Last Friday night, when it was announced that Chauncey Gilliam had his eligibility restored and was not going to have to sit out for the first half of the season, it was immediately a huge boost for the UMBC basketball team.

Gilliam has star potential and can compete for a Player of the Year Award by the time he finishes his collegiate career. While he is still young and fairly raw, having a player with that potential and championship game experience is very important for this rebuilding team, consisting of just two seniors and five freshmen.

The end of last season was when he really started to develop his game. While he showed promise by leading the Retrievers to an upset of Nebraska by scoring 21 points early in the season, it was the last 10 games that really put him on the radar when he went 17-33 from three point range while averaging 13.1 p.p.g. and 5.0 r.p.g.

But the reason his being able to play is important is not because of the ability he brings to the court, but because returning to the game after sitting out for half of a season is very hard to do. By being cleared, he avoids that transition period back to the game in the very important half of the season filled with conference games.

While the basketball team did lose the opener to Morgan State, 71-57, Gilliam's importance to the team was very obvious, as he was second on the team in scoring with 11 points, shooting 40.0% from the floor, and grabbing four rebounds.

His presence also opened up Matt Spadafora, who led the Retrievers with 12 points. Now with him back in the game, UMBC goes from a team with serious question marks, like where the scoring will come from, and just one returning starter, to a team with two returning starters and a solid four man nucleus with Gilliam, Spadafora, and transfers Chris De La Rosa and Robbie Jackson.

Fans should not take much from their season opening loss to Morgan State, as the Bears are expected to make it back to the NCAA tournament with ease, but you should expect some decent things from UMBC this year, and especially Gilliam, who should see the ball on every possession this season.