On Thursday afternoon Joe Mihalich was out and about on the last day of recruiting,

"trying to find the next Bilal Benn," but today the Niagara University coach gets to work with

the original as the Purple Eagles and the rest of the nation's college basketball programs

begin practice.

None of the Big 4 schools have scheduled time-honored "Midnight Madness" festivities to

kick off the season, but there's excitement nonetheless.

The University at Buffalo returns four starters from a 21-12 team that lost to Akron for

the Mid-American Conference Tournament championship. Led by senior guard Rodney Pierce

(Hutch-Tech), the Bulls are primed for another run and seem to having everything except a

nonleague schedule, which has yet to be released.

Canisius finished 11-20 last season and has lost at least 20 games six times since the

1999-2000 season. With five starters returning, including senior guard Frank Turner, that

number of losses shouldn't happen this time.

St. Bonaventure hit rock bottom in 2004-05 with a chilling 2-26 mark but the program

continues to grow under third-year coach Mark Schmidt who led the Bonnies to a 15-15 record

last year. Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year Andrew Nicholson leads a group that returns four

starters.

But no team in the Big 4 has bigger expectations than Niagara. The Purple Eagles welcome

back four starters from a 26-9 team that lost to Rhode Island in the first round of the

National Invitation Tournament. In order to reach their goal the Purple Eagles more than

likely have to beat two-time reigning champion Siena on its home court in Albany in the Metro

Atlantic Athletic Conference Tournament final.

"The message is we didn't do exactly what we wanted to do and that's go to the NCAA

Tournament," Mihalich said. "Those four seniors that we have understand that better than the

coaches. They not only understand the message but they remind the whole team every time."

Mihalich is convinced Niagara has the talent, hunger and unity it takes to win the MAAC

championship. But after the loss of Benson Egemonye, how Mihalich handles the center position

may be his biggest challenge.

"Last year we had big concerns about rebounding and interior defense," he said. "We're at

the same place right now, we have the same concerns."

Mihalich could go with a starting lineup of Tyrone Lewis, Rob Garrison and Anthony Nelson

at guard, the do-everything Benn at forward and 6-foot-5 gravity cheater Kashief Edwards in

the middle and play small ball.

"You can look at the glass half full or half empty," Mihalich said. "We might have trouble

guarding the post with Kashief, but I think that big post man is going to have trouble chasing

Kashief Edwards around."

Or he could go with one of two 6-8 freshmen -- Scooter Gillette from Philadelphia or Eric

Williams from Hope, B.C. Gillette is athletic and could develop into a good shot-blocker,

while Williams is a banger. On Tuesday, Mihalich dismissed senior center Kamau Gordon; and

while the Purple Eagles will at times miss his bulk and experience in the middle,he didn't

figure heavily in the team's plans.

In the meantime, there's no reason to believe Niagara can't win big by going small. Time

will tell. But Mihalich is encouraged because the players worked hard in the off-season and

everyone believes they are good enough to challenge Siena for MAAC supremacy.

"We're proud of what we did last season but we didn't get to the NCAA Tournament," he said.

"That's the goal of 341 teams."

That dream begins today.