As a freshman, he hit the winning shot to lead Lehigh to the NCAA Tournament. As a sophomore, he became the team’s top scorer. As a junior, he was first team All-League and took 411 shots. What can Jose Olivero do to cap off his Patriot League career? Score 20 points per game? Take 500 shots? It’s a hard concept to understand, but with the graduation of Joe Knight and Mitch Gilfillan, Olivero is expected to take even more of the offensive load for Lehigh year. He’ll have a couple of experienced sidekicks and a freshman point guard to help out, but Lehigh’s success will largely rest on Olivero. The Mountain Hawks find themselves a bit of an underdog in the Patriot League, with every expert picking them below Holy Cross and Bucknell, but they have the most consistently excellent scorer in the league, and that alone will take them a long way.

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Bucknell crushed Mansfield 86-43 at Sojka Pavilion Saturday night. Rob Thomas led the team with 15 points off the bench. Chris McNaughton scored 10 points, and his backup Josh Linthicum added 11 points and 6 rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench. Abe Badmus scored just 1 point and didn’t attempt a field goal all game.

“Déjà Vu” hits movie theatres in a couple of weeks, but Colgate supporters are getting a sneak preview of it as they try to size up their team. A year ago today, most Colgate previews said the Raiders had a chance to sneak into the top of the league, and cited their deep backcourt and power forward Kendall Chones as the reasons why. After a 4-10 league record last year, you can paste last year’s preview and it would still hold true. Colgate returns a slew of experienced players and seems full of potential. But can they get past the disappointment of last season and play up to their potential? More than any other team in the Patriot League, the Raiders are going to be a mystery until they begin playing.

The winds of change are blowing in Annapolis. Navy has won just 19 games since Don DeVoe’s departure two years ago, but Billy Lange returns a young, experienced group of players, all of whom will be back next year except for one little-used backup. Navy is undersized and without a real point guard, but they make up for it with a series of dangerous wing players. The Midshipmen match up poorly on paper with most of the Patriot League, but every team will be on the lookout for ‘one of those nights’ where the Navy backcourt catches fire. Lange’s squad won’t claim that many victories this season, but they will make a lot of teams sweat as the Middies lay the groundwork for a return to respectability.