Montana State Bobcats (13-18, 7-9)
Projected starting five:
Sr. G Rod Singleton
Jr. G avier Johnson-Blount
Jr. G Jamie Stewart
Sr. F Jordain Allou
Jr. C Mohammed Fall
Important departures:
Erik Rush: 15.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 2.8 apg, 1.4 steals per game, 38 3-pointers made per game
Bobby Howard: 14.8 ppg, 7.2 rpg, 0.9 steals per game, 47 3-pointers made per game
Danny Piepoli: 7.5 ppg, 45 3-pointers made per game
Cody Anderson: 4.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg
Top returnees:
Singleton: 7.9 ppg, 3.5 apg, 1.1 steals per game
Additions:
Johnson-Blount: transfer from Cochise College (21.7 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 1.4 steals per game)
Fall: transfer from Cloud County Community College (55 percent field goal percentage, 73 percent free throw percentage, 8.9 rpg, 2.5 blocks per game)
Christian Moon: transfer from Henry Ford Community College (13.9 ppg, 5.4 rebounds, 2.1 apg, 1.8 steals per game)
Stewart: transfer from Henry Ford Community College (15.1 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 2.3 apg, 1.9 steals per game)
Schedule highlights:
Toughest nonconference match up: at Utah or at New Mexico.
Hardest conference stretch: at Weber State and at Northern Arizona or a road contest at Montana then home against Northern Arizona to end the regular season.
Outlook:
The Bobcats, on paper, have a lot of retooling to do after losing four starters — three to graduation, one to retirement — especially since the starters accounted for 63 percent of their points, 50 percent of the rebounds, 55 percent of 3-pointers made and 61 percent of the field goals made.
Montana State also will miss its top offseason signing, Juco transfer Antonio Biglow (Mount San Antonio College) for the first semester as his transfer was hung up by paperwork or academics. Four other Juco transfers are coming in, with at least two or three poised to start, which is Huse’s biggest advantage and the slight advantage over Northern Arizona and Northern Colorado.
