NORFOLK, Virginia - Take any of the 345 D-I teams and I don't think you pluck a group whose expectations need to be curbed from the outside looking in more than Norfolk State.Sounds odd, sure, but consider: The Spartans defeated Missouri in that memorable 15-over-2 game last March. It provided one of the seminal moments of the 2012 tournament; we'll talk about Lehigh and Norfolk State sharing a day, two 15 seeds beating the beasts, years from now.
In reality, NSU was a good-not-great team. It plays 20 times against that Missouri team, it probably only wins once. And now, the team loses four starters. The most notable was the most loveable, Kyle O'Quinn, who was drafted by the Orlando Magic in June.
So now the team's got a boatload of new players and guys who have to adapt and somehow try to improve on what became the greatest year in Norfolk State history. It will be tough. But at least the guys had a head start, as the team traveled to the Bahamas last month and went undefeated playing against competition that, to be honest, would barely qualify as MEAC-worthy (and that's coming from the NSU coaching staff, not me).
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