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.

#117 New Mexico Lobos

Mountain West

 2003-04: 14-14, 5-9, 5^th

2003-04 postseason: none

By Joel Welser

Ritchie McKay is bringing the Lobos back to the prominence of years past.  After going 14-14 last year, the fans in Albuquerque will expect more.  Starters Danny Granger, David Chiotti, Troy DeVries and Alfred Neale are all returning.  Along with a dependable group of role players and a few new faces, New Mexico should be able to improve on their 5-9 conference record.

Who’s Out: Javin Tindall was the lone senior starter last year.  Tindall averaged nearly 13 points per game and 3.5 assists.  Sparsely used Ryan Ashcraft is also graduating.  Role player Lenny Miles is transferring to Colorado to play football.  Miles averaged over 14 minutes in 28 games for New Mexico.

Who’s In: The Lobos aren’t just building for the future with this years recruiting class.  Bombale Osby could see significant minutes as a freshman.  The 6-6 power forward has tons of hustle and will always play hard.  Tony Dandridge is a small forward that can do damage inside and out.  He has a nice stroke from behind the arc and should get some time off the bench this year.  Incoming freshman Darren Prentice and expected walk-on Blake Harden aren’t anticipated to see much playing time.  Junior college guard Kris Collins has the experience to make an immediate impact.

Who to Watch: This team is all about Danny Granger.  Granger lead the Mountain West in scoring with 19.5 points per game.  The 6-8 forward scored over 30 points twice last year and grabbed over ten boards seven times.  Last year Granger was the first Lobo ever to lead his team in points, rebounds (9.0 rpg), blocks (1.41 bpg) and steals (1.72 spg).  For his senior year, Granger could average a double-double and lead the Lobos to the post season.

Projected Conference Rank: They should improve on their 5-9 conference record, but the competition is too stiff in the Mountain West for the Lobos to make the NCAA Tournament.  Even if the conference gets three teams in, New Mexico will be on the outside looking in at 5^th place.

Projected Post-season Tournament: none

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Email Joel Welser: jwelser_chn@ameritech.net

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