A new year brings new expectations. Our basketball team is loaded with talent and fresh faces: two freshmen - Chad Bell and Jamaal Williams - and two junior college transfers - Moustapha Diagne and Cody Payne.
They are all good players and should be household names by the time their careers are over.
Here is a brief summary of each player's game.
Mr. Bell is a 7-footer who is as agile as a small forward.
He listens, which is most important, and plays hard every time we are on the floor.
They say you can't teach height, but Chad is still willing to learn the game and that is a good thing.
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Many people thought he would be a project, but, let me tell those people they are in for a big surprise.
Mr. Williams is a 6-foot-6-inch forward.
Jamaal has a good knack for being around the ball and he is always at the right place at the right time.
A pure scorer is what you can call him.
He has a sweet touch around the basket and with his continued hard work the sky is the limit for Jamaal.
Mr. "Bring tha pain" Payne is a 6-foot-7-inch power forward, and I emphasize "power" because of his uncanny ability to rebound the basketball.
I have a feeling fans are going to love Cody.
He has personality both on and off the floor.
I can't count how many times this guy made the team laugh.
When healthy from knee surgery, Cody will be a real inside force.
Mr. Diagne, another 7-footer, unfortunately is plagued with a foot injury.
Hopefully he can fully recover, and if he does people in the first three rows of The Pit will need catcher's masks because he will be blocking shots left and right.
Another guy everyone has seen and heard about is University of Washington transfer Senque "Q" Carey. Q is an experienced player who knows what it takes to win and has an excellent knowledge of the game.
He has a good shooting touch.
Don't be surprised if Q gets a triple-double this season because he is fully capable of doing so.
That is a brief synopsis on the new guys from the team.
Fans pretty much know about our backcourt of Marlon Parmer, Eric Chatfield, Tim Lightfoot and myself. Our job this year is to basically lead the young guys and provide knowledge and insight for those who seek it.
I want to express how important it is for our student body to be a force on our opponent and to help our team.
The Pit is undoubtedly the loudest arena in the nation when it wants to be.
For example, last year during the Pepperdine game (UNM 81-78, March 20) must have been the loudest The Pit has been since Jan. 16, 1999.
It was my freshmen year when I was at Arizona and the game went down to the last shot.
At the time, being on the opposing team, I have to say it was a very intimidating atmosphere, and I know it was the reason UNM won that game 79-78.
The same can be said for the Pepperdine game. We were down at the half but you - the student body - rallied us to victory.
If you not only come to the game, but also make it a rowdy, intimidating place (without hurting anybody) it will make it fun and, as a result, we'll win and so will you.
It has to start this Saturday when we play Stanford. Stanford has a loud arena but nothing compared to The Pit, when everyone is screaming and yelling and into the game.
It is one thing to come to the game and it is another to participate. So come Saturday and lead us to victory! Go Lobos!
