Everyone remembers last year’s men’s basketball team’s magnificent run to the Final Four, but now they are asked a tough question — can they do it again?

Last year’s team made the Final Four for the first time in 48 years. To put that in perspective, the last time they made it that far, Lyndon B. Johnson was president.

But repeating success is hard to do.

Head coach Gregg Marshall is a huge part of the team’s success. Fourteen seniors graduated after the last three seasons. Marshall still managed to lead the Shocker basketball program to its most successful three-year-period ever.

The players all agree with the “Marshall Plan,” which he thinks begins on the practice court.

“Practice has been going very well, some days look better than others, and we had a deep run in the NCAA Tournament last year and we have a core group of guys and we are just trying to build on that,” Marshall said during a press conference last month. .

The team is not going to have it easy this year. There will be a lot of tough competition, even without their arch conference rival, Creighton.

Playing the likes of Western Kentucky, Tennessee, Davidson and St. Louis, it isn’t going to be a walk in the park for the Shockers to get back to the NCAA tournament.

The good news for Shocker fans is that the coaching staff brought in new talent. Names to know include transfers Darius Carter, Jr., forward and cousin to NBA player LeBron James, and center Kadeem Coleby. An athletic recruiting class led by forward Shaquille Morris and guard Ria’n Holland is truly going to be a special bunch.

According to ESPN.com, the Shockers are the No. 1 mid-major team in the country going into this season. ESPN has the Shockers at No. 16 in the country in the pre-season polls.

“I haven’t really looked at the polls,” guard Fred VanVleet said. “I just go out and am the best player I can be, and hopefully, that will lead to a good season and [the team] winning.”

The Shockers won’t be the team that flies under the radar the entire season like last season in pursuit of a Final Four appearance. This team is built on experience in the front court and athleticism in the back court, which will, in turn, lead to seeing this team late into March and early into April, once again.