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.

The Governors went 16-0 in the OVC last year, but lost to Murray State when it mattered the most in the conference tournament. The turnover won’t be easy in Clarksville, Tennessee. Four starters are gone and it will be up to the new faces to come in and make an impact. It could take a while but Dave Loos will have his team ready to go by the time the Ohio Valley Conference games roll around.

Who’s Out: Starters Adrian Henning, Josh Lewis, Corey Gipson and Rhet Wierzba have all run out of eligibility. Henning led the squad with 13.7 points per game. He also added 6.3 boards per outing. Josh Lewis was a monster on the glass, grabbing 7.4 rebounds per game. Gipson and Wierzba both averaged over six points per game. Roleplayer Jermaine Graham averaged 2.5 minutes in only 13 appearances as a senior last year.

Who’s In: Tomas Janusauskas is a solid prospect at 6-11 and 220 pounds. He is not a very polished player but at his size will see significant playing time and has plenty of opportunity to improve in the years to come. Center Kareem Matthews will add more depth to the frontcourt. The 6-11 junior college transfer isn’t a great scorer either but has the tools to improve. Shooting guard Todd Babington has an excellent shooting range and is a smart player. At 6-5, Babington is pretty tall for an OVC guard, which down the road will be an immense advantage. Local product Brandon Burney can score and pass. Burney is the type of point guard that can make his teammates better. He should see a little time this year backing up Anthony Davis. Adding even more depth to the backcourt is newcomer Derek Wright.

Who to Watch: Senior guard Anthony Davis is the returning leader in minutes, points, rebounds, assists and steals. He won’t be asked to be the leader of all those categories by the end of the year, but he very well could be on top of most. As a junior, Davis averaged 12.8 points per game, 2.5 assists and 1.4 steals. The 6-2 guard can shoot and pass. This year Davis might have to score even more with the loss of his starting teammates. When the point guard does pass, he passes well. He had 79 assists last year and only 44 turnovers. Add 44 steals to that and Davis did a splendid job creating opportunities for Austin Peay.

Projected Conference Rank: They won’t go 16-0 again and there will be some growing pains with the new faces, but this can still be a strong team. It won’t seem as easy as it did last year, but a 2nd place finish isn’t too far out of sight for the Governors.

Projected Post-season Tournament: NIT

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Email Joel Welser: jwelser_chn@ameritech.net

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