Dec. 23, 2003

Charleston, SC - The universal excuse used by every college coach is that his team is young.

No kidding, coach, all college teams are young. They're made up of college students.

But we might actually give Pat Dennis a pass this year because his Citadel Bulldog team just might be the youngest team in college basketball.

With seven freshmen, five sophomores, a junior and two seniors, this club could share one shaving razor for an entire season and not wear out the blade.

But that's what you get after you graduate nine seniors over the last two seasons and have to rebuild your program from the nursery up. And you know it's going to be a tough job because four of those former seniors (Alan Puckett, Travis Cantrell, Cliff Washburn and Mike Josephs) were all 1,000-point scorers.

Maybe that's why these young puppies were outscored 451-326 in their first six losses this season, including a 32-point loss to South Carolina and a 50-point loss at Tennessee. Now you can add a 23-point loss to Georgetown. In this business, it's called a learning experience. And it looks like these young Bulldogs should gain a lot of experience before this season is over.

OVER-SCHEDULED

Facing one of their toughest early-season schedules in years, this team is learning on the run.

"The biggest thing about having such a young team is having to teach, teach, teach and re-teach," Dennis said of his young team. "You just have to simplify things on both ends of the floor."

And while every Citadel team is up against a tough challenge, one this young really has to find its way in the wilderness.

"I probably overestimated what they could do early on," Dennis said. "But I think we've started finding out what we can and cannot do. We're just a team that will always have control the tempo, play stingy defense and grind it out. But it's a process. Some pick it up quickly and some it just takes more time."

But trying to teach switching defenses and 30 offensive sets to a bunch of freshmen while they are being hammered by such formidable foes as USC, Tennessee and Georgetown is asking a lot of these guys. And they haven't even begun to think about the tough Southern Conference schedule that lies ahead.

"I think I way over-scheduled this year," Dennis said in an understatement.

RAINING THREES

Against Georgetown on Monday night, the young Bulldogs were out-manned once again and could only watch helplessly as the Hoyas drained a season-high 11 3-pointers en route to an 85-62 victory.

With the Corps of Cadets already dismissed for the holidays, McAlister Fieldhouse lacked some intensity but a crowd of 2,431 got to see what a team like Georgetown looks like up close and personal.

"We managed to maintain that youthful enthusiasm," Dennis said of his team as it fell to 3-7. "But we don't want to fall into the lull that losing is OK. We have to remember that we are playing the game to win."

But even Dennis admits there's something special about coaching a younger team compared to a veteran squad.

"Coaching a bunch of seniors is more fun because you win more," he said. "But this is more of a challenge and as a coach, you have to enjoy that part of it."

Ken Burger can be reached at 937-5598.