Oct. 29—This is the most talented team that The Citadel basketball coach Ed Conroy has fielded since his return to the downtown military school four years ago.
The problem for Conroy and the Bulldogs is how does that stack up against the rest of the teams in the Southern Conference?
Conroy isn't ready to make any predictions at this early juncture.
"There's a long way to go between now and March, but I like this group," Conroy said. "We're more talented, we're bigger, stronger and more mature. I think they have a confidence about where we can get to in March and they have a good understanding about how hard they will need to work to get there.
"From day one, this has been a very competitive group. We have some shortcomings, like all teams do, but they want to be coached, they want to be taught and they really care about each other when they take the floor."
If the Bulldogs are going to improve on last year's 11-22 mark, they will do it with almost a completely revamped roster.
The Bulldogs lost their top three scorers from a year ago — Braxton Williams, Christian Moore and Sola Adebisi — but that's not unusual in today's college athletic landscape. With the transfer portal and NIL, most teams around the country are putting an almost entirely new team on the floor each season.
"It's hard, it's something that we've addressed before each season," Conroy said. "Breaking old habits, while you are trying to learn new ones, is really difficult. Give our guys credit because they are working on that every day, just plugging away at it.
"There are so many different ways to play the game and none of them are wrong. The key to it is that you need five guys playing as one and playing the same way."
Keynan Davis and Marcos Gonzales are the only returning players who have logged significant minutes in a Bulldogs uniform.
"Keynan and Marcos have been great about helping all the guys out with our standards and terminology," Conroy said. "They've both had really good preseason camps."
Conroy said the Bulldogs will be a longer, more physical team that can go nine or 10 players deep on any given night.
"We're taller, maybe a little older and we're not afraid to be physical," Conroy said. "We have more depth than we've had in the last couple of years. For us to be competitive and to win games at this level, they are just realizing how competitive they have to be to win games.
"We need the bodies that can do it and we need the depth because it takes so much out of everyone on our roster to win in the Southern Conference."
Two players who know all about winning in the SoCon are guards Chase Cormier and Eddrin Bronson, who played at Wofford and Furman respectively earlier in their careers. Each has won a SoCon title and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
"Their experience, especially in the league, is invaluable," Conroy said. "They know how skilled the Southern Conference is, so they know what it takes to win in this league. They've been great about passing down that knowledge to the younger guys and guys that have not played in the league.
"They know what it's like to win games in Asheville (site of SoCon Tournament) in March. They know what went into winning the tournament and that's really important to me because we've struggled in the tournament."
Tyler Mrus, a grad transfer from BYU, should provide the Bulldogs with a lethal threat from beyond the 3-point arc.
"We've got some guys that can shoot it, and Tyler is definitely one of those guys," Conroy said. "Tyler is one of those guys that we are going to rely on making a make of threes and spread the floor for the rest of the guys."
The addition of Ramel Bethea will give the Bulldogs a presence in the paint. At 29, Bethea, a former military veteran, is the oldest player in Division I basketball this season.
"What people don't realize is that Ramel hasn't played a ton of basketball in his life," Conroy said. "Ramel has been fantastic. He's been awesome to coach and the players have enjoyed having him in the locker room. He's been a sponge and a fast learner."
The Citadel
2025-26 record: 11-22, 7-11 in Southern Conference
Postseason: Southern Conference Tournament (lost in second round to ETSU).
Coach: Ed Conroy (178-268 overall, 15th season; 86-165 at school, 9th season).
Key losses: F Braxton Williams (14.6 ppg., 4.2 rpg); F Christian Moore (11.2 ppg., 3.1 rpg); F Sola Adebisi (10.1 ppg, 5.8 rpg).
Key returnees: G Keynan Davis (4.8 ppg., 1.8 rpg); G Marcos Gonzales (4.4 ppg., 1.6 rpg).
Top newcomers: G Chase Cormier (7.1 ppg., 1.0 rpg, Iona/Wofford); G Eddrin Bronson (5.5 ppg., 1.7 rpg, Furman); F Tyler Mrus (2.1 ppg, 1.1 rpg, BYU).
Key games: Nov. 16 at Clemson; Dec. 21 at North Carolina; Jan. 13 Furman.
2026-27 Schedule
November
2 — at Loyola-Chicago, 8 p.m.; 6 — Erskine, 7 p.m.; 10 — Virginia-Lynchburg, 7 p.m.; 14 — at North Florida, 2 p.m.; 16 — at Clemson, 7 p.m.; 20 — S.C. State, 7 p.m.; 25 — USC Upstate, 7 p.m.; 28 — at High Point, 2 p.m.
December
1 — at Charleston Southern, 7 p.m.; 5 — at Western Carolina, 1 p.m.; 9 — at Georgia Tech, 7 p.m.; 16 — Toccoa Falls, 7 p.m.; 19 — Tennessee Tech, 1 p.m.; 21 — at North Carolina, 8 p.m.; 30 — at UNC Greensboro, 7 p.m.
January
2 — Chattanooga, 1 p.m.; 6 — Wofford, 7 p.m.; 9 — Samford, 5 p.m.; 13 — Furman, 7 p.m.; 16 — at VMI, 10 a.m.; 18 — ETSU, 7 p.m.; 21 — at Wofford, 6 p.m.; 10 — Samford, 1 p.m.; 27 — at Furman, 6:30 p.m.; 30 — at Mercer, 2 p.m.
February
3 — UNC Greensboro, 7 p.m.; 6 — at Tennessee Tech, 5 p.m.; 10 — Western Carolina, 7 p.m.; 13 — at Chattanooga, 2 p.m.; 20 — VMI, 1 p.m.; 24 — at ETSU, 7 p.m.; 27 — Mercer, 1 p.m.
March
5-8 — Southern Conference Tournament.
Reach Andrew Miller at 843-937-5599. Follow him on Twitter @APMILLER_PandC
