Men's basketball opens preseason practice Friday
10/14/2009 2:30:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Official preseason practice for the 2009-10 Sam Houston men's basketball team gets underway Friday afternoon at 3 p.m. in Johnson Coliseum.
With eight lettermen returning including the top four scorers from the Southland Conference's 2009 West Division championship team, Sam Houston State appears poised to continue its run of success under the direction of head coach Bob Marlin.
Marlin became the second coach to achieve 200 men's basketball victories in his Southland Conference tenure with Sam Houston's 18-12 record last year.
Marlin's 200-112 mark in his 11 seasons ranks the Bearkats as the "winningest" program in the league since 1998-99.
The Bearkats have finished among the top three teams in the Southland standings six of the last seven seasons.
The return of 57.3 of the team's 76.0 points per game during the 2008-09 campaign gives Marlin a strong foundation to build upon for 2010.
"With all of our perimeter players returning, experience will be a plus for us," Marlin said. "Last year's team continued to improve as the season progressed, winning 12 of our last 15 Southland games. We ranked second in the league in three-point shooting and third in scoring."
Any discussion of the Bearkats' outlook for the coming season starts with the highest scoring back court duo at Sam Houston in the program's 22 years at the NCAA Division I level.
Corey Allmond and Ashton Mitchell combined for 27.8 points per game last year. The two seniors each averaged more than 30 minutes per game to give the Kats experienced leaders on the perimeter.
Allmond, a 6-1 transfer from Howard College, set a school record with 99 treys to rank No. 14 in the nation in three point shooting last year. He scored in double figures in 24 of 30 games including 14 performances of 20 or more points.
Mitchell, a 5-11 three-year letterman from New Orleans, became the fifth point guard under Marlin to lead the Southland and rank in the top 10 nationally in assists. Mitchell ended the season No. 5 in the NCAA with 6.8 assists per game. He also added 12.5 points per contest.
Allmond was a first team All-Southland Conference selection and Mitchell was named to the second team last year.
The Bearkats also return several other top lettermen. Preston Brown, 6-6 senior forward who averaged 9.9 points and 4.9 rebounds last year, scored in double figures in 10 games last season. Lance Pevehouse ranked as the team's fourth-leading scorer (9.1 points per game) and stood second on the team with 50 three point baskets. Drae Murray averaged 13.8 minutes per contest as a true freshman in 2009.
Josten Crow, a 6-4 two-year letterman, is one of the Bearkats' top defenders. Arthur Zulu and Antuan Bootle plus red-shirt 6-7 Marco Cooper (a transfer from Delaware) bring the Kats additional depth at the post position.
To bolster Sam Houston's inside game, Marlin and his staff recruited two junior college transfers and a pair of high school seniors.
Trevon Charles, a 6-5 forward, earned All-Western Junior College Athletic Conference honors at Western Texas College. Gilberto Clavell, a 6-7 forward from Collin County Community College, averaged 16.1 points and 6.5 rebounds on a 27-5 team in 2009.
Kelly Lawson, 6-8 freshman, earned All-District 22-5A honors after leading Pearland to a 22-10 record and the state playoffs his senior season.Aaron Thompson, a 6-9 freshman, was All-State and two-time District 5-3A "Defensive Player of the Year" on Burkburnett teams that put together a 60-12 record the past two years and reached the Texas Class 3A state finals in 2008.
"We return quality and experienced players," Marlin said. "Someone is going to have to step up and get rebounds to complete the puzzle. Last year's team improved from 10th in the Southland in three point shooting to second and from ninth in the league at the free throw line to fourth. Continuing that kind of improvement this year along with better defense will be important to our development as a team."
