With a new coach in place the Cornell College men’s basketball team is off to a strong start. The Rams are 3-0 as they get ready for their Iowa Conference opener next week. Cornell has three starters back from last year’s team that finished 21-7 and advanced to the NCAA division three tournament.

After the season, coach Mike DeGeorge resigned and Chad Murray took the reigns after being an assistant at North Central College in Illinois. Murray says the team embraced what he was trying to do from day one and he says that is not always the case when you replace a successful coach and do a lot of things differently.

Murray says the players have accepted and adapted to his coaching style. He says he was told when he started coaching to not try and teach something you don’t know or the players will pick up on the. Murray says he has a different style and way of doing things, but the players have adapted.

The Rams open the Iowa Conference race next Wednesday at home against Coe and Murray says he does not mind the early start to the conference race. He says they are a rival, so it is not hard to get motivated to play. Murray says they expect a packed house and they want to keep the momentum they’ve built up early as they head into the conference season.