Difficult as it may be to imagine a worse week in Wright State basketball history, at least one comes to mind, and it was only six years ago when the Raiders, coming off a 13-15 season, lost basketball coach Paul Biancardi in the Ohio State scandal mess.

WSU basketball had been inconsequential for several years to that point, and now had to find a new coach and start all over. Brad Brownell came, conquered and left as he helped elevate senior DaShaun Wood’s game as the Horizon League was rising to its name.

Now this week, on virtually the same day, the Raiders are losing Butler to the A-10, removing in one move what has been for more than a decade the Horizon’s best team, and WSU’s main rival.

On top of that, WSU’s best player, Julius Mays, has decided not to return for a final season.

That’s not a good start to next season.

But in these days of constant movement, who can tell? Butler, deep into the 1980s, was a doormat team in a league that doesn’t even exist anymore. Entering 1990, it posted only four winning seasons in the previous 20.

Teams are switching conferences at a record pace, and logistics has nothing to do with it. In basketball, Cinderella plays every night, not just during the NCAA tournament.

Butler turned around its program and became a basketball power. Wright State’s Raiders can do the same. The question is, will they?

Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.