Washington and Lee’s men’s basketball team posted s a 5-4 record going into finals week. With a promising roster of players, team members believe that record will only improve.

After four Old Dominion Athletic Conference games, the Generals are tied for eighth in the conference with a 1-3 record. Point guard Sam Wise, ’23, said he wants the team to stay focused going into the holiday break. 

“I think our shortcomings at this moment are stuff that we know we can fix,” Wise said. 

Wise currently leads the team in both assists per game (5.8) and steals per game (2.6). He said he put high expectations on himself going into the season, as he was stepping into a leadership role this year as well as a starting position. 

“Having been around the block a couple of times, I gotta be responsible for the young guys, know how they’re feeling, as well as building their personal confidence,” Wise said. 

 Guard Rob DiSibio, ’24, leads the team in points, boasting an impressive 19.1 points per game. DiSibio scored a career-high 39 points earlier this season against Mary Baldwin University, leading the Generals to a 106-100 overtime win. 

In the same game, forward Jack d’Entremont, ’24, put up a career high in rebounds (14) and assists (7). D’Entremont leads the team in the former category, averaging 9.1 rebounds per game. He said he is still adjusting to a more leadership-oriented role on the team and a greater presence around the conference. 

“For the opposition, there’s a full season of film and scouting on me now,” d’Entremont said. “Teams game-plan for what I like to do, and that’s something new to me.” 

Guard Drew Harrell, ’24, has also been a standout player coming off the bench this season. Both Wise and d’Entremont agreed that his energy and athleticism has played an integral role for the team. D’Entremont, who entered Washington and Lee during the same year as Harrell, said his teammate has come a long way. 

“I saw firsthand how difficult it was for him to kind of not get the role he probably wanted and maybe deserved right away,” d’Entremont said. “But he just stuck with it and never complained and is now going to see the reward from that commitment this year, so I’m really happy for him.”  

Nearing the second half of the season, the team is still working out early-season kinks. After close losses to two teams ranked in the top five in the country, d’Entremont said the team’s confidence has never subsided. 

“Despite that disappointment, the realization is that we very much control our own destiny and fate still,” d’Entremont said. 

The team will head abroad to Puerto Rico after finals week to play Susquehanna University on Dec. 19 and the University of Scranton on Dec. 20.