There are a number of big name schools on tap for the Nicholls men’s basketball team this season, starting with Vanderbilt this Saturday in Nashville. Also on the slate for the Colonels are road games against Michigan, Nebraska and Tulane, a school Nicholls beat for the first time in history two years ago.
“Those games against the power conferences are all exciting games,” head coach J. P. Piper said. “It is a great test for us. These are schools with great tradition that are used to winning.”
Along with those trips, the Colonels will travel to Utah State University to participate in the World Vision Challenge Tournament near the end of December. It will be a unique experience for the players, who will get to see the mountains and snow of Utah for Christmas, but sightseeing is not the team’s priority.
“We are not tourists,” Piper said. “We are there to win a game. We have a job to do. We enter every one of those games with the expectation that we want to win.”
The Colonels had no goal of creating an easy schedule, according to Piper. Starting the season against an SEC team like Vanderbilt, who went 25-11 last season, gives the team a chance to measure themselves and their level of play.
“What Vanderbilt will do is show us what some of our weaknesses are,” Piper said. “They are going to expose weaknesses. We will learn a lot about ourselves, but only if we go out and compete to the highest level that we can.”
Piper has preached defense to his team during preseason practice. Last year, the team struggled defending the three point line, allowing over seven three-pointers per game, and in transition, according to Piper, so the team is working to make defense a priority.
With all but one player returning from last year’s squad, the added experience could help cure some the Colonels’ defensive woes.
“Last year we were young, and we were overwhelmed a lot of nights,” Piper said. “These guys have a better understanding of what it is like to compete in a Division I basketball game, so I think we can expect more from them.”
Senior forward Fred Hunter was named second-team all-conference in the preseason coach’s poll. Before sitting out last season to rehab an injury, Hunter posted 15.8 points and 6.3 rebounds in the 2010-2011 season.  Carrying the distinction into his final season, Hunter is looking to make the most of the opportunity to stand out and lead the team.
“I have to lead by example,” Hunter said. “This is my last year, so it has to be my best one.”
Even with the recognition, the Colonels are not putting any added pressure on their senior.
“We talk to Fred about just being Fred,” Piper said. “We do not put any pressure on him to do anything he is not capable of doing. You get to this point doing what you do.”
In the same preseason poll, the Colonels were picked to finish eighth, right on the fringe of conference tournament contention, a fair ranking that the Colonels will play to prove wrong.
“Based on what we did last year that is probably a fair pick,” Piper said. “I am hopeful that we will finish higher than eighth.”
Piper is confident that the tougher games early in the season will pay dividends when it comes time for conference play and exceeding that eighth seed expectation.
“After what we go through in preconference, there should not be anything that we have not seen,” Piper said.