Kept up with the game online tonight and had a few thoughts, especially given the first two years of the C.B. era.

Firstly, as I look back on the 18-19 season, the Campbell game was kind of a tone setter, which is kind of difficult to think about with it being Game 1. UNCW had a good Campbell team, with one of the nation's best players, on the ropes, but couldn't come out with a win. Close but no cigar kind of became a running theme for much of the season.

Fast forward to last night and to me Campbell is kind of the "actual" season-opener, if you will. J&W was a guaranteed win, UNC was a paycheck. The Camels were the first even matchup of the year. Last year, UNCW loses this game if it plays out in similar fashion. I'm liking the growth from the returners, notably Estime, Toews and Sims, plus the new guys are much further along than I expected, especially the freshmen (I thought Phillips and Dodd would have an immediate impact, but Boggs has been a huge surprise. Didn't know he'd be as good as he's been)

Overall, this team is certainly deeper, more skilled and has much more potential than the previous two with C.B. Getting Gadsden back would take things up another notch, for sure. They won't get through nonconference without some bumps, but there's certainly a chance to be much more competitive and balanced going forward.

Davidson is going to be a big test, especially after losing to Charlotte. They're going to need some guys to step up (solid efforts from Okaruru and Skaggs from beyond the arc would be a good place to start), but overall the direction is trending up.