 "Photo: Michel Bafondoko / The Mirror")
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Whoever wrote that now-famous quote obviously did not have that saying in mind when they saw the 2009-2010 Augustana men's basketball team, but without a doubt, that quote applies to this year's team.
While the men lost valuable members from last year's record-setting team, the Vikings also has fresh players coming from record-setting pasts. What is even more remarkable is the fact that only one of the players comes from Sioux Falls. The rest of the new team members come from every corner of the country.
Hailing from Sioux Falls is freshman Brett Anderson. Standing at 6 feet 3 inches tall, Anderson will be playing the forward position and looks forward to valuable playing time in the season ahead. Anderson was a standout at Sioux Falls Lincoln High School and helped to lead both his high school football and basketball teams to state championships.
Anderson said that even though he is from Sioux Falls, he still looks forward to the experience that will come from playing at Augustana.
''I came to Augustana for a variety of reasons,'' Anderson said. ''I was really impressed with the school atmosphere, the reputation of the team, and I was offered a great scholarship to play here at Augustana''.
The rest of the freshmen making up this new part of the team are from miles away. Coming to Sioux Falls from 310 miles away is Brennan Olson, a freshman from Luck, Wisc.
After helping lead his team to a 20-2 record and a conference championship in high school, Olson brings an impressive shooting record of 22.6 points and 11.3 rebounds per game to a team looking to maintain its already powerful offense and defensive efforts on the court.
Coming to Augustana from a smaller high school, Olson was impressed with the atmosphere the team created in the first few days of practice.
''It really is a lot of fun to be with the team,'' Olson said. ''The guys are great, the coaches are great and I'm looking forward to see how we play in the season ahead.''
Coming to Augustana from even farther away is freshman Kenny Brown, a standout at Farmington Hills Harrison High School in Michigan. Brown, a two-year starter, letter winner and team captain at Harrison, brings to the team a shooting record of 28.3 points and 6.3 rebounds per game. He also holds the record of scoring the most points in the 2008-2009 season for the entire state of Michigan, as well as two scoring records at his high school.
Harrison, who has enjoyed practice so far, said that he is really looking forward to being able to get into the season and see how the team does.
''It looks like we are going to have a really good season when we finally get started,'' Harrison said. ''Our team has a lot of good, physical players who are true athletes who can play and play well.''
Rounding out the list of new recruits, and traveling the farthest to play for coach Tom Billeter is freshman Cameron McCaffrey, a former standout at Century High School in Portland, Ore. McCaffrey, who stands at 6 feet 1 inch, led his team to a second-place finish at the Oregon State high school championship his senior year, and brings to the Vikings an impressive record of 733 points in his senior season - the twelfth highest scoring player in Oregon state history.
Overall, the freshmen expect a great season, and are adjusting well to the new surroundings of Augustana. With new changes, comes new experiences, and the team said that so far the first month of school has been good.
''Augustana is a much smaller school than I went to for high school,'' McCaffrey said. ''It's definitely a sort of culture shock to come to a place like Augustana and see things so much smaller than what I'm used to. Everything has been great so far, and I'm looking forward to the new season''.
8 comments