New Mexico opens the regular season with two exhibition games under its belt. Texas Southern doesn’t have any.
That makes a scouting report for Friday’s game a little tricky.
In his press conference before the 2015-16 season begins for real, Lobo head coach Craig Neal said Texas Southern will be one of the toughest season-openers the team has had. He added that the Tigers feature a number of transfers, which makes it a little difficult to evaluate.
“The hard thing about getting ready for this game is they didn’t play any exhibitions,” he said. “It’s unique for us in the sense that you don’t have a lot of information. You don’t know who’s going to be on the roster.”
Friday’s opener comes after UNM won its first two exhibitions last week that felt too close for comfort among fans: a 96-84 win over CSU-Pueblo, and 80-69 victory against Rogers State. Texas Southern, meanwhile, last saw on-court action at last year’s NCAA tournament, where the Tigers fell to eventual Final Four participant Arizona in the second round.
Two Texas Southern transfers Neal referenced are forward Orlando Coleman, formerly of Kennesaw State, and center Jermaine Davis II, formerly of La Salle. They do return forwards Chris Thomas and Malcolm Riley, who averaged 12.6 and 10.2 points per game, respectively.
As of Wednesday, Neal said his team enters the regular season healthy, but won’t know how much play each player will receive or what the rotation will be until game time. He has two practices to help figure it out before Friday.
UNM needs to develop some toughness and nastiness, Neal said. He praised his players for solid academics and good behavior off the court, and it’s almost as if his players are “too nice,” he said.
“Now, I don’t want them to be bad kids, because I’ve got great kids, but they’ve got to get toughness on the floor and get a little nastier,” he said. “I think they understand that, and I think they’ll get there, but that comes with maturity.”
Neal did call out his players after last Friday’s exhibition against Rogers State for the fact that a leader has not yet emerged for the team. On Wednesday, he said that message resonated among the team and it has improved. It’s Neal program, he said, but it’s their team.
On Wednesday, three players signed National Letters of Intent to join the Lobos as part of their recruiting class for next year. They are 6-foot-9 forward Connor MacDougall, 6-5 forward Damien Jefferson and 6-7 guard/forward Aher Uguak.
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MacDougall will arrive at UNM after a stop at South Mountain Community College this coming season. He originally joined the Arizona State squad, playing six games before a shoulder injury sidelined him. He played high school along current Lobo freshman guard/forward Dane Kuiper in Arizona, where he won a state championship at Corona Del Sol High School.
As a junior at East Chicago Central High School in Indiana, Jefferson averaged 23.4 points and 9.9 rebounds per game with his senior season upcoming.
Uguak will play his senior season at Henry Ainlay High School in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Originally from Sudan, he is considered one of the top prospects to come out of Alberta.
Neal said the Lobos fill some needs with the three signings.
“We’ve got three, and we could have some more,” he said. “We’re not done recruiting, but those three guys are really going to help our program going forward, and we’re really excited about them.”
J.R. Oppenheim is the managing editor for the Daily Lobo. Contact him at managingeditor@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @JROppenheim.
