Ball State University men's basketball coach Billy Taylor looked refreshed as he sat before the media at Worthen Arena.
"It's exciting to see everybody in the room," Taylor said. "It means the season's really upon us."
Taylor and his team hosted Media Day on Wednesday afternoon, unofficially kicking off the 2009-10 campaign for the Mid-American Conference West Division defending champion Cardinals.
"Our guys have been working very hard for us through the strength and conditioning, individual skill development," Taylor said. "Our guys have really put the time in, and we're seeing some of the results as we've just gotten into these early days of practice."
The Cardinals return six letterwinners from last season's 14-17 team that claimed a share of the MAC West title with Central Michigan University and Western Michigan University, but only one of those players — junior forward Malik Perry — has more than one letter under his belt.
The team is currently looking to fill in the void on the roster left by Anthony Newell, Brandon Lampley, Laron Frazier and Rob Giles — the four seniors from last season's team — and Eric Wormely, who transferred from Ball State in the off-season.
Taylor said that even with the losses, the future looks bright — beginning with this season.
"We're very excited, very encouraged about this year," Taylor said, "[We're] hopeful that we can come out and get off to a good start and have a very promising season."
Taylor mentioned three newcomers in particular that should make an immediate impact on the program.
Senior forward Terrence Watson transferred from the University of Mississippi and sat out last season due to NCAA transfer regulations. He is joined by freshmen guards Jauwan Scaife and Myron Green Jr., in battling for playing time throughout the season, according to Taylor.
"I'm very excited," Scaife, a 2009 graduate of Muncie Central High School, said. "I think that coming in here, people expect me to play because I'm a hometown guy, but I really want to prove that I deserve to play and that I'm putting in the work in practice to be able to do that."
The Cardinals open up their season at 7 p.m. Nov. 13 with a matchup against in-state rival Valparaiso University at Worthen Arena.
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