Like I Said ... with Vermont men's basketball coach Mike Lonergan
Bowie native and coach of the University of Vermont men's basketball team, Mike Lonergan, recently spoke with me regarding his team's outlook for the upcoming season. Lonergan is entering his third season with the Catamounts and he is eager to return to the America East Conference championship game for the third consecutive season. Earlier in 2007, Lonergan became only the second coach in America East history to take his team to back-to-back title games in his first two seasons at the helm.
What does Lonergan think will tell the tale of the 2007-'08 Vermont basketball season?
"I am very excited about the season, although we have had a couple of injuries this preseason which we couldn't afford. Our guards should be very good this season as junior Mike Trimboli and senior Kyle Cieplicki should form the best back court in the conference. Our big guys, though, are inexperienced and unproven. We were going to start senior Tim McCrory at center, but he is out three to four weeks with a foot injury. Hopefully we can get healthy soon because our nonconference schedule is very difficult as always. We play eight of the first 10 games on the road, but I think we will have a much better team in late January than we have right now."
Lonergan and his Catamounts will make a few appearances in the area during the season. The team will play at George Mason University Nov. 9, at Loyola Nov. 18 and at UMBC Jan. 9. For information on those games and to follow the Catamounts' season, visit www.uvm.edu/athletics.
