As the clock struck midnight Sunday a new year began. And while, on the one hand, Jan. 1 is just the next day after Dec. 31, the years are how we mark the time, and thus a new 365-day period of time has begun.

The last year saw plenty of successful teams, as well as intriguing off-the-field storylines, in Robeson County athletics. Now, as the new year begins, how will this new 12-month portion come to be defined for local sports?

There’s more than a few questions that will have to be answered to determine how the Robeson County sports landscape will look in 2023 and beyond. The list of those questions could be endless, but let’s scratch the surface: here is the biggest sports question for each of Robeson County’s high schools, plus The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, as 2023 gets underway.

How will UNCP football look in Hall’s first season?

The UNCP football program will field a different-looking team when it begins the 2023 season this fall, its first under new head coach Mark Hall. It will be the first time in the program’s modern era that Shane Richardson is not on the coaching staff, either as defensive coordinator or in the head-coach role he held the last nine seasons; Hall, who was offensive coordinator for over a decade at Chowan before serving as the Hawks’ head coach the last two seasons, brings a new outlook which could result in a more explosive Braves offense. Colin Neely announced on social media he will join the staff as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator after holding the same role with Hall at Chowan.

Once the games begin and the Braves see some on-field outcomes, a one-win improvement over last season would mean a winning record for the Braves — but Hall says he intends for the team to contend for a Mountain East Championship this season. Can the new coach lead a quick turnaround, in a program he’s called a “sleeping giant,” after just one winning season in the last six years?

How far can Lumberton boys basketball go?

After a 4A co-state championship in 2020, a run to the East Regional final in 2021 and reaching the second round last season, a perennial question for the Lumberton boys basketball program under fourth-year coach Bryant Edwards has been how deep of a run the Pirates can make in the state playoffs. This year’s Pirates are certainly capable of a run, with a talented and experienced backcourt supplemented by an emerging frontcourt.

The Pirates have started 8-1, with the lone loss coming to Pine Forest — the team which eliminated the Pirates last year — in a game that came down to the final seconds; they’ll play again Jan. 25, with another playoff meeting not out of the question. Lumberton is the favorite to win a United-8 Conference championship — something the Pirates, surprisingly, haven’t yet done under Edwards. But whether or not this season is considered a success in that locker room will be determined in late February and early March.

How far can Purnell Swett girls basketball go?

Similarly, the Purnell Swett girls team will be seeking to make a deep playoff run when it gets to the state playoffs. The Lady Rams started last season 25-0 before falling to Green Level in a two-point second-round playoff loss; this year they’ll look to get deeper in the postseason in the senior season of the team’s core, three senior guards who return as known commodities from last year. Niyah Locklear and Kayloni Eddings coming into their own in the Robeson County Shootout, which the Lady Rams won for a second straight year in December, will help their long-term outlook.

The Lady Rams won’t be undefeated entering the playoffs this time — they’re currently 9-1 with a loss to Hoggard — but are capable of accomplishing more in the postseason than last year’s team did. Like the Lumberton boys, a conference championship is part of the team’s expectations, but after a Feb. 24 exit last season Purnell Swett is looking to play games in March this time around.

Can Red Springs boys basketball win a conference championship?

After a 7-0 start, the Red Springs basketball team lost three of its last four games in December as the competition got tougher, but the beginning of the Red Devils’ conference slate on Tuesday provides them the chance to hit the reset button and focus on a realistic goal of winning the Southeastern Athletic Conference. St. Pauls is not as strong after last year’s undefeated march through the conference, and while East Bladen should be a strong contender, the Red Devils have the talent to emerge with the conference crown come season’s end.

A backcourt that can produce a 20-point night from any of three different guards — a hard team to game plan against — will give the Red Devils a great chance to do something they haven’t done since 2010.

Can St. Pauls recover from its fall funk?

This feeling is admittedly a result of the high standards that St. Pauls has set for itself across the Bulldogs athletic department, but the fall months saw the school’s teams in a collective funk, with each not playing as strong as we’ve all become accustomed to in the last few years. Football lost four games, after a pair of one-loss seasons and five total defeats the previous three years; boys basketball is 5-6 after last year’s perfect run through the SAC; and girls basketball has lost three games after a 67-3 mark in the previous three winters.

For the immediate future, with basketball season unfolding over the next two months, a return to conference play after tough nonconference slates for both teams should result in a chance to get into a winning rhythm and return to the success we’re used to seeing. On the football field this coming fall, how the Bulldogs replace a senior class including three-time Robeson County Heisman Kemarion Baldwin will be a major question mark entering the season, though several talented underclassmen seem primed to step into major roles.

Can Fairmont make turnaround under Carthen?

Another head coaching change in Robeson County football saw Jeremy Carthen take over the Fairmont program after five seasons as a St. Pauls assistant. Carthen is the fourth head coach in five years and the ninth since 2008 for the Golden Tornadoes, who have won five games in the last three seasons.

Carthen’s first head-coaching job comes with no coordinator experience, though the 37-year-old has been part of a strong and experienced staff with the Bulldogs. He points to a 12-wins season in 2011 and an 11-win campaign in 2015 as proof the program can succeed; can Carthen manufacture such a turnaround, and what signs of that could be seen in 2023?