Men's Basketball Practice Opens Saturday
10/2/2015 2:21:00 PM | Men's Basketball
The men rolled up marks of 24-11 and 26-9, respectively and reached the finals of the Southland Conference tournament in Katy to earn post-season berths in the CollegeInsider.com Tournament both years.
As the Bearkats begin preseason practice Saturday hoping to begin a campaign that will continue their success, the 2015-16 men's basketball squad will feature a lot of new faces.
Four starters who earned All-Southland Conference honors last year have earned their Sam Houston degrees and moved on. Seven lettermen return and the Bearkats have brought in a talented group of newcomers the head coach hopes will come together into another strong team.
“We are junior heavy with a lot of newcomers, but they are a very talented group,” Hooten said. “Two years ago we had a pair of junior college transfers – Jabari Peters and Kaheem Ransom – step up for us and we're looking for that kind of season this year.”
Peters, Ransom, Demarcus Gatlin and Michael Holyfield combined for 38.8 of the Bearkats' 74.1 points per game and accounted for 24.3 of the team's 40.3 rebounds per contest last year.
Paul Baxter is the lone returning starter. Baxter has played in 103 of the Kats' 104 games the past three years, starting all but 12 contests his freshman season. He enters his senior season with 863 career points and 299 assists.
Other top returning players are junior guard Dakarai Henderson and junior center Aurimas Majaukas.
Henderson is a perimeter shooter who provided offense off the bench the past two seasons. Majaukas is a talented offensive player under the boards who has averaged 6.6 points and 3.4 rebounds per game. Both players are a big reason why the Bearkats averaged 28.4 bench points per game during the 26-victory 2015 season.
“We'll be counting on Paul, Dakarai and Aurimas for leadership this year,” Hooten said. “Paul has been a big part of our success the last three seasons. Dakarai and Aurimas both can score, one from the outside and one inside. We're really looking for Aurimas to provide us more offense under the boards.”
Two sophomores, 6-4 guard Jamal Williams and 6-7 forward Jesse Lopez, also return. Williams averaged 13.3 minutes per game off the bench as a freshman, scoring 4.5 points a game.
Two red-shirt freshmen, 6-6 forward Albert Almanza and 6-0 guard Josh Delaney, return. Josh is joined by his brother 6-4 Cameron Delaney who comes to Sam Houston as a transfer from Denver.
Delaney is one of seven newcomers joining the team this year. Six are transfers. Marc Andre Fortin, a 6-9 center from Quebec City in Canada is the only true freshman.
Other transfers include 6-4 Ameer Jackson from Dodge City Community College, 6-0 Jovante' Spivey from South Georgia State, 6-1 Jalin Barnes from Barton County Community College, 6-8 Andre Sands from Freeport, Bahamas and 6-5 Torry Butler from Three Rivers Community College.
“They all are quality young men who word hard every day,” Hooten said. “Jackson is a versatile athlete who can play all three guard positions. Spivey is a JUCO All-American who can score. Barnes is a strong, athletic player who can defend. Sands can be a physical presence under the boards for us. Butler has a great feel for the game, rebounds well and is strong defensively. Fortin is athletic and fast with great hands.”
The 2015-16 Sam Houston team will be tested early. The Bearkats open November 14 at SMU and also have contests versus Southern Illinois, California, Texas Tech, LIU-Brooklyn and UC-Irvine.
“We certainly will learn a lot about ourselves during the non-conference portion of the schedule,” Hooten said. “This is the most challenging schedule for Sam Houston in my 11 years here and certainly the toughest in my five years as head coach. Those games on the road are going to prepare us for a tough Southland schedule.”
Sam Houston's first home game is Tuesday, November 17, when the Bearkats host Saint Thomas. Other non-conference games at Bernard G. Johnson Coliseum include Wiley College Sunday November 29, Sul Ross Sunday December 6 and LeTourneau Monday December 14.
Southland Conference play begins on Saturday January 2 as Sam Houston travels to play the University of the Incarnate Word in San Antonio. The first home conference game is Saturday January 9 versus New Orleans. Unlike last season when Sam Houston had to play their final three regular season conference games on the road all in one week, the Bearkats will complete league action 2016 with four of their last five contests in Huntsville.
