Best regular season team in Towson history?

[Chris Datres 424]

To be fair to the preseason prognosticators, no one, including the most fervent of Towson fans, could have guessed how this team would perform.  The returning players didn’t really have a track record that would predict their dramatic improvement.  The transfers had some pedigree but chemistry and makeup can’t be predicted by preseason practices.  But I think if anyone watched the Albany game, you knew immediately that this team was different than any Skerry team.  They started at a B to B+ level and continually improved.  As a result, what was said - or in our case, not said - in the preseason has drastically changed. 

[Tiger93 299]

I think this is probably our best D-1 team in school history. I actually think the teams from the 1990s should be mentioned in this conversation as well. I started watching Towson hoops in 1993 as a freshman. I would put the 1993-94 team in the hunt for second-best Towson team I have watched in my time of following Tiger basketball. They did not have the talent of the 2013-14 team and probably most of our CAA rosters, but they were far and away the best team in the Big South that year, beat St. John's in the Preseason NIT and played a hellacious schedule against Maryland (Joe Smith's freshman year), UMass (with Marcus Camby and Lou Rowe'; first ever College Hoops game on ESPN2) and UConn (Donyell Marshall and Ray Allen). Losing to Coppin State (a good version) and Loyola probably puts a dent in their argument. They also went 15-3 in conference play (like we hopefully end up this year). 

Maybe I am being nostalgic, but I would put the level of both Scooter Alexander and Ralph Blalock that year as top-10 players in the time I have watched Towson hoops. John James was very skinny, but extremely long and at times smooth in the frontcourt. Stevie Thomas could be a load down low, but also had a decent outside shooting touch. Michael Keyes was a steady and smart freshman point guard (I didn't realize he was third-team All-Conference that year until I looked), and Quinton Moody was a small but fast change-of-pace guard. DeRon Robinson is still probably one of the most athletic talents we have had, but very raw at that point (and probably throughout his brief time with the program). Matt Campbell was a solid player as well. Much like Devin Boyd and Chuck Lightening, I think  Scooter Alexander and Ralph Blalock could have been good in any era of Towson basketball. The 1993-94 team was a team of weird but effective players

I am probably overselling this team, but I was much more surprised when we were knocked out by Liberty in the conference semifinals that year than when William & Mary did it to the 2013-14 team. 

Back to this year's team. Nobody is as talented as Benimon, and the 2013-14 starting five on paper could give this team a run for their money from a talent standpoint, but this year's team just plays off each other and allows everyone to fill their roles. Probably because they are a much better shooting team overall. This team feels like they can win in different ways. It felt like the 2013-14 had to win the same way. Actually when you look back and see the roster of Benimon, Guthrie, Burwell, Damas, McGlynn, TPR and Davis as a freshman it is pretty deep and solid roster. The only problem is McGlynn was the only consistent shooter and that was all he could do. 

I think winning the conference crown would be the cherry on top of this argument if they can pull it out tonight. I also think the NET ranking is probably the biggest reason I would put this team as the best. Monmouth blew us out for about the first 10-15 minutes of the game, but other than that this year's team has either won or been competitive with everyone they have faced.