On paper, College of Charleston has one of the most talented teams in the Coastal Athletic Association.
Despite returning just two players from a lineup that won 24 games a season ago, the Cougars were among the preseason favorites to capture a third CAA title in the last four years.
Even CofC coach Chris Mack was bullish on the Cougars.
“We’ve got a good team, a talented team, but we won’t know what kind of team we are until adversity hits,” Mack said.
Adversity did hit, in a major way before the season even started. Less than 48 hours before the Cougars’ season opener against Tusculum, preseason All-CAA picks Colby Duggan and Mister Dean went down with injuries.
College of Charleston’s Jlynn Counter (82) leads the Cougars in scoring, averaging 14.4 points a game.
Gavin McIntyre/Staff
Duggan, a preseason All-CAA first team pick, was going to be a cornerstone for the Cougars (7-6) both offensively and defensively. A 6-7 stretch power forward who brings toughness and grit to the lineup along with a lethal scoring touch.
Duggan, who missed all of Charleston’s non-conference schedule, is set to make his season debut Monday night in the Cougars’ CAA opener against Drexel (6-7) at TD Arena.
The 6-6 Dean, the reigning Big South freshman of the year, is a freakish athlete with unbridled energy and creative skill.
After missing the season opener, Dean eventually made it back to the court but played in only three games, suffering a season-ending knee injury against UMass in the Paradise Jam tournament.
With Duggan and Dean out of the lineup, Mack had to scramble to fill the voids.
“We had so many moving parts at the beginning of the season,” Mack said. “Injuries are a part of the game, and no one was going to feel sorry for us or want to hear about that.
“Guys were playing out of position, so you’re pushing guys to play positions and roles that you hadn’t anticipated. We just had to figure out how to make do with what we had.”