It’s been awhile since there was excitement surrounding the Riverland Community College men’s basketball team, but that time may have arrived.

The Blue Devils took a fresh approach this season and have a roster that features mostly freshmen. All five of the team’s starters are freshman and RCC head coach Scott Koenigs is hoping his young, but talented team is ready to take the next step this season.

“I think we’ve had one winning season here in the last thirty years. Hopefully this year is the year,” RCC head coach Scott Koenigs said. “We have a mix of guys that have had success and some guys that want to have success.”

RCC has won its first three games against JV teams for four-year schools and the squad has already developed a reputation as a team that can lock down on the defensive end of the court. Koenigs is hoping the team’s shooting comes around as the year goes on.

Robert Parker, a freshman forward from Bloomington, Minn., is off to a strong start as he is averaging 13 points and 8.7 rebounds per game.

“Once we find our identity, we’re going to be good. Right now it’s defense, but sometimes we don’t play up to our standards,” Parker said. “When we do play up to our standards, we’re going to be really good.”

RCC has a pair of starters who are used to winning as Hayfield grad Jeremy Stuart has played in the Class AA state tournament and Germantown grad Dearionte Hudson was part of three straight state championship teams in high school. Hudson said he’s hoping the Blue Devils can change their reputation of being a non-tournament team this season.

“Coming from a place where I almost didn’t lose a game in three years, I definitely want to keep that going,” said Hudson, who is averaging 16.3 points and 4 steals per game. “I feel like we’re off to a great start. Last year [RCC] had a reputation of not winning a lot of games and this year we feel like we have a team that is capable of going all the way. Coming in with a lot of freshmen, I think we can shock the world.”

Hudson, who gives RCC a ball control point guard who can also defend, helped bring RCC its center as Ricky Landers, who is from Wauwatosa, Wis., is a childhood friend of Hudson’s. Koenigs said the 6-8 Landers has a chance to be an All-American if he works hard enough this year.

Landers has his sights set on doing big things with the Blue Devils this season.

“This conference is going to be tough, but I think we’re ready for them. We’ve got a good group of young people that are ready to play,” he said. “We want it real bad. All six of us in [our] house talk about how we want to go to New York and win that championship.”

Stuart said it’s been a strange start to the season without any veterans on the roster, but he said everyone’s been working hard so far.

“It’s different because we don’t really know each other,” Stuart said. “We’re kind of starting from scratch and we’re trying to get the squad together.”

The player most happy about RCC’s fast start is probably shooting guard Nate Emge, a Faribault grad. Emge came from a Falcons team that has struggled over the last few years and he’s excited to get a chance to play in some wins.

“It was kind of tough for a few years there. Now we’re starting off hot here and hopefully we can keep it going,” Emge said. “Everybody works hard and wants to get better every day. It seems like everybody’s here for the right thing. It’s kind of exciting for us. It’s everybody’s first year and they want to get after it.”

The toughest thing for the Blue Devils this season will be to face the adversity of college basketball without a lot of veteran leaders on the squad. Sophomore Gary Cook is back from last year’s team for RCC, and most of the other players are learning the college game for the first time.

“There’s a big adjustment from high school to college basketball, it’s a lot quicker and it’s a lot more physical,” Koenigs said. “In this league you’ve got a lot of guys that are Division II type players that didn’t have the grades, so there’s some tremendous athletes in the division.”

Koenigs is expecting his squad to play at a high tempo this season and he doesn’t have a problem playing the whole roster to keep guys fresh. He said it is also important for his players to stay eligible by working hard in the class room as well.

“We have to stress the academic side. We’re hoping that all of the guys take care of their grades so we can keep playing as a group,” Koenigs said.

RCC will open play Presentation College in its home opener in Riverland Gym Tuesday at 7 p.m. The Blue Devils will play four straight home games in early December and they open the conference season Jan. 7.