CHENEY, Wash. — Wednesday night in Cheney was Eagle Madnest, a clever play on words, and an upbeat collection of skills challenges that gave fans their first look at the 2024-2025 men's, women's and wheelchair basketball teams.
Both the men's and women's teams lost a lot of talent in the offseason, and it's left big shoes to fill as both teams hope to defend a Big Sky title.
On the men's side, new head coach Dan Monson brings a lot of experience to the bench, but instead of transforming the program, he's trying to capitalize on what the Eagles do best.
"I wanted to be the one to adjust," Monson said. "The guys that were here, I didn't want them to have to make changes, because what they're doing here is working. They've had some really good teams from really good seasons here of late. I think four out of the five years they've been champions of some sort, and to me, I just want to be a part of that. I want to be a part of winning. Obviously, I've had a career where I've won, but sustaining it is the most difficult part of it. We're trying to, even though coach Riley is gone, even though five starters are gone, we're still defending Big Sky champions, and we're going to go out and fight and try to defend that."
The women lost a lot of high-caliber scoring, but coach Joddie Gleason urged people to stop focusing on the past and pay attention to the team they have on the court right now.
"The experience that we have, our returning core group went to the NCAA tournament and won two Big Sky championships, and they were very integral parts to that, and so they know what it takes," Gleason said. "So, they come out, they show up every single day, they're working extremely hard on the court, in the weight room, getting up extra shots, and then just wrapping their arms around our new players and recognizing how important that piece is to keep them confident because it's hard. It's hard to go to college, the game is bigger, stronger, faster for our freshmen and we know that they're going to play and we're going to need them to play, and so these guys have just done an exceptional job at getting them ready."
Both teams officially kick off the regular season November 4th.