With the memories of last season’s 7-19 record still fresh in his mind, Christian Brothers University Head Men’s Basketball Coach Mike Nienaber reflected on last year’s shortcomings and this year’s prospects.

“We had high hopes that didn’t come together for a lot of reasons.” “We were very dependent on freshmen and sophomores to get the job done for the past two seasons.” “Now, the upside of that is that we hope the young kids grew up.”

Two of those young guys are sophomore point guard, and team captain, Clint Dowdle and sophomore guard Jake Bazeley.

Dowdle was inserted into the starting line-up after the first game last year, and posted some very impressive numbers for a freshman in the Gulf South Conference.  The Cordova native averaged 9.7 points per game and dished out 71 assists.

Bazeley gave the Bucs 7.9 points per game and 53 assists, mostly from the shooting guard spot.

Both should provide very steady guard play, along with junior Joshua Moses.  Moses is the type of slash and create player who can open up an offense and create space for the inside game, which CBU, for the first time in Nienaber’s tenure, now has the talent to play.  “We have more depth in the post than at anytime that I’ve been here.”  “This is the first season that I have been able to run my offense, the offense that I was able to run at Bethel College when we had our best teams”, the Buc’s boss beamed.  “If you are someone who has followed us since I’ve been at CBU, you are going to notice a big difference.”  “We are going to get the ball inside more, but don’t get me wrong, we are still going to shoot three’s.”

The inside game is going to get a huge boost from some talented big men.  6’ 5” junior forward Adam Heitzman will provide the spark for a group expected to compete well with the wide-bodies in the GSC.  Heitzman led CBU in scoring last season, and is a key on defense.  “Adam Heitzman has been as good a defensive perimeter guy as there is in the league”, Nienaber said.  “No one works harder at it than he does.”

Also figuring into the front-court rotation will be 6’ 6” sophomore Jordan Jeffries, 6’ 6” sophomore Dustin Hoover, and 6’ 8” junior Dmitry Popov.  “Jordan is the kind of defender and rebounder that Adam (Heitzman) is, but can be better because of his athleticism.” “If he plays to his potential, he can be an All-Conference player in the years ahead”, Nienaber stated.       

Hoover, who saw action in 21 games for the Bucs last season, has blossomed into more of an all-around threat.  He can score inside or knock down a three.

The most intriguing of the big men is newcomer Dmitry Popov.  The transfer from Kirtland Community

College has shown flashes of brilliance, but also the impatience and mistakes of someone just learning the system.  “Dmitry is a pretty good replacement for Paul (Walker).  He has days where he is very good, but needs to work on his shot selection.” The coach added, “With the size he gives us, he should not have much to adjust to in the GSC.”               

Not only will the inside play be improved, but  Nienaber believes that he also has the players to attack the basket.  “That is probably one of the biggest differences, other than the post play with previous teams at CBU.  Wayne Moody, Josh Moses, Jake Bazeley, and Adam Heitzman can all take people off the dribble.”

Moody, a 6’ 4” junior forward will be an extremely exciting player to watch this season.  He is a player who can simply jump through the roof.            

Being picked to finish last in the pre-season conference poll doesn’t phase the Buc’s bench leader.  “I think that’s what we deserved, because we did finish last, last season.”  “But, the first place team (Henderson State University) had to hit a shot, at the buzzer, on their home floor to beat us, and we beat Delta State here on our home floor.” “Year to year you don’t really know who has what because of the turnover.  Six out of nine teams will have different rosters, and there are always three or four names that you have no clue.”  He added, “Our challenges in the GSC are different.  We don’t have the flexibility to recruit an entire roster of junior college transfers like a lot of the teams in the league can do.”  “That being said, there haven’t been many games in this building (De LaSalle Gymnasium) where we haven’t been right there with five minutes left in the game.  That makes for very exciting basketball…it’s good, but not good for the heart”, he added with a grin.  “We have a lot of kids that I would classify as winners on this team.  They don’t like to lose.  Most of them have come from a background where they have had success.”             

If that holds true to form, then this season could be one of the best the Bucs have had in recent years.