Basketball season is starting up. The teams are now into the exhibition stage of the season, and the real games aren’t but a little more than a week away. I’ll have much more comprehensive looks at the teams next week, but here are the basic storylines for the programs right now:

• Can the women get and stay healthy? Entering last season, the Lady Dogs lost four players from August through the exhibition season. It decimated the frontcourt and derailed a very likely Final Four run. Even now, there are several players working back from last year’s injuries or other offseason surgery. And they’re not all 100% yet. That has affected their ability to condition and practice in the preseason, and it will affect how Coach Landers manages the early part of the season. They start the year ranked #9 in the coaches poll.
• Can the men stop the bleeding? The tragic loss of Kevin Brophy and the departure of Younes Idrissi took some valuable experience from the program. Now we learn that promising JUCO transfer and likely starter Takais Brown has been indefinitely suspended over academic issues. The frontcourt will still be stronger than it was, but Brown is a potential difference-maker. Here’s hoping that this suspension is a short-term thing and that Brown can contribute this season.

Oh, and since we’re talking hoops…welcome back to the game, Bobby Cremins.