Roles and wants

Ten a.m. on a Sunday can be a good time to think about who you are and what you might be able to be.

At tip in Charleston against Penn State there maybe were a couple hundred people watching this year’s Wildcats trying to figure that out.

At around 20-4 or so I left my seat and walked up to the concourse at Carolina First and saw a woman up there wearing a Davidson Elite 8 sweatshirt. The calendar says it wasn’t that long ago. It was and it wasn’t.

The legacy of that incredible achievement is many things, and different things to different people, and not yet fixed. The legacy is still very much being determined.

For this year’s team, and particularly for this year’s seniors, the legacy of the Elite 8 is extraordinary expectations. Expectations are good, or can be, but that doesn't mean they’re always fair.

Every player on this team has a new role. That includes Bryant, Will and Steve. Their roles now are as new to them as college ball in general is to JP, Jake and Nik. They’re trying, trying their hardest, maybe trying too hard, to adjust to those new roles.

It remains to be seen whether Bryant, Will and Steve are trying to be things they can’t be. That’s only four real games. But it’s a statement of fact that they're trying to be things they haven’t been.

“I think the biggest part is being expected to be a leader,” Bryant told me after the game outside the locker room. “Right now I’m making mistakes. How can we expect our freshmen to do things the right way if I’m not doing things the right way?”

This could be a long season?

No. This is a long season. They all are.

That’s the point.