Can Bulldogs reclaim last season's magic?

So unique was The Citadel's basketball season last year that The New York Times and ESPN.com journeyed to McAlister Field House to document it.

Pat Conroy, the military school's most famous basketball player and author, invoked "the strangeness of history and the ties of blood" while writing about his cousin, Citadel coach Ed Conroy, for The Post and Courier.

The word "magical" was thrown around a lot, and why not?

The Bulldogs won 20 games and earned a postseason bid for the first time in school history; put together an 11-game winning streak that included a victory at Southern Conference heavyweight Davidson; and beat rival College of Charleston twice in the same season for the first time since 1937.

Ed Conroy was named SoCon coach of the year, the first Bulldogs mentor to earn that honor since Randy Nesbit

in 1989.

The question for Conroy now, of course, is this -- How do you follow magic?

"We like to think we're making progress," said Conroy, the former Citadel point guard beginning his fourth season as the Bulldogs' coach. "We like to talk about consistency, and certainly that would go for year-to-year performance.

"I know our guys are hungry to get better every day on the court. And we'll see where that leads to in games. But I like where we're headed as a program."

Returning all-SoCon guard Cameron Wells, the preseason player of the year according to some publications, is a good start. Wells, now a broad-shouldered junior listed at 6-1 and 195 pounds, averaged 15.6 points and 4.9 rebounds last season while leading the team in assists and steals.

Conroy expects Wells' maturation into a complete point guard to take another step this season.

"Now, he's ready to take that next step," Conroy said. "Can he maximize our effectiveness, no matter what four guys are out there with him? Can he get that unit to play to their strengths? We'll have some different guys in there this year, and he'll have to be aware of who's on the floor and how to maximize their abilities."

The loss of top scorer and rebounder Demetrius Nelson and sparkplug forward John Brown are the two obvious differences from last year's team.

Joe Wolfinger, a 7-0 center from Washington, transferred in to fill Nelson's spot at center. But he's a different type of player, a skilled 3-point shooter where Nelson operated smoothly in the post.

"Joe is fitting in pretty good," Wells said. "Obviously, he's a 7-footer and pretty strong down low. He can step out and shoot the 3, so I think that will create space for other guys to drive and do their thing, as well."

Junior forward Bryan Streeter, 6-6 and 230 pounds, is the most obvious candidate to replace Brown's rebounding and defense. Streeter came off the bench in all 33 games last year, and averaged 3.8 points and 2.8 rebounds in 14.3 minutes per game.

Junior guard Zach Urbanus (10 ppg) was one of the most reliable 3-point shooters in the SoCon last year, hitting 44.1 percent. That's a consistency that 6-4 junior swingman Austin Dahn (32.7 percent) will aim for this year.

Key bench roles will be played by sophomore guard Cosmo Morabbi and junior forwards Matt Clark and Daniel Eykyn. Among freshmen, 6-5 forward Harrison DuPont, 6-2 guard Ben Cherry and 6-7 forward Tristan Tremblay could get significant minutes.

The highlight of the home schedule is a visit from NCAA Tournament runner-up Michigan State on Dec. 7.