The word “expectation” is defined as a belief that someone will or should achieve something. And the expectations for this years’ ETSU men’s basketball team could not get much higher. After coming off their second NCAA tournament appearance, keeping the core of their team, and getting 1,000-point scorer Mike Smith back from injury, the Bucs are hoping to make a return to the NCAA tournament for the third straight time.

Head coach Murry Bartow welcomes the prospect of a great season. “High expectations are good,” he said. “Because that is better than the alternative of not having good players.

“We love high expectations, because that means you have good returning players and there is excitement about what you are going to do. But no one’s expectations are higher than ours.”

Senior Mike Smith is a little more blunt with his expectations.

“We aren’t looking for anything less than going back to the tournament again,” he said.

Smith, who lost 15 pounds during the summer, said it was tough for him not to play last year, but he learned a lot of things from his spot on the bench.

“I learned a lot of coaching stuff,” he said. “I hope to bring that to the court this year.”

Smith isn’t the only one who is happy about his return. Senior Tommy Hubbard, who is the team’s returning leading scorer (13.9 ppg), is thrilled to have his teammate back.

“It’s wonderful to have Mike back,” Hubbard said. “He brings a lot of leadership and toughness to the team, which rubs off on everybody.”

Hubbard, who is sidelined due to a knee scope he had just a few weeks ago, will be sidelined for the Bucs’ two exhibition games, and his return date is still a little uncertain.

He is one of many players who have been sidelined due to injury in the preseason. Isiah Brown (sprained ankle), Ryan Woumn (fractured foot) and Mike Smith (sprained ankle) were all sidelined at some point last week. Woumn, a freshman point guard from Lynn, Mass., will be out until the Bucs travel to Cancun in late December.

These early season injuries are a big concern for Bartow, “We’re just not a very healthy team right now,” he said. “It’s hard to really assess different players playing together, the chemistry, because we just don’t have the whole team together.”

The Bucs don’t have much time to get healthy as they open the season at No. 11 ranked Kentucky. Bartow describes the schedule as “brutal, tough.”

The Bucs also play Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Murray State and College of Charleston in their non-conference schedule. Bartow said that the tough schedule will help the team down the line – win, lose or draw — and prepare them for the conference schedule.

This season the Atlantic Sun may be the toughest since the Bucs joined the conference in 2005-06.

The Bucs have been picked in preseason polls to finish second in the conferencebehind Lipscomb, who returns the nation’s top returning leading scorer from last year Adnan Hodzic (22.7 ppg).

Returning starter and A-Sun Tournament MVP Micah Williams doesn’t put much emphasis on the preseason picks.

Take for instance the Bucs, who last year were picked to finish fourth in the regular season, and actually finished fifth, but won the tournament.

“We are expecting everyone in the A-Sun to be pretty good,” said Williams. ‘But our main focus has always been that we take care of ourselves and handle business whenever we need to.”

ETSU returns two other starters from last year, with senior Justin Tubbs (12.1 ppg) and junior forward Isiah Brown (7.8 ppg).

The Bucs open their season Tuesday at 7 p.m. inside the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center in an exhibition game against Carson-Newman.

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