After securing a share of the Atlantic 10 regular-season title last season, Loyola fell short in their first-round matchup in the NIT to Bradley.
Though the season didn’t end with an NCAA Tournament bid or championship trophy, it gave coach Drew Valentine something to build off and helped him learn to manage expectations — of the team and himself.
“We’ve had such great expectations here,” he said. “I was a part of helping to build the reason behind those expectations. I’d like to have expectations. I don’t have expectations.
“And then of myself, no matter who I’m up against or our team is up against, I feel like we can compete and beat anybody. So if anything, I would say when things don’t go my way or our way, I think I have an even more glass-half-full type of way. I’ve done a lot of mental-performance training to really, really get my mind to bounce back and just kind of focus on the mission at hand, rather than being emotional, taking that out of it. I’ve gotten better with the emotions and handling adversity.”
As Valentine enters his fourth season at Loyola — he’s 58-39 — the Ramblers’ focus is on how the team manages expectations and its “race to maturity” after last season’s success.
“Everybody’s on their own race, and the quicker that we can do that all together in our own ways,” Valentine said. “If we’re going to be a serious, at-large-level team in November, December, we got to try to get good. But if we can run that race and do it fast, we got a shot.”
The Ramblers were ranked fifth in the conference preseason poll in early October, with veterans Des Watson and Miles Rubin receiving individual honors. Watson was named a first-team selection, while Rubin earned a third-team pick and an all-defensive nod.
“Des Watson is on a different race,” Valentine said. “Can he be a leader of a championship team? Can you keep your emotions in check? Can Miles Ruben grow his skill level and contribute to winning at an even higher rate? Can he lead the bigs because he’s the only returning big that’s back? Can he lead that group every day in practice when we’re doing skill work?
“Can our freshmen understand the playbook and how hard we have to play every possession? Can our newcomers understand how we do things here?”
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Six players departed in the offseason. Braden Norris, who scored 17 points in the NIT loss, was a staple of the program. Philip Alston, Dame Adelekun, Greg Dolan, Tom Welch and Patrick Mwamba also left.
But Loyola added eight players: transfers Jalen DeLoach, Justin Moore, Kymany Houinsou and Francis Nwaokorie and freshmen Daniil Glazkov, Seifeldin Hendawy, Jack Turner and Brayden Young.
Watson, who led the team with 12.6 points per game on 40.7% shooting from the field and 38.6% from 3-point range, said the biggest lesson the Ramblers learned after their early exit last season is “start now, don’t start later.”
Without Norris, Watson finds himself, along with guard Sheldon Edwards, in a position to lead a Ramblers team that got younger.
“With younger guys, it might take us a little bit longer to come along with things, be competitive,” he said. “We know that it’s hard, it’s a struggle, but everybody’s going through it. Everybody’s going through the same pain that you’re going through, knees hurt, legs hurt, physically, mentally tired. So I think that’s what we’re learning, and we’re getting better at it every day.”
The Ramblers open the season Monday night against Chicago State at Gentile Arena (7:30 p.m., Marquee).
Loyola will also play in the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu in late December. Other notable nonconference games include Princeton (Nov. 15), South Florida (Dec. 7) and San Francisco (Dec. 15). The Atlantic 10 slate begins Jan. 4 against VCU. The conference tournament begins March 12 in Washington.
