Southern University basketball team expecting uphill climb in 2012

BATON ROUGE, Louisiana  -  Last year, men’s basketball coach Roman Banks brought the excitement back to Southern, engineering a 13-win turnaround that saw the 17-14 Jaguars finish second in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

That means an older, wiser group will go even further in Year 2 under Banks, right?

It’s too early to say “wrong,” but after a ton of offseason comings and goings, it will certainly be an uphill climb.

Of the 12 players on last season’s roster, seven are gone, and Banks will have to re-teach his system to seven newcomers in what’s essentially a second first-go-round.

“This is going to be like a brand-new year because we have so many new guys and so many first-year players,” Banks said. “We have to take baby steps just like we did last year.”

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