NEW HAVEN - Despite the enormous challenge that loomed ahead, the uncertainty of the journey and the lack of preparation time he was afforded, University of New Haven men's basketball coach Ted Hotaling was giddy about the opportunity in front of him.
The Chargers' transition into Division I basketball last season happened so quickly that it could have been overwhelming, but instead of feeling pressure during his 16th season as New Haven's head coach, Hotaling felt rejuvenated about the fulfillment he was providing his players.
"I woke up giggling every morning," he said. "The challenge of playing Division I was our selling point to kids we recruited. We told them it was going to be very meaningful. We were a start-up. With a start-up, you wake up every morning trying to solve hard problems together.
"We are still a start-up. We are just in Year 2 of our start-up, but we love the momentum we have. We are excited to get to work every day, excited the direction the university is headed right now, and we really like the guys we have in our program."
By most accounts, the first season in Division I was a resounding success. The Chargers opened a new era by playing at six-time national champion UConn. They hosted Penn State at the Hazell Center in front of a capacity crowd of 1,087. They beat Stonehill in their very first game played in the Northeast Conference.
New Haven finished last season 14-17 despite also playing Vanderbilt, Seton Hall and Boston College during its non-conference schedule. Then the Chargers not only went 9-9 in the NEC to finish fifth in the 10-team conference, but in back-to-back February games they played second-place Central Connecticut to within five points and beat first-place LIU by three.
"Getting through the non-league schedule, it was going to be important to be in a good physical, mental and emotional state of mind," Hotaling said. "We had really good, resilient kids that never disappointed and were tough minded.
"Internally, we were very pleased with our performance. Obviously, you always want more, but considering we started May 1 in Division I and built a roster of 11 kids in a month and a half, I think the results were very good."
He is hopeful that with more time to construct this year's roster the Chargers will be more talented, but whether or not that translates into an even better record is uncertain.
The landscape of college basketball with such dramatic roster turnover from year to year, especially at the lower level of Division I, makes it difficult to predict how good your own team will be, let alone your conference opponents.
"LIU, which won the league last year, has an entirely different roster," Hotaling said. "Central Connecticut has an entirely different roster. So, where we fit in that we won't start to see until November and December.
"We have more depth at each position this year. We had a whole year to evaluate and recruit, and I think we have done a good job of bringing in good players, and maybe strength in numbers may be our calling card rather than having one good player."
The Chargers lost their top three scorers from last season - the only three who averaged in double figures - to the transfer portal. The top returning scorer is 6-foot-3 graduate guard Kheni Briggs, who averaged 6.9 points and had the second-most steals on the team with 29.
Hotaling said he has been excited to see the dramatic improvement in some of the freshmen that the team retained from last year's team. Guys like 6-3 guard Aidan Losiewicz, 6-7 forward Teshaun Steele, 6-8 center Tristan Burth and 6-8 forward Traore Zoumana emerged as really good players this spring and summer.
Hotaling also brought in seven new players, and in the preseason transfers 6-3 sophomore guard Tim Walker (9.6 ppg) from Butler Community Coller and 6-5 junior wing Andy Ramirez (18.6 ppg, 8.1 rpg) and from Richard Bland Junior College stood out.
He also likes the offensive game of 6-1 senior guard Danny Young Jr. who led Salt Lake Community College in scoring last season at 15.6 ppg and the defensive toughness of 6-2 junior guard Faquir Mosley who had 53 steals and 101 assists for Monroe University.
"We have improved our depth, because we have had a little more time to build the roster," Hotaling said. "We have more good players. I don't know if we have an all-league player yet, but hopefully someone will emerge on the roster.
"We have really good kids who know what they signed up for, and they are excited about the challenge of playing Division I basketball. With kids having five years to play now, more kids are looking for opportunities to be on the right trajectory. There is no better chance to do that and prove yourself than at our level and at the University of New Haven."
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This article originally published at Why New Haven men's basketball coach 'woke up giggling every morning' last season.