Last year the Sacramento State basketball team gave us a sneak preview of the promising future that is to come.

Although the Hornets lost their chances to make the Big Sky Tournament in the final week of the season, they proved they had the talent to win the whole thing.

As the Hornets gear up for the 2002-03 basketball season, head coach Jerome Jenkins is excited about the season’s possibilities.

“Our number one goal is to get to the Big Sky Tournament,” Jenkins said. “We definitely have the talent and desire to get there, now all we have to do is go out and win games.

“If we get into the tournament we will have as good of a chance as anyone to win it.”

One of the reasons the Hornets were able to go toe-to-toe with Big Sky opponents last year, was their athleticism. Under Jenkins the Hornets employed an up-and-down style of play that allowed Sac State to lead the Big Sky in scoring until the last week of the season.

However, the Hornets will probably have to do without the services of forward Joel Jones, who earned all-Big Sky honorable mention honors and averaged 15.1 points per game in conference play last season.

Jones, who is academically ineligible for the fall 2002 semester, could possibly play during the second half of the season.

However, Jenkins might go with plan B, which would be to redshirt Jones for the entire season.

“I promised (Jones’) mom that I would do my best to help him graduate,” Jenkins said. “That’s my number one priority. We’ll probably sit him out this year to preserve his last year of eligibility.”

Joseth Dawson, who led the team in scoring last season, will also have to sit out due to academic ineligibility, although Jenkins is optimistic Dawson will not be lost for the season.

“Hopefully, Joe will only miss the first 10 games of the year,” Jenkins said. “He is working hard to get his academics back on track. Joe is a very important piece to our team and I would hate to lose him.”

Even with the team’s top-two returning scorers in question, Jenkins still feels confident that the Hornets can achieve their goals.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a couple of tricks up my sleeve,” Jenkins said. “We’ll still be athletic and we will still maintain our run-and-gun style.”

Although transfers Jameel Pugh and E.J. Harris will have to sit out a year due to NCAA rules, the Hornets have some new comers that should bring excitement.

Pugh transferred from the University of Massachusetts and was named Slam magazine’s 33rd greatest dunker of all-time, while Harris hails from Washington State University.

Another backcourt addition to this year’s roster is Deshawn Freeman, a freshman out of Saint Mary’s High School in Berkeley.

“Deshawn is a battler,” Jenkins said. “He actually was a steal. A lot of teams passed on him because of his height (5-foot-10), but he can definitely hoop. You can’t substitute heart with height, and Deshawn has a lot of heart.”

Also new in the mix is junior Brandon Guyton who redshirted last season.

“Brandon is a long-range sniper,” Jenkins said. “He’s got a really nice outside touch. Last year in practice he really lit up the starters, so that gives you an idea of what kind of player this guy is.”

Junior Tony Champion, who has dropped down from 330 pounds from his freshman year to a current 260 pounds, will lead the frontcourt. Junior Cedric Thompkins, who led the Big Sky in offensive rebounds last season, also returns.

Redshirt freshman Chris Lange, who was the state of New Mexico’s high school player of the year in 2001 , is expected to step in and give the Hornets some more muscle up front.

“The great thing about Chris is that he is versatile and can step out and hit the three. He should give us another option on what is already an athletic team,” Jenkins said.

New recruits Emir Medunjanin and Djibril Diop are also expected to be in the rotation when the season rolls around.