Augusta, Ga. - As the calendar switches to October, that means the official start of the college basketball season with teams allowed to practice as full units for the first time. For Dip Metress and the Augusta men, it's Christmas morning as the energy level has changed. The individual and small group workouts are over, now they put on the practice uniform and crank it up.

"Everything changes. The intensity is ramped up and the attention to detail definitely gets ramped up," said Dip Metress.



The Jaguars have seven returning players, all sophomores, and they are joined by eight new faces will once again be one of the youngest teams in the country. While they may be young, Metress indicated those returning have gotten better over the summer and he's ready to see what they can do when it's game time. Not just better on the court, but some have stepped up to be leaders. Every team needs those type of players and for the Jags, they are starting to come to the forefront. 

"They're helping us, more so in the sense of leadership wise. They want to play well," said Metress. "The eight new guys are kind of looking to them and are still competing against each other." 

With several different countries being represented again, it's an eclectic group of player and Metress admits it will take a bit for them to all get on the same page. 

Right now Metress is seeing some inconsistencies, but that's to be expected. Now is the time to build and mold a team and that will take a bit of time.

"It's odd. We haven't put our top group together yet and probably won't for a while because we really don't know them yet. I haven't been displeased with anybody, There are days when they don't do well, there are days when they aren't in shape, but for the most part they are trying," said Metress. 

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