Guest Blog: Jack Eggleston on preseason hopes

Editor's note: Once again, the esteemed Jack Eggleston joins us from his new home in Leverkusen Germany, where he plays for the Bayer Giants, a German pro-team. After an 0-3 start to the season and an ankle injury to boot, Eggleston earned his first professional win Sunday in an 89-78 victory over Herzöge Wolfenbüttel. The Penn basketball alum scored a team-high 20 points and added eight rebounds. He's also learned how to use the umlaut effectively.

As of Friday, the college basketball season is officially underway. While that may be exciting news for college basketball fans and disgruntled NBA fans looking to get their fix, players know better. Something that doesn't ever end can't have a true beginning. It's more like a transition to a new phase in the cycle. Practice simply takes the place of individuals and conditioning in the daily routine.

The thing that virtually everyone touches on when writing or talking about college basketball in October is hope. Each team gets to look at that magical, yet ephemeral, zero in the loss column and thinks that this is The Year. Preseason polls either build confidence or get posted on locker room walls as motivation. Negatives don't exist. Coaches are upbeat and patient. Practice jerseys are crisp. All is right with the world.

Obviously these feelings don't last. As the year begins, people get hurt, personalities clash, and reality sets in. Maybe we're not quite good enough. Maybe this isn't The Year. And for the overwhelming majority of college programs, it won't be.

I often think about all the disappointment I had in my four years and my naïve optimism every October. How could I have ever thought a team that finished 6-22 had a chance to win a championship? In retrospect it seems foolish. But for the start of this season, I again find myself excited about the possibilities. As the sage Andy Dufresne reminds us in Shawshank Redemption, "Hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things." So to the Quakers and the Green Wave (haven't forgotten about you Danny), I wish you a hopeful start to the season.