This Year in Wrenball: The Balls

William & Mary's basketball team has won 95 games over the past five seasons, most in the CAA. The Tribe has 54 league victories over that span, also tops in the conference. They've reached two CAA tournament finals, had a CAA Player of the Year, Defensive Player of the Year, and multiple all-conference selections, and played in a couple of the most epic games in league tournament history.

And still, after all that, they haven't made the NCAA Tournament.

In an effort to reverse this not-really-curse and change the Tribe's narrative, the school has taken drastic steps. A team that's known for its finesse, its shooting touch, its high-octane offense, and its extremely indifferent approach to defense needed something.

Maybe, according the the school's decision-makers, the Tribe needed some balls. And during Homecoming this year, in the newly-christened Tribe Plaza near Zable Stadium, some balls we got.

That link is a typically W&M student response to something we should celebrate as whimsical and unique. While we make any number of other juvenile phallus-and-testes-related jokes.

As for the action on the court, your Tribe is undefeated during the Era of the Big Balls, as this shall come to be known. W&M reversed last season's dismal opening result, topping High Point, 79-69, in Williamsburg. Junior wing Justin Pierce led four W&M players in double-digits with 23 points, grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds. Matt Milon added 19 points on just nine shots, while freshman wing L.J. Owens got all 14 of his points in the first half, showing off a slashing, athletic game. Junior post Nathan Knight was in foul trouble for most of the game, finishing with 11 points and 6 boards in a modest season opener.

One game doesn't a season make, but we knew this team would be different from last year's elite offensive side. W&M was the best shooting team in the nation in 2017-18, and one of the best ever. Tony Shaver's team was the first team in NCAA history to shoot 50% from the field, 40% from the three-point line, and 80% from the free throw stripe. Connor Burchfield led the nation in three-point percentage. He's gone, along with David Cohn, the floor general who drove that efficient offense.

Against High Point, W&M shot 49/36/69. Small sample size, to be sure. And despite not scoring as efficiently, the Tribe did hold High Point down on the defensive end. Luke Loewe, Cohn's primary replacement, isn't as good on offense, but he's tough and strong on defense. His maturation will be one of the stories of the season.

Knight got a lot of ink over the offseason, and he's begun to draw attention from NBA scouts. Averaging 18.5 points on 57.8% shooting as a sophomore tends to do that. And he'll be an extremely important factor for the Tribe.

But for my money, Justin Pierce might wind up as W&M's best player. The 6'7" wing averaged 14.7 points and a team-high 8.6 rebounds last season, and he improved measurably as the season progressed. Wednesday's 23/14 was a statement of intent. I think Pierce could be a future CAA Player of the Year. And on nights when both Pierce and Knight are playing well, W&M will be a very difficult out.

In the end, Tony Shaver will field another very competitive squad. The preseason 4th place pick in the league has the potential to win the CAA Tournament, assuming a couple of the highly-touted freshmen (in addition to Owens, 6'9" Mekhel Harvey, 6'5" Thornton Scott, and 6'4" Chase Audige all got double-digit minutes against High Point, though only Harvey scored) contribute off the bench.

We've got big balls. May they be bouncing in March.