Starkville, Miss. -- Syracuse women's basketball coach Quentin Hillsman walked out of a media conference Saturday after his team's 84-57 loss to Oklahoma State and toward what he vowed was the beginning of the 2018-19 season.
Hillsman had reason for the fast forward-thinking. In the short-term, he and the Orange (22-9) wanted to leave behind the pain of their first-round NCAA Tournament loss to OSU as quickly as possible.
But that disappointment will soon fade. The stronger appeal of the future is that Hillsman could be molding what might be of the strongest teams in his tenure at the school.