The stat line for breakout men's basketball team forward Steve DeLuca '08: 18.4 points and 7.6 rebounds per game and a 55.7 percent field goal percentage. He tallied three United Athletic Association player of the week awards and made first-team all-conference. But the one telling statistic that does not show up in the stat line is zero: the number of times DeLuca's name appeared in my pre-season men's basketball article in November. But by neglecting to mention the soon-to-be Judges star, I can perhaps claim credit for a slight portion of his tremendous success this season. Or so he said.

"I wasn't getting much recognition in the beginning of the year, and people weren't focused on me that much," DeLuca said. "It just motivated me to work hard and prove people wrong."

Another important statistic for DeLuca and the team is 14-11. That was the Judges' record this year, an impressive feat considering the loss of star center Bryan Lambert '05. That was also the Judges' record last year, when Lambert led the team to its first winning season in a decade with 16.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game. Even though that mark was a historic accomplishment, Lambert's incredible individual success far outweighed the otherwise impressive achievements of the team.

Not to lose any ground this season, however, was a major feat.

"We knew that with losing [Lambert] and being so young, [taking a step back] was a possibility," coach Brian Meehan said. "For us to finish exactly where we did last year was a big accomplishment."

Although DeLuca has asserted himself as the new big man on campus, the team will need more consistency next year. Lambert was the UAA scoring leader by his junior year, but his spectacular play alone could not make up for the team's inexperience. Likewise, if the Judges cannot find viable second and third options on offense to supplement DeLuca's arsenal, they should not be surprised to see another 14-11 season.

"I look back at a lot of games where it was a simply a matter of inexperience that cost us," Meehan said. "We paid a little bit of a price because of our youth, but the benefit on the back end is going to be enormous. These guys have played in a lot of tough games, close losses and close wins, and the experience that they gained was invaluable."

The key component for the Judges' to move forward is for one player to look back to his rookie season last year. That year, Florian Rexhepi '08 was the Judges' breakthrough performer, averaging 12.7 points per game as the UAA rookie of the year. This season Rexhepi improved dramatically as a passer and defender, but failed to improve on the raw scoring ability he displayed as a rookie, averaging 11.4 points per game. If he can put his whole game together next season, Rexhepi has a better chance than anyone to become a viables second option for the Judges. If they can add consistent play from centers John Saucier '08 and Steve Hill '08, both of whom missed considerable time with injuries this past year, the team should have the balanced attack they are looking for.

"When you are relying on one guy, you are asking an awful lot and it probably means you are in trouble," Meehan said.

Meehan's knows best, and the Judges can look to their season finale against New York University for proof. Brandeis throttled the Violets 70-46 in that game behind the balanced offensive attack of Joe Coppens '08, Rocco Toppi '08 and Kevin Olson '09, who each had 11 points. As for DeLuca, he notched a season-low six points. The scoring-king's quietest game of the year was the Judges' most dominant performance as a team.

And what if the team can display that kind of balance night in and night out?

"Teams are going to have a really difficult time deciding who they will take chances on," Meehan said.