SFA's Keller never planned to be the "December 31st champions"

"Let's beat Villanova," said Stephen F. Austin men's basketball coach Kyle Keller of the defending NCAA Champions during his introductory press conference in April. It was a few short days after being named the successor to now-OSU coach Brad Underwood. Despite the loss of a beloved leader, Nacogdoches was brimming with the contagious optimism of a new one.

So far, that's been largely the highlight of community confidence. Since the much-anticipated season began, the Lumberjacks have dropped games to Kentucky, UL-Monroe, Arkansas, Alabama-Birmingham and Rice. Halfway through the month of December, a home-opening nail-biter against the (now 3-6) Longwood Lancers remains SFA's lone victory against Division I competition.

The RPI of Keller's squad now sits well toward the basement of the NCAA at #261 - worse than a team from Nacogdoches has endured in quite a few years. Who's #1? Villanova, naturally.

No, the disciple of Bill Self is far from where fans had hoped he'd be a couple months into his new project. With a task as tall as taking a mid-major program like SFA, void of returning talent and coaching continuity, to new-found heights of success, maybe they shouldn't be surprised.

After all, this is what Keller warned about back in June.

The first time we met, our conversation didn't go much further than discussion of a long-form piece I had recently published about the exit of former SFA coach Danny Kaspar. The blunt nature of our chat convinced me immediately that, despite the world of coaching cliches and hyperbole, SFA had hired a man fearless of speaking unfiltered truth.

So just a week or so later when we crossed paths again, I was prepared with the real questions. What has to be accomplished for you to feel this season was a success? What can you really expect in a season with such astounding turnover in talent? (And apparently talent in turnovers - see what I did there?)

There was no delusion in Keller's response. "It's not going to be good for my record," he replied. "I don't have a record right now so I'm not afraid to go out and put a little bit of blood on it. I'm trying to grow the program and be prepared to play in March. That's my only goal."

SFA, already with just a fraction of scoring from the historic 2015-16 team, lost the best of those returning players (tops in scoring, rebounding, assist producing and steal-generating) in the form of a Ty Charles hand injury just minutes into the new season. A defeat at Kentucky followed by the near catastrophe to Longwood on national television was antiquated by the need for a last-minute comeback to steal an upset from DII Northeastern State.

It was a rough start. It's been rough since, too, albeit slightly easier on the eyes. Sitting at 3-5 with an NAIA date this weekend followed by a trip to the Diamond Head Classic tournament, it's not unlikely that the Jacks could limp into conference play at 5-7. Or 4-8, even.

I doubt that was anyone's dream. Still, it isn't a whole lot worse than what Keller imagined his first non-conference season might look like.

"If we start 1-6, well, I hope the fans still appreciate the long-term vision of what we're trying to do," he told me. "In my mind we're going to win every game and I hope my players feel that way too. But realistically, will we? Probably not. We're going to take some bumps and adversity will allow us to grow."

They've taken those bumps, for sure. The fact that the team looks so close to breaking out of their slump made the recent defeat at Rice especially hard to stomach. But even now, in a lower-tier league like the Southland, it's far from too late for SFA to go on another big run.

It would be nice to see Charles return and shock the Lumberjacks' large television audience in Maui with an upset or two, although objectively, few will expect it. That doesn't mean the Southland shouldn't remain fearful of what SFA has in store for them in January. This time of year was never the target for the talented-but-incredibly-raw team from deep east Texas.

"We're not playing to be the December 31st champions," Keller said.

The Lumberjacks of 2016-17 are definitely far from it. That doesn't mean lofty aspirations are dead, though - even if it may take awhile to close the gap between #1 and #261.

In the meantime? Keller and his staff are reloading a veteran program that knew how to win with gifted youngsters who don't - at least not yet. The talent-level of those newcomers is unprecedented in modern Nacogdoches and the results will hopefully follow close behind. How close remains to be seen.

Through it all, one thing is clear: learning how to lose has been an adjustment for everyone in Lumberjack-land. "It's not much fun when you're not winning," Keller warned back in June.

He's right. But the fun might be just around the corner.