The UIndy men’s basketball team will start their season playing against the Parkside Rangers in Kentucky, according to UIndy Athletics. The game is set to be played Nov. 8 at 5:45 p.m. according to UIndy Athletics. The team is ranked the highest they have ever been in the NABC Preseason Division II Coaches Poll, according to UIndy Athletics. The team is currently ranked number five, according to the article.
Head Coach Paul Corsaro has been with the team for four years now, and he said the theme for the year was going to be living in the moment. His goal for the team, he said, is to make it further in the postseason, but also not dwelling on the past.
“If we focus on getting better daily and being in the present moment,” Corsaro said. “Not focused on the past, not looking at the future, just, you know, being focused on the present day, each and every day. I think we have a shot when that time comes to do that.”
According to Corsaro, most of their summer was spent focused on their foreign trip in which they traveled to Canada in August. The team played Dalhousie University, Acadia University and the Nova Scotia All-Stars, according to UIndy Athletics. Corsaro said the trip was beneficial to the team chemistry and giving them an opportunity to play together.
Corsaro said that although the team did graduate some key players, they brought in new athletes as well. Instead of focusing on what went wrong last year, Corsaro said he is focused on what could go right this year.
“We have different opponents and I tell our players last year no longer matters that has no bearing on how this season is gonna go,” Corsaro said. “We need to create our own destiny and, you know, we’re zero and zero right now. We need to go out there and do something.”
Corsaro, while now entering his fourth season at the helm, is excited to watch the guys he has been coaching since their freshman year. He said one of his favorite parts of coaching is seeing the men he interacts with daily grow not only as athletes, but also as human beings.
“The favorite part is definitely the relationships I grow with my players and, you know, helping them develop and grow as men seeing their maturation from the time they get here to the time they leave.” Corsaro said.
One of these players he has been coaching since the beginning is Jesse Bingham. Bingham is a senior guard from Indianapolis who is ranked 25th in the program for points, with a total of 1,216 during his collegiate career, according to UIndy Athletics. Bingham said the goal for the team this year is to finish with a championship, whether conference or national. He said the team has grown offensively and worked to become an overall better team.
“I feel like we did a real job with our recruitment class,” Said Bingham. “And so I feel like that just with the more weapons you have I feel like we’re able to stretch people out more than we did, than we did last year.”
According to Bingham, when the team is hopeful that with more weapons on offense, it will make their opponents have a harder time locking down their attack. To go along with the attack, Bingham says that defense has always been a major focus for the team and something they pride themselves on.
“We try our best to get so caught up on offense because our identity is on the defensive end,” Bingham said. “Sometimes when on the offensive end, when things aren’t working, right? We always tip our hats on the defensive end knowing that we’re not gonna let a team score on us.”
Students should be on the lookout for game day promotions, according to Corsaro. Corsaro said that students should reach out if there is anything in particular they would like to see at their games. His goal, he said, is to make it the best environment possible.
“And I wanna make this a fun atmosphere where, you know, students look forward to coming to our games,” Corsaro said. “I want to be an entertaining venue for them, a social experience for them and I love having the students at the game.”
