Jim Gazzolo column: Teams have shared traits but their own personalities

Published 12:00 pm Thursday, December 18, 2025

It is hard not to compare one team to the other, especially when they are separated by just two seasons, but it’s also not fair to either.

For the second time in three years, the Cowboys have started a basketball season 10-2 under a first-year head coach.

What was unthinkable three years ago has become reality. McNeese State is a mid-major program making noise on the national level.

On Monday night, this version of McNeese, with two players from the team that started it all two years ago, played its best half of the season. Down by 10 points late in the first half, the Cowboys rallied to outscore a solid Houston Christian club by 20 over the last 20 minutes, 5 seconds.

They went on to win 78-68.

Two years ago it was a shock when the Cowboys won 10 of their first 12. This season, it almost seems expected.

Could we really have gotten that spoiled that quickly?

Bill Armstrong knew that when he took over as head coach for his good friend Will Wade, the shoes he was filling would be big. It was one of the reasons he took the job, not to build a program but to keep building it better.

Fans, though, have to remember this is a different team. It is better athletically, bigger, stronger, but still different.

That first group will be special because everything was new. Last year will be remembered for registering the program’s first NCAA Tournament win.

This team will have to find its way to leave a mark.

Armstrong is quick to remind folks that eight of the 10 players seeing the most time are newcomers.

“Every time we do something, it is the first for this team,” he said.

The same can be said for him and his staff, who have never coached together. That puts into perspective what this team has already accomplished.

On Monday night, the Cowboys checked off the box of their first Southland Conference road win. It might not seem like much, but getting up for games in small venues that resemble high schools and playing in front of 800 people can be tough.

It takes a game or two to understand how to bring your own energy into a game, especially when the other guys are out to get you every night.

Only the die-hard McNeese fans remember when 800 folks at their home games was considered a good crowd.

D.J. Richards and Javohn Garcia, the two returning players who saw big minutes the last two seasons, understand this. They have talked about how different things are this season.

“We are a different team, a better team in a lot of ways,” Richards has said. “Once we come together and figure it all out, we are going to be tough.”

As they prepare to take a holiday break before traveling to their toughest game of the season against No. 2 Michigan, we should be reminded that this team is only getting started.

There are 19 regular-season games ahead, 18 of those against conference foes. Then there is the postseason, where a long run is planned.

During that time, this group will find its own mark to leave on the school.

We will see how many firsts it will claim as its own.

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Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese State athletics for the American Press. Email him at jimgazzolo@yahoo.com