Season Opener Saturday Night
11/10/2011 2:34:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Preseason practice has been a learning experience for both coaches and players alike.
"We don't have much coming back with only 11.5 points and 12.3 rebounds per game returning from last year," second year head coach Jason Hooten said. "It's almost a totally new team with nine new players. With that many new faces, it's been a roller coaster in fall practice. Some days we look great and other we struggle. Everyone is excited about the opportunity to start the season."
The 2011-12 team has a lot to live up to. Sam Houston has been the most successful program in the Southland Conference for more than a decade. Since 2000, the Bearkats have rolled up a 233-128 overall record, won three league championships and earned a trip to the NCAA in 2003 and 2010.
Last year's team won the Southland West Division championship for the third year in a row and compiled an 18-13 record. Gilberto Clavell was the Southland Conference "Player of the Year" after averaging 19.5 points and 7.3 rebounds a game.
"Overall, we're a more talented team than last year but, obviously you don't replace a player like Gilberto," Hooten said. "There's a reason he was Southland MVP. He's one of the best in Sam Houston history. We're going to miss the leadership of Gilberto, Josten Crow and Lance Pevehouse."
Three lettermen and one red-shirt return this year. Those four are joined by six transfers and two freshmen.
"Who and when someone will step up to become our new leaders is one of the questions we will be trying to answer during the non-conference portion of our schedule," Hooten said. "We've got some young men who are hard worked and come to practice every day with a good attitude. We're excited to see how everything comes together."
Antuan Bootle is the only returning starter. The 6-7 senior center averaged 4.9 points and 6.1 rebounds as a junior. Also back are 6-9 junior center Aaron Thompson and 6-7 senior forward Marcus James.
Konner Tucker, a 6-4 shooting guard who red-shirted last season at SHSU after transferring from Wake Forest, is expected to bring perimeter scoring power to the Bearkat offense.
Transfers include guards 5-11 Darius Gatson (Trinity Valley CC), 6-4 Demarcus Gatlin (Navarro), 6-2 Kevin Schaffartzki (Odessa JC) and 5-10 Cameron Sadler (Columbia College) and inside players 6-5 Joshua Gibbs (Butler CC) and 6-8 Steven Werner (McLennan CC).
Michael Holyfield, a 6-11 true freshman from Albuquerque, New Mexico, brings the Bearkats additional size inside.
"We look for this year's team to be a group that always plays hard and is known for getting after it with solid defense," Hooten said. "We recruited to solve some of the problems we had last year. We hit less than 30 percent from three point range last season and that's not good enough. We think we have some guys that will make those shots now.
"We're bigger than we've been before with a lot of size. Definitely, we're not a finished product right now, but it's going to be interesting to see how they all come together."
Following Saturday's game with Howard Payne, the Bearkats face a challenging five-game road trip as Sam Houston plays at Notre Dame on November 16, then travels to face Mercer, South Dakota State and Niagara in the Progressive College Basketball Experience Classic in Macon November 21-23 and finally meets up with the University of Texas in Austin November 26.
The Sam Houston men will not return home again until Tuesday November 29 when they play host to Dallas Christian at 7 p.m. at Johnson Coliseum.
Hillcrest Ford of Huntsville will be giving on Sam Houston State student the opportunity to win an F150 truck at the Bearkats' game with Dallas Christion.
The F150 truck is not the only prize up for grabs in the "Hillcrest Toss for A Truck" event November 29. Aberdeen and Brook Place Apartments have added great incentives to enter including an Apple IPAD, a Tom-Tom Navigation System and a Sam Houston t-shirt. Wing Stop is joining in the fun of the "Hillcrest Toss for a Truck" contest as well. Wing Stop will be providing a $25 gift card as a prize and also will be presenting special discount Wing Stop coupons for the section represented by the first place contestant.
Students can register at any of the Bearkat men and women's home games at Johnson Coliseum this month. Sam Houston men's basketball tips off Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. hosting Howard Payne and the women open their regular season on Sunday at 3:30 p.m. with UT-Tyler.
