It seemed too soon for a very good answer.
Donta Watson sat at the press table, water bottle in front of him and red curtain behind him.
Emporia State’s season had just ended with a first-round, 79-66 loss to Southeastern Oklahoma State in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, and the senior was asked to summarize his team’s year.
It turned out Watson didn’t have to search for words to describe his final collegiate season and the Hornets’ surprising run to the NCAAs.
“I think it’s a very successful season for our team,” Watson said. “Coach (David Moe) talked about at the beginning of the season how he didn’t know how many games we’re going to win or how many games we’re going to lose. What you do know about is the friendships you make, the memories you have, the work ethic you put in and how hard you play. That’s what our team did this season. We played hard.
“We played to the best of our abilities when nobody gave us a chance. For me, it’s been the best season of basketball I’ve ever had.”
Watson’s words might have told the story best for the 2006-07 ESU men’s basketball team — a squad picked to finish ninth out of the 10-program MIAA.
The Hornets won their first 16 games, went 21-8 overall and made the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history.
Not too shabby — even if the end didn’t reflect the successes of the beginning.
“I think the early run was great,” Moe said. “I’m just still disappointed in how we finished, especially the last game. It certainly was an exciting year for us, but we still probably came up short from where we wanted to be in the end.”
ESU still provided fans many reasons to cheer early, building confidence while playing 10 of their first 11 games at home.
The Hornets — minus a few players that caused chemistry problems last season — used a team-first offense and mindset to roll through the nonconference season with an undefeated record.
“I knew we’d gone from a talented team last year,” Moe said, “to a team of guys this year that would work together and believe in each other and do things the right way.”
ESU continued that success in the conference season. The Hornets knocked off No. 15 Fort Hays State, 86-71, in the MIAA opener, and went on to open conference play 7-0.
At the time, ESU climbed all the way to No. 7 in the national rankings with an unblemished 16-0 record.
The start of the fall came in the Hornets’ next game against No. 19 Northwest Missouri State.
ESU started the game on a tear, making four 3-pointers in the opening 2:45 to take a 16-0 lead.
The Bearcats dominated after that, taking over the lead 11 minutes later and coasting to an 89-72 victory at White Auditorium.
From there, ESU never seemed to be the same. The Hornets went 5-7 the rest of the way.
Suddenly a team that had won with team-oriented play was losing because individuals were trying to do too much on their own.
“Somehow, we lost our way,” Moe said. “We were playing so well as a group early — everybody was playing to make each other better. In the end, we fought with trying to do things individually and got away from trusting each other.”
It all made for some drama in the HPER Building on March 4, as ESU players waited anxiously to see if they had earned a spot in this year’s NCAA Tournament.
After hearing seven other teams earn their place in the South Central regional, the ESU players watched as they were announced as the No. 7 seed.
The Hornets tried to go back to basics in practice, working again on being patient on offense and passing up early shots for better ones.
It worked for 28 minutes against the two-seed Southeastern Oklahoma State. ESU led the entire game before falling into bad habits midway through the second half.
Southeastern took advantage, using a 29-4 run to take control in the 13-point victory.
“I just kept feeling like we were ready to play,” Moe said. “We struggled when we didn’t maintain patience, and some guys tried to do too much. Those guys weren’t selfish, they were just trying to win. It’s instincts that teach you to do that.”
ESU had its share of individual honors, starting with newcomers Donta Watson and DeAndre Townsend.
The two guards were both MIAA first-team all-conference selections, marking the first time in school history that the Hornets had placed a pair on the six-person team.
Watson finished as the MIAA’s leading scorer — averaging 19.1 points per game — while Townsend was fourth with a 17.2 point average.
Emporia native Wes Book also had a strong campaign after a tough sophomore season. After slimming down in the offseason, Book increased his scoring from 8.7 points last year to 13.6 this year.
He also nearly doubled his rebounding total, going from 3.0 boards to 5.9 this season.
“Wes certainly was probably frustrated from the year before,” Moe said. “He and I probably had the most to prove in showing that things were not like last year.
“I was glad to see him have success because he deserved it.”
The Hornets will return much of their firepower next year, as Townsend, Book, Caleb Tegtmeier and Jordan Fithian all return as starters.
Add in sharpshooter Andrew Davison — who had a career-high 18 points in the last game of the season — and ESU should receive a bit more respect in the preseason polls than it gained this year.
What the Hornets will lose, however, are the efforts of the seniors Watson, Ed Desir and Scott Elliott.
Desir was named to the All-MIAA defensive team, while Elliott averaged 12 minutes and served as a valuable defensive stopgap for the Hornets.
Moe said their contributions — on and off the court — would be difficult to replace.
“They had the right attitude and they’re the right kind of people,” Moe said. “I don’t think there are three better ambassadors for the program, university and city of Emporia.”