Big, deep, strong, tough, hard-working.

A few thoughts: Watch out for Kyle Kelm. Wow, that kid has re-made himself. In the sessions I saw JJ was working hard in the post, and more effectively than I have seen before. Matt Tiby is bright, big, strong and competitive. He brings a mentality that I think is spreading to the other bigs. The Prahls are going to end up being very good players for us in time. Austin Arians is really playing hard, and attacking the rim more than he ever did last year. Cody Wichmann will need to work his way up to the speed of the game defensively, but brother can he shoot the ball. With so much additional depth at guard Jordan Aaron is playing much more within himself, and in that role he's very dangerous. Steve McWhorter is a better shooter than I expected. Bobo brings that energy and toughness that we really missed at guard most of last year. And if I didn't mention anyone it's not because they weren't playing hard.

One of the staff told me they really liked what our new strength coach has done, and if you want proof just look at Kyle or, and I mean this sincerely, Q. These guys attacked it in the off-season.

All of this is practice, of course, but this team bears no resemblance to last year's. I am extremely excited to see where these guys can take it. If any of the other HL teams have marked us down as two Ws on their schedule, good luck to them -- they'll need it.

Go to the scrimmage next week. I think after the downer of last season you are going to be amazed by the look of this team.