Vinceza, Italy.

Aug. 10, 2018.

The night that followed Purdue Fort Wayne’s second win during its 11-day study abroad, three-game tour of Italy, every member of the Mastodon roster filed into redshirt junior forward Matt Holba’s hotel room. In the space large enough to comfortably fit them all, each found his place on the bed, in a chair or on the floor. And for the next two or three hours they just enjoyed each other’s company.

As simple as it sounds, it was a bonding experience for the group senior guard Kason Harrell and redshirt senior guard John Konchar said they hadn’t seen happen at all in the previous years they spent with the team.

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“Even in years past during road trips for games we never had the whole team in one room before,” Harrell told IndyStar recently. “We were just sitting around talking and getting to know each other, stuff like that, just having fun. That right there, a few of the guys from last year talked about it, that moment right there made us feel like this team’s really special.”

Now they feel like not just teammates, but brothers. Coach Jon Coffman’s squad lost nine games by single digits during the team’s 18-15 campaign a year ago. It lost its openers of both The Summit League's conference tournament and the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. There was a 20-point win against the Indiana Hoosiers at Assembly Hall in December, but the culture of the program after two seasons with 20 or more wins expects more.

Harrell has no doubt the trust they built in Italy, sharing special moments of their lives in that hotel room, along with hardships they’ve experienced, will translate to the court come the team’s season opener Nov. 6 at UCLA. And for a team with more different parts set to contribute compared to last season, it’s what Coffman was looking for.

“This group, I mean, you got six newcomers and eight when you include the walk-ons,” said Coffman, who had his players bunk with different roommates at each hotel. “If you don’t have some contribution from your newcomers you’re not going to have a very good year. So I think we sort of expedited the process with the Italy trip.”

Harrell returns after starting all 33 games and averaging 13.5 points per game. Konchar’s 35.8 minutes and 8.1 rebounds per game were both team highs. Not to mention Konchar’s 14.8 points per contest. Coffman looks to them as extensions of himself on the court. But someone, or a group, needs to step up after the departure of the Mastodon’s leading scorer — Bryson Scott, who was responsible for 22.6 points per game.

When it comes to returners, Coffman looks to Holba, sophomore guard Matt Weir, redshirt sophomore forward Dylan Carl and redshirt junior guard Marcus DeBerry. He expects one of the four to become an all-league player.

When it comes to players who are new to Fort Wayne, Coffman said guards Jarred Godfrey and Tionne Rollins are both playing at a high level for freshmen. There’s junior guard Dee Montgomery, a junior college transfer, who didn’t have a ton of summer time with the team but is making progress. And forward Josh Inkumsah, another freshman who will be relied on early.

All will fall into the team’s fast, unselfish style of play, where everyone can shoot the 3, that has Coffman believing they can score with anybody in the country.

“Every single newcomer we have has stood out to me, it’s really hard for me to pick one,” said Harrell when asked who has caught his eye. “We have guys that bring different skills to our team that are going to help us win a championship.”

Coffman knows the Mastodons will “get punched in the nose” early. Three of the team’s first five games are on the road at UCLA, Ohio State and Dayton. But he’s confident his players will respond and have the grit necessary to compete in those games as they have against IU the past two seasons — both wins — and others.

It’s about being ready come tournament time in March, a moment the team is eyeing but doesn’t feel the need to discuss.

“When you’ve won as many games as we have over the last six years I don’t think you have to talk about the NCAA Tournament,” said Coffman, whose team won a share of its conference's 2015-16 regular season title. “I don’t think you have to talk about winning the regular season. These guys have done that. You don’t have to talk about postseason. They know what that entails.”

“Everyone comes to college wanting to go to the tournament so we don’t really need to talk about it that much,” Konchar added.

Harrell pointed out that in previous seasons the team may have faltered because it focused on every college team’s end goal too early. A bid this season would be the school’s first at the Division 1 level.

“We’ve had over my career here a ton of firsts and we’re ultimately kind of running out of firsts with the exception of making the big dance,” Coffman said. “I think our guys are very hungry for that.”

Potential breakout player

Sophomore guard Matt Weir appeared in all 33 games last year and started once. He showed flashes of what he could be capable of, but in the 20.5 minutes per game he averaged last season he came away with just five points, 2.7 assists and 1.4 rebounds per contest.

That will change this year.

The Ohio native is one of four players coach Jon Coffman believes could become an all-league player as his role, due to the changes from last season's roster, will certainly call for more production.

Newcomer to watch

Forward Josh Inkumsah is a freshman this season for Purdue Fort Wayne. A native of Ontario, Canada, Inkumsah's 6-7, 265-pound frame brings a size to the court the Mastodons wouldn't otherwise have.

Opponents slightly out-rebounded Purdue Fort Wayne, on average, by 0.7 boards per game last season. Look for Inkumsah to help bridge the gap and create a margin that does far more to help the Mastodons own the glass.

Follow IndyStar sports reporter Jordan Guskey on Twitter at @JordanGuskey or email him at jguskey@gannett.com.