By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
With preseason practice officially underway, William & Mary's basketball teams are working to get back on the winning track.
 
In 2019-20, Dane Fischer's men and Ed Swanson's women each won 21 games and were among the top three seeds in the Colonial Athletic Association tournament. In last year's pandemic-shortened season, however, each slipped below .500.
 
For W&M fans, that's the bad news. The good news is that Fischer and Swanson return more players than they lost and recruited well. Which should translate to deeper benches.
 
"The competition we'll have for playing time is a great thing to have," Fisher said. "It's going to come down to who can separate themselves as we get closer to scrimmages and games. Of course, throughout the season, that can ebb and flow.
 
"There are a lot of factors that will go into what our rotation will actually look like when the season starts and how it evolves as the season progresses. But we definitely have more depth this year than we did last year."
 
Swanson, whose team returns the CAA's third-leading scorer from last season in guard Sydney Wagner, echoes that.
 
"We've improved tremendously on offense," he said. "The roster from top to bottom, I'm really excited about how this team has developed."
 
On the men's side, W&M's lone loss from last season was a big one. Guard Luke Loewe led the Tribe in scoring (16.2), assists (3.2), steals (1.4) and minutes (36.0) per game.
 
The rest of the rotation remains intact led by returning starters Connor Kochera (13.4 ppg, 4.8 rpg), Quinn Blair (11.7, 5.8), Yuri Covington (9.5 ppg, 2.1 apg) and Ben Wight (4.4 ppg, 3.4 rpg). Also back is 6-9 Mehkel Harvey (4.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 2.4 bpg).
 
Kochera, who was named the CAA's Rookie of the Year, is expected carry an even bigger load this season.
 
"We're going to rely on him quite a bit, mainly from a leadership standpoint and certainly from a production standpoint," Fischer said. "He had a terrific freshman year and I would anticipate he'll have a similar impact from a production standpoint."
 
In addition to juniors Miguel Ayesa and Thatcher Stone and sophomore Jake Milkereit, the Tribe has four newcomers who Fischer expects to push for immediate playing time.
 
Tyler Rice is a natural point guard who can score, and Julian Lewis can play multiple positions at 6-foot-6. Langdon Hatton, who comes in at 6-10 and 230 pounds, is a big body who can shoot. And 6-7 transfer Brandon Carroll brings versatility and athleticism.
 
"You've got guys who can bring different skill sets and different positions to the team," Fischer said. "Like all new players, especially the younger three, it's the adjustment to college-level basketball and the pace you have to go at. The physicality of the game.
 
"Probably one of the hardest things is that you have to do it every single day. That's part of the process these guys are going through right now."
 
Coming off a 7-10 season, 4-6 in the Colonial Athletic Association, the Tribe men open Nov. 10 at Wake Forest. The home opener is two nights later against American.
 
For the women's team, the return of Wagner (21.3 ppg, 51 3-pointers) is a nice place to start. But the question is, as it was throughout last season, who will emerge as a consistent scorer to support her?
 
Swanson believes Bre Bellamy (6.6 ppg), who played through injuries last season, is ready to take that step. So could Chaniqwa Gilliam (5.8 ppg), who is among the team's fastest players.
 
Immediate help should come from two graduate transfers from the Ivy League — guards Riley Casey and Kate Sramac. Because their conference canceled all games last season, neither has played since the 2019-20 season.
 
Casey, a 5-8 combo guard, averaged 11 points a game in her first two seasons at Columbia. She missed most of her junior year with an injury.
 
Sramac, a 5-8 wing, started her sophomore and junior seasons at Cornell. She averaged 7.9 points, 3.0 assists, and 2.0 steals a game in 2019-20.
 
"The addition of Riley and Kate will help us in a variety of ways," Swanson said.
 
W&M lost its best two post players, Bailey Eichner and Gabby Rogers, to graduation. To fill that void, Swanson expects freshmen Dani McTeer and Madison Magee to be early factors.
 
"Ever since she stepped on campus, Dani has played with great confidence," Swanson said. "She's physical and explosive. She's challenging for a lot of playing time at the beginning of the year, if not starting.
 
"Madison Magee has impressed me. She's a 6-foot-2 post with great hands and really skilled. She's trying to catch up a little bit with the speed and strength of Division I basketball, but she's somebody who will be in the mix pretty quickly."
 
Also back is 6-2 senior Emma Krause, who tripled her scoring average to 4.2 points a game last season. She had the second-highest shooting percentage from behind the 3-point arc on the team.
 
Swanson also expects sophomores Rebekah Frisby-Smith and Lanni Brown to step into bigger roles. Frisby-Smith and Brown, along with classmates Kayla Beckwith and Caitlin Wingertzahn, adjusted to their freshman season without benefit of summer workouts.
 
The Tribe women, who finished 6-7 and 3-5, begin their season Nov. 11 at Coppin State. Their first home game is Nov. 19 against George Mason.