BENNINGTON, Vt. - The swing pass was lazy, and Joa Claircius was already gathering speed the other way as she reached up and snatched the ball out of the air. To say that she led the ensuing fast break would be an understatement, the truth being that there wasn't a defender within 15 feet of her at any point down the floor.

Yet the Southern Vermont College freshman point guard hesitated as she reached the opposite end of the court, casting quick glances to either side in hopes of finding an open teammate. The other nine members of the drill finally caught up, and afterward Claircius
shrugged to head coach Ben Kozik that in a game situation, she would have gone all the way to the rim herself.

And whereas Kozik the football coach (a position he has held at three colleges including Syracuse University) might have ripped off his headset and gone ballistic, Kozik the basketball coach drew a deep breath and used the situation to impart some roundball wisdom.

"I told her that the difference between good players and great players is that the great ones make everyone around them better," Kozik said. "[Claircius] has a good sense of the floor, but she is still working on developing as a leader. This team needs her to be a true floor general."

#22 Joa Claircius

That single snapshot from practice spoke volumes about the challenges the Mountaineers will face this season. Whereas last year's 2-22 squad had only four rostered players at a typical practice, Kozik and his staff have recruited a handful of talented newcomers to fuel a
turnaround for SVC - and those charged with executing that transition are at once excited for the opportunity and aware of how hard it will be.

"The team's record wasn't that good last year, but this year we have a chance to build the program up," Claircius said.

For the handful of carryovers from last year's team, that sort of a roundball renaissance is right on time.

"Being able to see the growth of the team is a big plus," sophomore forward Tiarra Hall said. "If it had stayed like it was last year, it wouldn't be fun like it is now - it would hurt."

The Mountaineers now have enough bodies to actually run a practice, something that Kozik and assistant coach Mike Quinn are taking advantage of to the fullest. Kozik's gridiron experience manifests itself in his coaching style on the court, and dynamic with Quinn -
who essentially fills the offensive/defensive coordinator roles to Kozik's head coaching persona.

"Coach Quinn knows the game, and is always helping us out with things like spacing, and how we're supposed to move," said freshman Alyssa Davis, a native of West Burke who played her high school ball at Lyndon. "Coach [Kozik] is the motivator - when he talks to you, you really want to go out and prove him right. He makes you want to do everything to the best of your potential."

Kozik is expecting nothing but the best from Davis, whom he sees as likely having a key role with the Mountaineers this season. He describes her as "tough as nails," a description bolstered in Wednesday's practice when the two-guard hyper-extended her left elbow
but later retook the court wearing an Allen Iverson-style sleeve.

"[Davis] is going to come in here and get significant minutes," Kozik said. "If we ask her to give us 40 (minutes) a game, that's what she's going to do."

Together with Claircius and fellow newcomer Tasha Smith, Davis forms a nucleus that Kozik sees as being important to this year's Mountaineers but even bigger down the road.

"Those three are the kinds of players you build a program around," Kozik said.

Smith is listed at 5-foot-9, and together with Hall (5-foot-7) provides the closest semblance of a traditional frontcourt that SVC will likely muster this season. That will necessitate an up-tempo style, something that has the team's rookie point guard licking her chops.

"I've always played point guard, and it's always been on smaller teams," Claircius said. "I'm used to that kind of fast-paced basketball, so I know what I have to do to play it."

Davis sees the fast-break blueprint as being not only necessary for the smallish mountaineers, but also a possible weapon to blow taller squads right off the court.

"We may not have the height, but we have a lot of speed on this team," Davis said. "Taller teams will want to keep the game in the half-court against us, but if we can get steals and get out in transition, it will force them to run with us - and the bigger you are, the slower you are."

Kozik remains cautiously optimistic, saying that he would love to see his team adapt a constant up-tempo style "like the 1960's Celtics or modern-day Phoenix Suns." But he is content to focus on more specific facets of the game first. The hope is that by seizing opportunities at a more fundamental level, the Mountaineers can gradually ratchet
up their play as the season progresses.

"You have to worry about the things you can control," Kozik said. "We can't control how tall we are, but we can control our conditioning and other little things that can make the difference in a close game - like making our free throws and reducing our turnovers."

Both of those areas were addressed in Wednesday's practice, as Kozik chastised his players for making overhand "baseball passes" instead of chest passes and the team took myriad foul shots under the coaches' watchful eyes. When Kozik finally brought his team together
and broke off practice with a  collective shout of "focus," the squad's new leader walked away from the huddle with a look in her eye that perfectly personified that idea.

"This is an opportunity for me," Claircius said. "I plan on playing here for four years, and bringing a championship banner to this gym."

Head Coach: Benjamin Kozik (Syracuse University)