After getting a taste of what the season may hold in last weekend’s season-opening tournament against club competition, the Illinois men’s wheelchair basketball team is anxious to begin the college season when they travel to Arlington, Texas, for the College Tournament at the University of Texas-Arlington

After winning all four games last weekend, the Illini will compete against conference teams including the University of Alabama, the University of Texas-Arlington and the University of Missouri. They will also compete against the top club team in the country, the Dallas Texans.

The toughest test this weekend may be the home court advantage that Texas-Arlington will have on Friday night when the Illini face off against them and their estimated 2,000 fans.

“Texas Hall is planning on selling out for Friday night, so we will see how we hold up mentally and with the distractions,” head coach Mike Frogley said. “We’ll see if we arise to the occasion, it’ll be a big test for our team.”

To prepare for the tough atmosphere, the Illini have been focusing on ignoring any distractions the game may present to them, such as missed shots, the officials’ calls, or the crowd. Illinois has also put a lot of dedication into improving its defense, especially the way it presses.

“We have worked on a lot of individual reads on the press,” captain Steve Serio said. “These teams are super athletic and super fast. We need to recognize ways to get easy steals by pressing and containing their speed.”

Frogley has helped his players work on the press by giving them visual cues on when to call a press, such as when the Illini make quick baskets or the other team does not look ready to inbound the ball.

The Illini are excited to start the season off with college games that count, but they are also looking for some revenge this weekend. After last year’s 15-point loss to the Dallas Texans, the players are anxious to get payback.

“We all want a piece of Dallas, we have to get through Texas-Arlington first, but we all want revenge. We want revenge on what they did to us last year on our home court,” Joey Gugliotta said. Going into the second weekend of play, Frogley still has not decided on a starting lineup and plans on starting different players all four games. He hopes this will give each Illini an opportunity to contribute to the game in different ways, whether it be starting or coming off the bench.

“I’ll be playing 11 guys every game to give everyone experience so they can grow and develop,” Frogley said. “That way, come March everybody will have had game time and have been in multiple roles.”

The Illini see this tournament as a stepping-stone. It gives them a chance to improve from last weekend. They may not play at the level they will later in the year, but Frogley said he does not need his squad to jump three or four steps this weekend.

“We just need to take each step at a time and improve on our defensive screens and our different roles. We just need to continue on improving week by week,” Frogley said.