There may be nothing more important to the Independence Pirates’ basketball game than setting the tone.

Jason Brown and the ICC football team isn't the only program on campus bringing in big names from big schools to take their program to the next level.

The basketball team is starting to make waves too. They have several Division I players looking at the program with the possibility of making the move next year and they already have one young man on campus that made the move from the SEC.

"I feel like he's way more confident," sophomore guard Da'Jon Streeter said. "Before the Coffeyville game and the conference games we didn't know if he was going to redshirt or not but now he's a key piece to the team.

"And the last three or four games he's feeling it, scoring 15-plus, so we just want the same thing from him, 15 to 20 a game."

It seems like a cliche when athletes are described as having on/off switches. The idea that Richard Sherman is so in the zone when he's on the field that he makes up things in his head that opponents say seems a little bit far-fetched if we're being honest.

But is it possible that some players get better when games get rougher or crowds get nastier? Of course it is. It would be hard to deny that fact when you look at how both ICC teams played Wednesday night at the Beaver Dome in Pratt.

In 2015-16 the Independence Lady Pirates took on Pratt with 22 games under their belt. At that point in the year they were 15-7 overall and had played 12 conference match-ups. Going into conference play last year they had played 10 games and were 9-1 overall. This 2016-17 season they do not have that luxury. ICC is just three games into their season sporting a 2-1 record, but they start conference play tomorrow, Saturday, November 12 as they take on Pratt.