For three years, Mike Gordon has had the same offseason workout, the same routine during the season and the same head coach.

But in his final year at Binghamton University, that has all changed.

‘Starting with a new coach is pretty scary ‘ not knowing what he wanted day in and day out,’ Gordon said. ‘Everyone wants their senior year to be the best. This is the hardest I’ve worked in all four years.’

And with Gordon’s numbers improving every season since he stepped on the floor of the Events Center, there is no limit to the kind of season Gordon will have.

Last year, Gordon averaged 10.9 ppg scoring with 293 points in an average of 36.3 minutes per game. He shot 40 percent from the field, 38 percent from behind-the-arc, and also lit up the stat sheet with 65 steals on the season.

His sophomore year, he averaged 8.5 ppg, with 247 points in 35.7 minutes per game. He shot 36 percent from the field and 34 percent from three-point range, adding only 48 steals.

And his freshman year, Gordon averaged only 3.0 ppg, scoring 82 points in 17.3 minutes, shooting 31 percent from the floor and 26 percent from three.

Gordon’s work ethic has not only made his own game better, but has rubbed off on his teammates, especially the newcomers.

‘He knows what it takes,’ Broadus said. ‘It helps on the court when guys see you going harder and harder, and it becomes contagious for the younger guys.’

Mentoring the freshmen, four of which are guards, is something that Gordon is still getting used to.

‘This is my first time really doing this,’ Gordon said. ‘They have to play every game like it’s their last. You can’t think you have one, two or three years left. That’s how I played when I first got here.’

And four years later, Gordon will be looked to to lead the team on the floor, especially with a new coach on the sideline.

‘The point guard has to be extension of the head coach,’ Gordon said. ‘I’m just following the game plan and I’m thinking more like him [Broadus] now. I know what he wants, and now it’s my job to make sure everyone else is on the same page out there.’

He also told the newcomers what it’s going to be like when they actually do get out there, especially on the Events Center floor tomorrow night in front of a packed house.

‘I tell them how exciting it’s going to be,’ Gordon said. ‘When it’s time to step and make the shot, take it and make it, and all the jitters will go away.’

Junior transfer Reggie Fuller has been nothing but impressed with the senior leader.

‘Magic Mike, what else can you say?’ Fuller said. ‘He works wonders on the court and he’s the leader ‘ he does it all.’

And that includes hitting game-winning shots. Gordon had three of them last season, two against Hartford. And the one against Stony Brook, in which he threw it off the back of a Seawolves player underneath the basket and proceeded to lay it up for the victory, is something that Gordon doesn’t mind doing, but would rather have an easy win.

‘It’s a good feeling, but we’ll try to stay away from those situations,’ Gordon said. ‘I’d rather just win the game by 10 or 15 points. But if it does get to that point, I can’t think about nothing but stepping up and hitting the shot.’

While Gordon lost swingmen Steve Proctor and Troy Hailey, 11.2 ppg and 8.4 ppg, respectively, senior Richard Forbes will play alongside Gordon to make up a solid backcourt, something the two didn’t get to do a lot of last season.

‘When I play with him now, I know what he’s going to do,’ Forbes said. ‘We work on schemes and he’s like my backbone.’

And while the two seniors will look to be a dynamic duo, they also have the same goal.

‘We want to win,’ Gordon said.

But Forbes wants it more for Gordon than himself.

‘He’s been here four years and I just want to win so he can go out with a championship,’ Forbes said.

And if the Bearcats do find themselves on the road to the promised land, it will be Gordon in the driver’s seat.