The annual Mid-Continent Conference Basketball Media Day has taken its course, and it offered a little bit of everything.

A warm day in the Windy City. The induction of a program known as the Penguins. And the team picked to finish first will be led by a sophomore and a junior.

First things first, of course, and picked to finish on top of the heap is a squad of cagers who will be led by a sophomore and a junior. The University of Illinois-Chicago boasts one of the youngest and certainly most talented groups of dedicated basketball teams.

The Flames, runner-up to the conference crown last season, include two preseason all-conference team members—Kenny Williams, the third-year thrill, and Sherell Ford, who hasn’t experienced one bead of sweat on the hardwood (Prop 48 in first season).

UIC head coach Bob Hallberg commented on his expected outcome: “It’s kind of strange to be selected No. 1. The only player that’s returning with double digits (in scoring average) is Williams. But Sherell Ford can play inside and outside and will be very exciting to watch play.”

While the Flames look to rise and be the best, Youngstown State looks to just join the rest.

“We’re very excited to be part of the Mid-Continent Conference after four years being independent,” admitted Penguins head coach John Stroia. “We’re very anxious to develop good rivalries.”

And, of course, one of those grudges will stem from Brian Hammel’s NIU Huskies, who will attempt to improve on an 11-17 campaign.

“Jane (NIU women’s head coach Albright-Dieterle) mentioned that she’s just happy to have a lot of her best players back,” Hammel eluded. “Well, Hammel’s up here just happy to have anybody back.”

He did note, though, that the Huskies lifted the number of scholarship athletes from six to 14. The Huskies placed fifth in the preseason poll, just eight points behind the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and 12 ahead of Eastern Illinois, last year’s conference champions.