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FGCU basketball teams gear up for new season

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The Eagles are back on for another season in Dunk City.

On Tuesday, both the Florida Gulf Coast University men’s and women’s basketball teams took the court in the Alico arena for their first official practices of the season.

For women’s head coach Karl Smesko, it marks the official start of his 22nd season in Estero.

“We’re putting in some new things, new concepts, so it’s always a little sloppy when you’re doing something new. But overall, I thought it was a good effort. And we’ll come back tomorrow and see if we can get even better,” said Smesko.

The women’s team is coming off of a 29 and five season.

Fifth-year shooter Maddie Antenucci told me the Eagles were eager to get back on the court after last year’s seventh straight Asun title and trip to the NCAA tournament.

“We finally get to compete. It’s been a while. We’ve been focusing on our shot a lot, so now that we’re able to kind of put it all together, it’s just fun to finally compete against each other,” said Antenucci.

The women could barely make it off the court before the men took over.

“Just keep building every day, instead of just focusing on too far into the future, because you could lose yourself doing that; just focus on having a better day than they did the day before and just stacking slowly,” said FGCU fifth-year forward Keeshawn Kellman.

The step-by-step mentality is how third-year head coach Pat Chambers hopes to take the Eagles to the next level following a 14 and 18 24-25 campaign.

“We know what the expectations are, but it’s going to take steps to get there, and I think we’re taking the necessary steps,” said Chambers. “We finished ninth, we finished sixth. Let’s hope we can keep going on that trajectory and continue to improve and get to the top four in this league.”

To get there, the players will all need a coachable mindset.

“Just listen to the coaches what they got to say. Say, ‘Yes, coach.’ and move on. I feel like we got a good group that really wants to be coached, coached hard too and just wants to get better,” guard Dallion Johnson.

The teams have a little more than a month to get better before their first games of the season.

To tip off the season, the men play UNC Greensboro on November 4, and the women host New Jersey Tech on November 17th.

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