Beginning Monday, June 21st, 2004 CHN began unveiling 144 Team previews in 144 Days. CHN ranked the nations top 144 teams, and is unveiling one per day leading up until the opening day of the 2004-05 Season.

Bookmark the 144 Teams in 144 Days home page, and check back each day to see which team is previewed next.

Fresno State was hoping for something better then a 6th place finish in the WAC last year. In the second half it was suspensions that them in. The Bulldogs lost three quality players and had trouble replacing them so quickly. That won’t be the case going into this year.

Who’s Out: Shantay Legans’ 15 points and 5.6 assists will be greatly missed. Legans held the team together as the floor general. Renaldo Major and Jonathan Woods were both suspended in early February and only played in 13 and 12 games respectively. The Bulldogs have already gone more then half a season without that duo. Many returning players received a healthy amount of playing time in their absence and will be ready to step in full time.

Who’s In: Head coach Ray Lopes brings in a plethora of players for his second season. Guards Dwight O’Neil and Dominique White should see some minutes off the bench. Fellow backcourters Donovan Morris and walk-on Kevin Bell could also see some playing time. In the frontcourt forwards Chris Berry and Hector Hernandez will add some much needed depth off the bench.

Who to Watch: Center Mustafa Al-Sayyad will have to be the go to guy in the Bulldog frontcourt. He ended last year on a hot streak, scoring double digits in Fresno State’s last six games, including a career high 24 points in the regular season finale against Hawaii. The 6-9, 240 pounder will need to keep those numbers going if the Bulldogs want to get back on top of the WAC.

Projected Conference Rank: The loss of leader Shantay Legans is too big of a blow to expect much better things than last year. All the suspensions were a huge distraction last year and getting a chance to start all over again should help, but another 6th place finish in the WAC is reasonable.

Projected Post-season Tournament: none

« Team #111 , Team #109   »

Email Joel Welser: jwelser_chn@ameritech.net

Chat About CHN's Top #144 Ranking: http://pub14.ezboard.com/fcollegehoopsnetfrm8

Return to the 144 Teams in 144 Days home page