New Mexico State Team Report

GETTING INSIDE

There are four teams in the WAC that return four starters from last season. But New Mexico State does them one better.

The Aggies return all five of their starters, including first-team all-league guard Jahmar Young, who averaged a WAC-best 18.9 points in conference games.

“We’ve got a lot returning and we’re excited about the continuity going forward,” said coach Marvin Menzies. “We have some excellent additions as well in terms of new players that are young and talented. I think with the combination of the two, it will put us in a position to be very optimistic going forward.”

The Aggies didn’t even have a senior last season and have only one on scholarship this time around—starting guard Jonathan Gibson. The Aggies grew up together over the course of last season, finishing 17-15 but winning eight of the last 12 games and reaching the WAC tournament semifinal, where they lost to eventual champ Utah State 71-70.

“Toward the middle and the end of the season, we started growing up more,” junior guard Gordo Castillo told the Las Cruces Sun-News.

“We were serious about it, but there were people in and we had to get our groove first, so once we got to the WAC Tournament, we were clicking and playing like we should have been from the beginning.”

New Mexico has a fabulous backcourt of Young and Gibson—that’s a combined 32.0 points per game—that can lead the way for the up-tempo style that Menzies and former NMSU coach Reggie Theus learned under Rick Pitino.

Everybody is a year older. If that means a year better, NMSU could walk away with the league title.

NOTES, QUOTES

• If there is a concern for New Mexico State, it is that two key frontcourt players—starter Wendell McKines (who averaged a double-double last season with 12.1 points and 10.0 rebounds) and promising sophomore Troy Gillenwater—are academically ineligible for the first semester. The first game they could play in would be the Dec. 13 game at UTEP.

• The Aggies, who play at the fastest pace in the WAC, led the league in scoring last season with 76.3 points per game, as well as steals (7.2 per game) and 3-point accuracy (40.0 percent).

• Sophomore PG Hernst Laroche ranked second among freshmen and 18th nationally last season in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.48).

Last Year:   17-15 overall, 9-7 in the WAC

Head Coach:   Marvin Menzies (career 38-29); third year at NMSU (38-29).

Quote To Note:   “I think we’re very strong in the guard positions with our returners. They will get pushed by some of the younger kids as well. I think the competition is good for business, and business is booming as far as the guards are concerned.”—Coach Marvin Menzies

STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL

Scouting The Newcomers:   New Mexico State signed two players in the spring—6-1 freshman guard Da’Shawn Gomez from Inglewood, Calif., and 6-9 freshman B.J. West, who played last season at God’s Academy in Dallas. “Getting a kid like Da’Shawn Gomez, out of Southern California, is a big feather in our cap,” Menzies said. In late August, coach Marvin Menzies added 7-foot freshman Abdoulaye N’doye from Senegal and swing forward Bandja Sy from France. “Bandja is similar to Wendell McKines in that he was a phenomenal late get in the July recruiting period,” Menzies said.

Key Early-season Games:   New Mexico State went 1-3 in its regional rivalry games last season, splitting against and being swept by New Mexico. The Aggies will be shorthanded in both of this year’s meetings against the Lobos (Nov. 17 in Albuquerque and Dec. 5 in Las Cruces) before of the academic ineligibility of double-double forward Wendell McKines and forward Troy Gillenwater, who averaged 12.1 points last season. They could be back for the second matchup against UTEP on Dec. 13 in El Paso. Can the guard play lead the Aggies to at least a split against their rivals?

Program Direction:   Marvin Menzies, entering his third season, has carried on just fine since coach Reggie Theus left for the NBA. The Aggies are still athletic and frenetically paced and cause all kinds of trouble for most WAC teams. New Mexico State is good enough to win the league this season, and if Menzies can hold the roster together and keep everyone eligible, the 2010-11 season could be special as the Aggies would have reached the full intersection of talent and experience.

Probable Starting Lineup:   PG Hernst Laroche, G Jonathan Gibson, G Jahmar Young, F Wendell McKines, C Hamidu Rahman

Roster Report:  

• Backup C Chris Gabriel left the team in the summer and ended up at the University of San Diego. He averaged 7.8 minutes in 28 games last season.

• G Terrance Joyner, who played in 16 games last season as a freshman but had legal issues, left the program and enrolled at Eastern Utah.