SIUE Basketball Has NCAA Tournament Dreams Under Barone

EDWARDSVILLE, IL — When coach Brian Barone arrived in Edwardsville in 2019, he knew it would take a lot of work to get the Cougars right on the basketball court.

But now in his fourth season, the Cougars are more relevant than ever.

“It takes a few years to take over a program and establish something,” says Barone. “And then throw in some unique years that the whole country has gone through. No excuses. Simple facts. We were thinking about last year and this year about where things really start to change… Through the culture, through the talent, through the ability of the players, and really just putting the system in. There was a race in the summer to make us really believe in what we can do and to make us look forward to this team.”

17 games into the season, SIUE is 12-5, leading the OVC.

Barone and his team will stick to the standard “one game at a time” mentality, but there’s no denying that they have no dreams of being the team to take SIUE to the first-ever NCAA tournament.

“We talk 100 percent about one game at a time, but there are expectations we place on ourselves every day through our work ethic, believing in ourselves and each other,” Barone said. “I wish I had a DeLorean that could take me back to the days when I was chopping down nets on ladders and coaching in the NCAA Tournament. But to be interesting, you have to talk about it, and you have to talk about what you want to do to be very successful.

“It’s definitely one game at a time, but I’d be lying if I said we weren’t talking about it because that’s the goal. That’s one of our goals and that’s what you want out there. ) list,” said guard Rayshawn Taylor.

So far, those tournament dreams are alive and well in 2023.

SIUE isn’t just at the top of OVC. They pulled him off one of the biggest marvels in recent area hoop history with a 69–67 win over SLU on December 21st. It was his first time in 40 years that the Cougars beat the Bills on the basketball court.

And the victory brought emotion to everyone on the SIUE team.

“I immediately hugged my wife just because she was there. It’s been a rough year. I lost my mom a few months ago, but it felt like nonstop,” Barone said. Told. “Two days after burying her, I literally had a media day. And these guys behind me asked where the emotion came from. Until I had to go back to the hospital in Chicago.” I know I have a few hours.

One of the main reasons SIUE is famous is Collinsville native point guard Ray’Sean Taylor.

After suffering two torn ACLs in his career, Taylor is back again and is currently 8th in scoring and 10th in 3-pointers in the OVC.

“It is remarkable that he has picked himself up to contribute at a high level. His family is off the charts, his medical team, his physical therapy, it is a team effort. “I wouldn’t be having this conversation if it wasn’t bringing it up every day,” Barone said of Taylor’s recovery. Given the character of such a young man, I wouldn’t have thought anything different.”

“It took a lot of effort to be strong-willed, to know where I could be, to have people around me to help me, and to be there for the team,” said Hanzuki.

And for those probably tuning in to watch SIUE for the first time this season, Coach Barone wants people to know what’s at the heart of his team.

“We care about each other. We want to get our family involved in basketball. We don’t want to take our family away from basketball,” Barone said. “We come here every day to be together and accept anyone who wants to be a part of that togetherness.

“The atmosphere is good. As Coach B said, we talk about family in this program, and that’s the biggest thing. We’re all family,” said Taylor.