NCDS: Harris Adler, Asst. Coach - La Salle

(Photo courtesy of La Salle University Athletics Communications)

College basketball affords student athletes a great opportunity to travel and see different places of the world.  In my seven years at La Salle we have travelled to Canada, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands.  This month we travelled to Cancun and participated in the Triple Crown Sports Cancun Challenge.  Unlike the rest of the world when we travel to these sunny locations, we are there on a business trip.  After our great homecoming victory against Morgan State to bring our record to 3-1, the guys got in the lockerroom and when they huddled up they knew we were headed to Cancun in 18 hours.  When the team broke the huddle in the lockerroom, they all said "business trip". We were focused and ready for our next challenge to take on Providence in Cancun. 

With a 48 hour time window between our arrival in Cancun and our game, the kids were able to enjoy themselves in the all-inclusive resort.  After practice some of the guys went swimming with the dolphins while others relaxed by the pool and spa, but the focus remained on winning the next game.  After a quick start, we jumped out on Providence and led for the entire game, getting a much deserved Big East win.  After the game again, everyone was focused on playing  Missouri in the championship.  We were tied at halftime and it was a one point game until about 11 minutes to go and the #8 ranked team finally extended their lead and won the championship.  Aaric Murray and Ruben Guillandeaux were named to the all tournament team, but the team was down after the game as they take it to heart when they lose,  as they expect to win everytime out.  The Cancun Challenge was a great trip for the team and it allowed us to travel to a different country, experience a different culture and play some great competition on national TV.  These experiences will last a lifetime for me and I know the team was very grateful for the opportunity to travel to Cancun.

As we traveled back to school on Thanksgiving, I realized how thankful we were to have just traveled 9,000 miles in 8 days, after playing Baylor on Nov. 16th. We were off to a 4-2 start(with our 2 losses coming to top 10 teams) and the team was feeling positive  moving in the right direction. There have been a lot of positives to start the season, as Aaric Murray is off to a great start by averaging 17 points and 9 rebounds per game, along with being named Big 5 player of the week.  His maturity and leadership on the court has grown so much over the past year, that Aaric has become a more complete and dominant player.  Also off to a fast start has been our freshman point guard Tyreek Duren. Already being named as Atlantic 10 rookie of the week once this year, Tyreek has only played seven college basketball games but is already averaging five assists per game and being a great floor leader.

With November in the rear view mirror and December quickly upon us, this month will go along way to building our team resume with  some great competition ahead of us.  With five home games in the month of December, we have to continue to establish our home court  advantage as we did in November going 4-0 at home.  Our students have been out in great numbers to support the team and we  need continued support from all our fans for these big home games in December. 

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving with their families and continues to have a safe, enjoyable holiday season!

Go Explorers!!