Two very different acts are preparing to take center stage this year in Chick Evans Theater.

Standing stage right are the Molinari Players. On stage left, it’s Albright and Associates. And NIU fans will get to watch these two casts as a pair of unique plots unfold during the 1989-90 season.

Molinari’s Players, under the direction of first-year head coach Jim Molinari, will be somewhat of a mystery. Meanwhile, women’s coach Jane Albright and her cast should be set for a season of drama.

In truth, there is very little pressure on the men’s team because no one knows what to expect from it. The Huskies are coming off an 11-17 season that ended with the firing of three-year coach Jim Rosborough. Now it’s time for Molinari, the former DePaul assistant, to produce. Armed with a three-year contract, he will try to direct the Huskies to a more thrilling performance than last year.

The leading men in Molinari’s show are five juniors—Donnell Thomas, Stacy Arrington, Andrew Wells, Donald Whiteside and Antwon Harmon. This quintet, a major portion of Rosborough’s first recuiting class, is no longer a group of inexperienced “pups”, as they were entering last season. And after going 19-37 in their first two years, Thomas-and-friends undoubtedly would like to start dishing out the lumps instead of receiving them.

But no one knows how this group will respond to the tutelage of Molinari. Already, Molinari has at least one factor working against him—a dwindling squad. Two players—Marcus Coty and Jeff Delaney—have flunked out, and two more—Bobby Smith and Mike Hidden—are academically ineligible for the fall semester.

Molinari has been conservative (with good reason) about setting goals and making preseason predictions. He’d like to see the team improve and win more games, but I’m guessing his real goal is to prepare for next year. Obviously, NIU’s post-season possibilities are slim this season, the team’s last as a independent. (It would take about 25 wins to land them in a tourney.)

However, the Association of Mid-Continent Universities and its automatic NCAA Tournament bid await in 1990-91. And the Huskies will most likely spend this year tuning up for that opening night with the AMCU.

Things are a little different on the women’s side of the court. Albright’s crew is established and has its goals firmly in place. The Huskies are looking upon last year’s 23-7 effort as a dress rehearsal for this year’s run at the NCAA Tournament.

Entering her sixth year, Albright returns an experienced squad that believes it has something to prove. After tying with DePaul—the Huskies’ most bitter rival—for the North Star Conference regular-season crown last season, NIU fell to the Blue Demons in the championship game of the NSC Tournament. This year though, the Huskies expect no less than a conference title and a berth to the NCAA’s.

In the starring role will be All-America center candidate Carol Owens. Owens will make an encore of her junior season, during which she led the team with 21.1 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. Forward Tammy Hinchee and guards Kris Weis and Denise Dove are also back.

But the key to this team will be the return of sharp-shooting guard Lisa Foss. The junior injured her knee in the final game of the 1987-88 season and was red-shirted last year after her recovery did not progress as expected. Foss’s scoring will be a boost and her leadership will be a necessity.

There is a lack of depth, but the Huskies had the same problem last year and still posted a .767 winning percentage. Depth or not, the season promises to be an interesting one.

So, the stage is set. The players are about ready. And opening night is only a month away at a fieldhouse near you.