Nov. 11, 2005

Abilene, Texas - Hardin-Simmons' men's basketball team comes into the season with something it did not realistically have in recent years - title aspirations.

The Cowboys are coming off a remarkable 19-8 season that saw them share the American Southwest Conference West Division title and advance to the ASC Tournament for the first time.

This time around the Cowboys will not be able to sneak up on teams as they return four starters from a year and eight of its top 11 scorers. They will have to replace ASC West Player of the Year Calvin Nite.

"We had a great year last year and return a lot of talent," said fifth-year head coach Dylan Howard. "We have some guys that have individually worked hard on their game in the offseason and last year proved to them that all the hard work pays dividends."

"However, when we started practice last season was over," Howard said. "We have to start over. We have brought in some talented guys to go with the veterans and we want to build on last year. This team has come in with a great attitude and the guys are coming to practice every day and working hard. They want to get to the NCAA Tournament."

The Cowboys must find a way to replace Nite's 17.5 points per game last season and it is looking to that through increased production from a variety of players but probably most importantly second-team all-ASC performer Zach Pickelman. The junior from New Braunfels averaged 14.2 points per game as a sophomore.

"Our offense is going to be built around Zach a lot like it was around Cal last season," said Howard. "We expect him to put up big numbers as he sees more time at the four, where he is the most comfortable. Zach is hard to guard because he can shoot the three and if a bigger guy comes out on him he will go right around them and score or get fouled. He shot 83 percent at the line last season so he will be one of the top two or three players in the league this year."

The Cowboys are also expecting big things from the interior game with Mardochee Jean and Donald Rohde. Jean came on strong last season after Rohde went down with a torn ACL. Rohde is back practicing and should be ready for the season opener against North Texas. Jean averaged six points and 5.7 rebounds and he is the leading returning shot blocker in the league with 46 last season.

"Mardochee has made a lot of progress," said Howard. "He is practicing as hard as anybody we have and he is really being aggressive around the rim. He is an athletic 6-8 player and has shown flashes of being a go-to player in the preseason. Maybe the most important improvement has been his attitude. He has showed up every day and worked hard. He has really grown up and Rohde is not all the way back but he is showing signs. I am very optimistic about our posts."

Going into the season the Cowboys have three players fighting for time at point guard. Matt Brackett returns as the starter, sophomore Marlon Washington is the most athletic of the three and the Cowboys lone senior Colby Hale sees the floor the best. They will all three see the floor.

"We have three returning players at point guard. All three are different players and can do different things. Matt is probably the toughest mentally and gets us in the right plays and runs the offense, Marlon is more of an offensive option because he can get his shot off and he is quicker and Colby sees the court well and is a good shooter."

James Peters returns after earning honorable mention all-ASC honors last season as a redshirt freshman. He looks even better this season and has regained some of his explosiveness after knee injuries in two consecutive years.

"I expect James to be one of the top players in the league. He can defend and he has regained some of that leaping ability and power I saw from him in high school. He is our best defender and one of our top athletes. He has had a great preseason."

Freshman Tom Horn from Stephenville has had a great preseason and will see some time at the two. Washington and Hale could also see time at the shooting guard position as well as Trent Martin, who is in his first year after transferring from Baylor.

Sharpshooting Tanner Kudrna returns at small forward, although he could play some at the two when the Cowboys go with a bigger lineup. He started most of the games as a freshman and last year settled into a sixth man role. He earned honorable mention all-ASC honors, averaging 8.9 points per game. He also shot 42 percent from three-point range.

He will be pushed for playing time by versatile sophomore Rob Yeatts. As a freshman Yeatts was one of the Cowboys better defenders off the bench and he shot 36 percent from 3-point range. He has gotten stronger and faster and will be in the minutes rotation.

Up front along with Pickelman, Rohde and Jean the Cowboys have four newcomers that will play. Charles Pannell is probably the best offensive player of the group and will see some time at the four behind Pickelman. He is one of the top shooters on the team.

Seth Gohlke is an athletic player that has been away from the game for a couple of years, while he ran track at Abilene Chrisitan. Ivan Mudingo-Mbongo is the wild card of the bunch. He is by far the best athlete on the team, but is still learning the game. He has improved daily since practice began Oct. 15. He was a foreign exchange student from France. If he continues to develop, he could be in the mix for significant minutes as the season moves on.

Another newcomer Ricky Oviatt is the tallest Cowboy in recent memory at 6-10 and is developing at a high rate.

"Our young guys are learning on the fly," said Howard. "It is taking them some time to get the offenses down and just little things like screening and communicating that they did not have to do in high school. The last few practices they have really started to pick it up and the veteran guys are doing a good job of showing them what they need to do. We have some very talented young players and they will all get some court time."

"I like this team. We have the right mix of veteran and young players and they are working hard. It is amazing what winning does for confidence. They know their goals are obtainable and that has made for more intense practices."

The Cowboys will have to be ready to play right out of the gate. They open the season at Division I North Texas and then play Southwestern, who is one of the top teams in the South region, and they will be looking for revenge after the Cowboys stole a game at the buzzer from the Pirates in Georgetown last season.

The Cowboys open conference play against UT-Tyler, a team the Cowboys lost to each of the past two years, and then play at defending conference champion UT-Dallas. The next weekend sees the Cowboys playing East Texas Baptist and the top player in the conference Cedric Isom and the extremely talented LeTourneau that has a new coach. A

Another game against a Division I opponent - Southern Methodist - is slated for Dec. 10 in Dallas and then the Cowboys play cross-town rival McMurry and then a trip to Louisiana College and traditional power Mississippi College close out the fall semester. Then it is on to ASC West play for the most part.

"The conference gets better every year from one through 16," said Howard. "Every team has a chance to win every night. We have to get through Mississippi College, they beat us twice last year, including in the ASC Tournament. Mary Hardin-Baylor beat us twice, McMurry got us a couple of times.

"We have been competitive with those teams, and for the most part they were close games, but they were still losses. One of our next steps as a program is to be able to go on the road and win those tough games against the best teams in the league. If we want to get to the NCAA Tournament, and that is our goal, we have to take the next step."