We] definitely want to get off to a good start — it is important to the confidence of the team,” he said. “When the wins add up, we want to focus on one game at a time and get to the ultimate goal [MEAC Championship].”
The Aggies finish their non-conference schedule with a home game versus the Mid Atlantic Christian University Mustangs (4-5) on Jan. 3 before they play host to the Florida A&M Rattlers (1-9).
The Aggies defeated the Mustangs by 48 points last year in a game that was largely decided after the first half with the Aggies up 48-19. N.C. A&T would win that game 104-56.
The Aggies and the Rattlers played twice last season with the teams splitting the season series and the home team in each matchup winning by more than 20 points.

Senior journalism and mass communication student with a concentration in multimedia journalism.
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