Change is coming to Purdue Fort Wayne basketball – a lot of it.

Between the Mastodons’ men’s and women’s teams, only one full-time starter returns out of 10 and a combined 19 new players dot the rosters.

Despite all of that turnover, coaches and players from both programs expressed significant optimism about the potential for this season’s teams as preseason practice officially began Monday.

On the women’s side, fifth-year coach Maria Marchesano is trying to replace not only all five starters but a total of “seven or eight really, really good players” from the best team in program history, which went 27-9 last season.

In an effort to create a new core for the future while ensuring there is no step back in the present, Marchesano brought in a couple of ultra-experienced former NAIA star

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