The Nicholls State men and women’s basketball teams are gearing up for the 2005-2006 season with hopes of a Southland Conference basketball title and trip to the NCAA tournament in March. Women’s coach Mark Cook and men’s coach J.P. Piper are returning for their second seasons as head coach for their respective teams.

Cook is coming off an 8-20 regular season, but saw his team earn the eighth seed in last year’s conference tournament. In the first round, his team lost to No. 1 seeded Louisiana-Monroe.

This year’s Lady Colonels roster is dominated by youth with eight freshmen and five sophomores. The only two upper classmen are juniors Jamie Octave and Melissa Blaise

For Cook, he stresses the point of his team getting to know each other on the court.

“They have to know each other’s strengths and weaknesses in order for us to do well,” Cook said. “After they do that it’s easier to work together; we just have to get to that point.”

Two returning starters who received all-SLC honors from last year are Octave and sophomore guard Katherine Plummer. Both were honorable mention selections on last year’s all conference team.

“I expect our all conference people (Octave and Plummer) to be our go to players this season,” Cook said. “They had really good seasons last year, so we expect them to carry us until the younger kids come around.”

Cook also said that he hopes sophomore center Tarin Seely, who got considerable playing time as a freshman, will help guide the younger post players this season.

Shooting and quickness are two attributes that Cook said will help his team, but thinks that getting his younger players experience will hurt the team in some ways.

“Its like buying a new car and you have that new car smell; with our new players we want to get that new car smell off of them and get them rolling as soon as possible.”

Before Conference the schedule is highlighted by many tournaments such as the Southern University Classic in Baton Rouge, Buckeye Classic at Ohio State and Cyclone Classic at Iowa State.

“I think those tournament experiences are good for young teams, because when you go into conference tournament play you’re playing back-to-back nights, so you find out early who can play in those games.” Cook said.

Conference play starts for the Lady Colonels on Jan. 5 when they travel to face Stephen F. Austin, and after last year’s tournament berth the expectations are set higher for this year’s team.

“Of course making the tournament is first, but this year we want to have a higher seed, host a home game and hopefully make some noise by season’s end.”

The Lady Colonels first home game will be Dec. 21 against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Last year the Colonels went 6-21 overall in the season and only won one game in conference play, but this year return one senior and four juniors.

Going into this season Piper believes defense is what he wants to focus on with the start of the season approaching.

“We had trouble stopping people last year, so that’s been a point of emphasis so far this season.” he said.

One of the question marks facing Piper is the same thing that Cook is dealing with when it comes to his team, youth. Although they are returning five upperclassmen, they also have nine freshmen and a sophomore.

“I expect there to be struggles, but there are times where the planets align and we look really well, and then there are times where we struggle to play well together,” Piper said.

With the upperclassmen he has, Piper thinks that his players will be well equipped for the longevity of the season.

“I think we have smart kids that understand the game,” he said. “I think they are very willing to play unselfish and as a team.”

Still, he sees the inexperience as playing a pivotal role in his team’s play.

“For our new kids, you can’t teach in game experience,” Piper said. “The might have to go out there and fail, but it’s my job to protect their confidence.”

The Colonels will start their season with seven road games against the likes of Indiana, LSU, Penn State, Maryland and Ole Miss.

After those games they will have a stretch of four straight home games before they start the conference schedule Jan. 5 at home against SFA.

After finishing last in the conference with a 1-15 record the team has its sights set on making the conference tournament this year.

“Our goal from day one has been to make the conference tournament, I think that’s the next step for our program,” Piper said. “To get in that tournament we need to win five or six games, and then it’s a new season. I believe our team is hungry for that.”

The colonels will start their season on Nov. 18 at Indiana, with their first home game Dec. 17 against Kentucky Christian at South Lafourche High School.