If you were in attendance at FGCU’s season-opening practice on Monday, you could sense the infectious energy emanating from Alico Arena. 

Monday’s practice marked the start of the fourth season of the Pat Chambers era, looking to make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017. It won’t be easy, especially with such a young group that’s comprised of eight underclassmen.

“Keep getting better, right?” Chambers said of the trajectory. “I thought we did a nice job from year one to year three… with 13 wins last year. And there’s still unknowns. We’ve got a youthful group. We have four freshmen, and four sophomores. The sophomores need to take a big jump.

“And we’ve got older guys like Mike Duax. Rahmir Barno’s a dinosaur. He stayed three years. Who does that nowadays? We’re blessed to have Rahmir, Rory (Stewart), and Mike back.”

FGCU is aiming to continue to build on its improvements within conference play, going from 7 wins, to 8, to 13 last season under Chambers. Last year saw the Eagles finish 19-15, finishing third in the conference behind Lipscomb and North Alabama before a quarterfinal exit against Queens in the ASUN Tournament.

Replacing Keeshawn Kellman will be a tall task, quite literally. The 6-foot-11 All-ASUN First Team selection last year averaged 13.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 1.1 blocks, forcing teams to pack the middle which opened up opportunities outside for Dallion Johnson, Stewart, and Jevin Muniz. That trio was responsible for the lionshare of FGCU’s production beyond the arc, combining for 72.9 percent of the team’s treys.

FGCU’s been no stranger to taking 3-point shots, totaling 2,301 in Chambers’ first three seasons. The Eagles made 815 of them, ultimately shooting 35.4 percent as a team during that span.

It’s something Chambers wants to change up a bit, hoping to get inside a bit more and draw fouls. The Eagles averaged 9.3 free throws per game last year, the lowest clip under Chambers and the second-lowest mark in program history behind the 2019-20 season.

“I don’t think we can be so three-point driven,” Chambers said. “We need to have a little bit of balance. Last year, we never got to the free throw line. I still don’t know how that’s possible with Keeshawn being the five, but it’s possible.”

Chambers expects the offense will shift to Barno, who’s been able to give the Eagles a spark at the point with his quick pace. FGCU wants to play faster this year and have Barno on the floor for considerable minutes, especially coming off hand surgery that saw him miss nine games. The pace was forced to slow down as a result of Barno’s injury, putting a lot of pressure on the Eagles to execute half-court sets.

“Losing Keeshawn is a big loss,” Chambers said. “That’s a first team all league guy. We structured our offense around him. Now, we’re learning how to play a different style. We want Rahmir to be a bit more of a focal point and the guards to be a little bit more of a focal point.

“… We were playing some of our best basketball when (Barno) went down. And we held on, I think we went 5-4 without him. But without him, we really lost our pace. We lost our tempo, we lost our push, we became a halfcourt offensive team with Jev, Dal, Keeshawn, and Zavien. That’s what we had to do to be competitive.”

With Barno leading a group of guards alongside fellow Philadelphian Darren Williams and Jack Reddick, that trio is expected to see an uptick on the whole in minutes. Williams and Reddick closely mirrored each other last season, with 208 and 191 minutes, respectively. 

“We’ve been getting after it since the spring,” Barno said. “It’s been really good to see those two guys grow and not only learn from me but learn from each other as well. Seeing them guys work from last year to this year has been something very exciting. I can see the potential in not only them, but myself as well.”

With the way the nonconference is set up, the Eagles will be busy, taking on strong opponents in Illinois, Chattanooga, Samford, Oral Roberts, and Kennesaw State along with in-state rival FAU. It’s something the Eagles did much of last year as well, taking on UNC-Greensboro, TCU, Drake, FAU, and LSU among others.

“It’s still a very difficult noncon with Kennesaw State, Illinois, and UCF,” Chambers said. “Chattanooga just won a championship on the road at Sanford. We know Lennie (Acuff) well. The ASUN/SoCon Challenge is gonna be tough. The MTE here is gonna be tough. I look at it, why did we do it again? Because it prepares us for conference.

“Look at our women’s volleyball team. They’re doing the same thing. They’re playing one heck of a schedule. (Thais Baziquetto-Allen’s) doing a great job. I think that gets us ready. We’re tested, and that’s what you want: to be battle-tested in the noncon so you can be ready for the conference and playing on the road specifically.”

Follow Southwest Florida Sports Reporter Alex Martin on X: @NP_AlexMartin. For the best sports coverage in Southwest Florida, follow @newspresssports and @ndnprepzone on Instagram.