J.S. Carras/The Record

The calendar just flipped to October, but we're already talking about college basketball season.

Both the University at Albany and Siena College men's basketball squads have kicked off practice in the past few days.

The Saints are trying to put last season's disappointments behind them and start fresh with new head coach Jimmy Patsos (left) and a slew of new players on the roster. Tuesday was also Patsos' 47th birthday.

Here is the link to a story from Wednesday's paper about the team kicking off practice and hoping to have some success.

I also checked in with the UAlbany team and this story appeared in Sunday's paper.

Our new columnist Steve Amedio also has a take from Wednesday's paper on Danes head coach Will Brown, who beings his 13th season leading UAlbany. Could he be the next Doc Sauers or Bob Ford and remain on Western Avenue until the end of his career?

J.S. Carras/The Record