It’s cliché when a coach says that his team is the hardest-working team, right? Well that’s exactly what Fresno City College Men’s Basketball Coach Ed Madec said about this year’s squad. From the way that the season is going so far he may be right.

The FCC Men’s Basketball team is currently 25-2 overall and 10-0 in Central Valley Conference play this season. The Rams are ranked 4th in the State Top 20, and 2nd in the North Top 15.

Most notably The Basketball Times regards the Rams as the No.2 program.

Still, rankings are something that they don’t think too much about it, according to Madec.

“It’s not something that we are consumed with, but I will say that there is a strong sense of pride among myself and the players as well as the rest of the coaches.”

So far they have succeeded. The Rams are on track to win their 10th CVC title in Madec’s tenure as head coach.

Many factors attributed to the success of this year’s team. According to Madec, the key to this year’s success lies in the players and the amount of effort that they have poured into this season

Even along a tough pre-season journey, they played and defeated No.1 ranked San Francisco City College, No. 12 Santa Rosa City College, No.13 San Bernadino Valley.

“We schedule the toughest opponents,” says Madec, “teams are afraid to come here.”

Only five of the 27 games this season have been played at FCC.

Meanwhile, the 12 players on this year’s team definitely carved a path of their own, especially certain players who have stepped up and performed beyond expectations.

“Overall I think it has been a team effort,” says Madec.

The three freshmen on this year’s team have been valuable contributors to the success of the season as well. “At times they have performed solid, other times like freshmen,” he says, “but I think they have gotten better.”

Altogether, the Rams are one game away from locking in their 10th conference title. Madec describes the team’s preparation for the playoffs as, “really gearing, polishing and staying healthy.”