High Hopes

Men’s basketball looks to break out of the doldrums.

“Expectations are high,” says coach Paul Cormier of the coming season. Last year his squad earned the most victories (14) it has had since the 1998-99 season.

Cormier’s emphasis on team account- ability led to a strong finish last year—includ- ing a 24-point comeback win against Brown. There’s nothing like success to help “change the culture,” he says. It’s been a long time since anyone called the program “relevant,” but that’s what the coach thinks it is now.

Is Cormier any different from the coach he was from 1984 to 1991, when he first led the Big Green? “I’m a little older and wiser,” he says, “and, I hope, more patient.” That comes in handy with players still learning how to win. The schedule tips off at Seton Hall November 13 and features a trip to Stan- ford in December.