Dunkin Dogs ready to earn their hype in 2024-25

Talvin Hester doesn’t want the Louisiana Tech men’s basketball team buying its own hype going into the 2024-25 season.

He’s never one to take preseason chatter as seriously as others, including the Bulldogs being preseason favorite to win Conference USA. It’s not to say he doesn’t expect Tech to be good this season. That’s baked in. The talent is there to make the preseason expectation a reality.

But the last thing the third-year head coach wants for his team going into tonight’s season opener against LSU-Alexandria, and really the entire season, is to believe they can waver in their work ethic and take last season’s breakthrough as reason to coast by.

After all, Hester knows this collection of players hasn’t proven anything together to earn the title as best team in CUSA. Isaiah Crawford is gone to the NBA. Tahlik Chavez and Dravon Mangum are off to pro ball overseas. Like any season, new faces step in to fill the lost production.

But if those pieces come together and big-name returners take another step forward, the Bulldogs could be knocking on the door of some unprecedented success: wining a conference title and make the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1991. The possibility is tantalizing, but the Bulldogs want to take this journey one step at a time this go around, especially after a 22-win season ended in the first round of the CUSA tournament.

“We don’t take those expectations in the locker room with us. We know it’s going to be a little bit tougher with a target on our back. But we’re OK there,” Hester said. “We haven’t slacked in our work ethic. We’ve turned it up if anything. We want to go in with a clear head and clear mind and just maximize who we are and try to reach our potential and reach our ceiling. If we can do that, I think we’ll be OK.”

Hester won’t apologize for building the Bulldogs methodically like he has over his first two seasons, unafraid to set a high standard – even if perceived stars have hit the exit. Tech’s grind-it-out, defensive-first identity isn’t for everyone. But it sure helped the Bulldogs become one of the best programs in the country last season on the defensive end and give Tech depth that it hasn’t seen in some time.

LA Tech ranked 1st in CUSA in field goal percentage defense (38.9%) and scoring defense (64.5 ppg) – both top 20 nationally. The Bulldogs also were top 25 nationally in rebound margin (+6) and blocks per game (5.1). To get back to that level, and potentially even better, to break past the postseason hump, Hester wants his team to take preseason expectations as motivation, not a mission accomplished.

“I would rather it be pressure than entitlement,” Hester said of preseason expectations. “Pressure, you have to step up to the pressure and hold yourself accountable for living up to it. I don’t really buy into it at the end of the day. I told Isaiah Crawford last year when he got Preseason Player of the Year that I appreciate you and you earned it, but I want Postseason Player of the Year because that means we’ve done something with it. He did that. I told our team the same thing. To be honest, this is an accomplishment that’s honoring last year’s team. This isn’t an accomplishment you guys have earned as a team. A lot of you guys weren’t here. This isn’t an accomplishment that you got picked preseason. It’s just something they see we’ve got a couple returners and think they can lead the way. We have a chip on our shoulder. We’re not going to walk into anybody’s house this year and be overlooked. I promise I’m giving my best in practice every day to make sure that we put the work in and earn everything we get.”

Daniel Batcho’s next step

Leading the pack for the Bulldogs in 2024-25 is Daniel Batcho, the big man from the Paris, France, with big expectations of his own to meet this winter. He’s the unquestioned engine that could determine just how far Tech goes this season.

Batcho, standing nearly 7 feet tall with a presence around the basket that plays bigger, comes into this season as the CUSA Preseason Player of the Year after he averaged 15.2 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 2.4 blocks a season ago with a CUSA-high 59% field goal percentage and a CUSA-best 11 double-doubles. In 28 games last season, Batcho finished top 10 nationally in blocks per game and finished as a First Team All-CUSA selection.

So, how does ‘Batcho Man’ bring more this season?

“Consistency,” Hester said of Batcho. “I tell him all the time, ‘Your dreams are right there in reach. But your best ability has to be dependability. We have to be able to depend on you every night to give effort. The ball’s not going to go in every night. But if you can give consistent effort every night, you’ll be one of the best players not only in this league but in America. And that’s what we gotta work with him.”

Batcho is also a preseason All-CUSA selection for this season, with fellow coaches well aware of his ability to take over a game. Batcho averaged 14.9 ppg in league play last season at a 58% shooting clip to go with 38 total blocks and 133 rebounds.

But he didn’t come back for his final season of eligibility to win an individual honor. He knows the Bulldogs can get to where people think they can go. And he knows he’s got to take another step to help them get there.

“I’ve been working on being in better conditioning, play longer, working on my two-point shot, listening to the coaches more, being a better leader, make sure I make everybody comfortable,” Batcho said. “Coaches always tell us, ‘Preseason trophies don’t mean nothing. It’s all about postseason trophies. They always tell us, ‘What we did last year, that was last year. This year, we haven’t done anything. We have everything to prove.’”

New guard

The big man needs talent around him and Hester reloaded the guard spot this season with transfer additions like Amaree Abram from Georgia Tech, and Al Green from San Diego Community College, along with proven returners Sean Newman and Jordan Crawford.

Losing top three-point shooter Tahlik Chavez, along with do-it-all forward/ ball-handler like a guard in star Isaiah Crawford, leaves Tech with a chance to flip its season one way or another depending on how the guard spot turns out.

Abram, a junior, played in just 10 games last season and averaged 4.7 ppg and 1.5 assists. Hester is hopeful he struck California gold once again in the addition of Green, who averaged 13.6 ppg, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.1 steals per game last season at San Diego CC.

But without a doubt, the leader of the guard group, if not the team, is Newman – a redshirt junior with tremendous court awareness to match a downhill style that is expected to be even stronger this season.

Newman averaged 7.2 ppg and 5.2 assists last season, leading CUSA in total assists (146) along the way.

Hester sees another leap in Newman’s game and is optimistic the guard room overall can push each other like Chavez and Newman did a season ago.

“I think the biggest development that I feel like we’ve seen so far is Sean Newman has taken another step,” Hester said. “I used to fight and argue last year about how good he was going to be before the season and how he was going to lead us. He did a great job for a guy in his first year in Division I. we’re looking for more from him this year. He’s gotten stronger, he’s put on weight, he’s taken his offseason very seriously. And then you add pieces to him.

“We have to get guys that compete like that to make each other better and that’s kind of what we’re aiming for with that guard group.”

LA Tech opens the 2024-25 season Monday against LSU-Alexandria. Tip-off is set for 6:30 p.m. at the Thomas Assembly Center.