We are back bouncing in Butova Gymnasium officially as of this month, as both the Men’s and Women’s Basketball teams at AIC are in for some intense competition way before any March Madness.

In the ladies locker room – one of the two seniors on the squad – Imani Stepney hopes to lead by example. With seven games this month alone, the lady Yellow Jackets have to gear up and get a young eager group of female ballers ready.

Pep talks pushing for “participation, attentiveness and energy” is what the captain guard uses to ready the troops.

The other veteran voice on the team, Senior Tanisha Moyer says: “this is my second year playing here at AIC, and this year with a younger squad we are focusing on the little things and building faith in each other as a team.”

I attended practice and conversed with the coaching staff. Everyone seems to be on the same page.

Both Head Coach Kristen Hutchinson (an AIC legend in her own right and reigning record- holder in Women’s Soccer) and her Assistant Coach Josephine McLane foresee the same future.

“We are an energetic crew,” Hutchinson tells me.

They are going to need it all, as a super-schedule and huge holiday-time tournament lurks ahead. Assistant Coach McLane aides these women to improve their play by “taking it day by day” with each player, knowing they’ll need a “deep rotation” to mirror the success the program is used to.

Leading scorer, sophomore # 12 Dana Watts is returning down low, and a young bull from Harlem, N.Y. by the name of Oshinofa “Nof” Lakoju has been forming her game on the practice courts late after practice. The underclassmen are prepping to pull their weight learning the program this year.

Meanwhile, lean and mean, the Yellow Jacket Men’s basketball came to run!

Coached by Andy Burkholder and Chris Oroszko, I watched a very interesting and selfless game of team ball from our Men’s team on November 5 against Concordia of Canada.

The first-half was equally fought from both clubs – early long-range success kept Concordia afloat. With a half-time score of 33-28 in favor of Concordia, Coach Burkholder and Oroszko screams from the bench for their guys to “clean it up” after almost double digit turnover numbers.

Leadership from Senior big man Max Risch crashing the boards, Tahlib Swan and Bruce Spruell bearing the weight of scoring, and on-court decisions from their pair of floor generals Juwan Moody and Jayvon Pitts-Young checked back in after half-time with a new agenda.

Be sure to check out the AIC basketball teams throughout the fall and winter!