Warner- "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." When Charels Dickens penned those words, he probably had no idea he would be describing the current situation for the Connors State Cowboys as they prepare to start the 2024-25 basketball campaign. The best of times?
"Last year was phenomenal," said head coach Bill Muse. "We had the second most wins in school history (34) and reached the semifinals of the national tournament beating a good program in Moberly, then Salt Lake which was ranked number two in the nation at the time and then beating Hutchinson easily on their home floor. We reached the semis against Triton and had a chance to win that game but lost by three points. As a result, a lot of our guys had a chance to move on to the next level. Khamani (Cooper) went to the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Donyae May went to Pacific in the conference where Gonzaga and St. Mary's play, Sayid Burnside went back to Florida A&M and Bradyn Hubbard a first team All American went to Abilene Christian."
And now for the worst of times. For the first time in his Connors coaching career, Muse finds himself starting completely over with a whole new roster.
"In all the seasons I've coached I've never had a season when I didn't have at least one returning starter back," said Muse, now entering his 33rd year at the helm of the Cowboys with a record of 771-261, "and I've never had a starter transfer to another conference school."
So eight freshmen, three transfers and a walk-on will make up the Cowboy roster this season. Leading off the group of freshmen is 6-2 guard Jermiah Johnson from Tulsa Edison.
"He's a left-handed guard, very athletic and could be an important player for us," said Muse.
Others include Aric Walls, a 6-3 guard from Allen, Texas, K.J. Nichols, a 6-3 guard who played under former OSU standout Randy Rutherford at Tulsa McLain, Kevin Stubblefield Jr., a 6-5 guard from Omaha, D.J. Dormu, a 5-11 guard from the Washington, D.C. prep circuit, Tito Ramos a 6-2 guard from Okay, DaShaun Spence, a 6-6 forward All State player from Arkansas who was also the high jump champ in high school and his teammate Ethan Dietz, a 6-8 forward, and walk-on Bryce McGee from Antlers.
Muse will be counting on a trio of transfers to bring experience and stability to this re-built roster starting with Jaylen Lee, a 6-3 guard from Southeastern Iowa who averaged about nine points a game last year, Dayvantia Campbell, a 6-6 forward London native who played at Murray State last season and Edwin Daniel, the biggest recruit at 6-9 who transfers in from Hutchinson.
Muse is quick to give kudos for last year's Final Four team's success and this year's recruiting effort to his son and assistant coach, Bill Muse Jr.
"A lot of the credit for the past two seasons on and off the court should go to Bill. I've been out the last two springs and summers with hip surgeries, and he has done all the recruiting which was no easy task this year with the number of players we had to sign and he was responsible for putting together our semifinal team last year."
And so the Cowboys will have a whole new look this year with a lot of questions to be answered but also with a hint of optimism thrown in.
"We've got to have someone out of these transfers step up to be our leader. But the first year I was here I didn't know anything about our roster, and we still won 28 games, so we'll see how it plays out," said Muse.