In the history of Sacramento State men’s basketball therehas never been greatness like this.

The Hornets are to the Big Sky what the Minnesota Timberwolvesare to the Western Conference.

Like the T-Wolves, they should feature a new lineup includingtheir top two leading scorers from two seasons ago in Joseth Dawsonand Joel “JoJo” Jones. Joining them will be formerGrant High School star Jameel “Supafly” Pugh.

Like the Lakers in the West, Weber State remains the clearfavorite of the conference. The remaining conference spots arewide-open.

The Master:

The Hornets are very deep with new talent and head coach JeromeJenkins needs to find the right chemistry.

Jenkins, the Eric Mussleman of Division I basketball, is thetype of coach that is never happy with the level of the program.Jenkins simply gets the most out of his players and his playersswear by him.

Jones, a 6-foot-5 senior guard, best resembles the play of RayAllen. He can take you hard inside and is deadly with his perimetershooting. According to teammates, Jones is the hardest working guyon the team.

Slogan: “The double Jo dizzle is more than just hype onthe rizzle. Gonna get the Sac hizzle on the map foshizzo.”

Dawson led the team in scoring two years ago. He resemblesGilbert Arenas in play and may just have the quickest first step inthe conference, complemented by a consistent jumper.

Slogan: “Shakin’ em like a Polaroidpicture…Hey ya!”

Pugh, a junior transfer from UMass, is a prominenttriple-threat. Like Latrell Sprewell, Pugh is quick with his drive,plays strong inside, and has a good mid-range shot. Pugh was namedthe 33rd greatest dunker in the world coming out of high school bySLAM magazine.

Slogan: “You’ll love the way I fly.”

Senior Brandon Guyton went 6 of 6 from 3-point range this pastSaturday in the Hornets last exhibition game. He is Steve Kerr withdefense.

Slogan: “Chicks dig the long ball.”

Junior transfer E.J. Harris and sophomore DaShawn Freeman fromOakland will share time at point guard and bring a Mike Bibby/Bobby Jackson presence to the Hornets.

Freeman is an excellent on-the-ball defender who dictates afast-tempo style of play.

Slogan: “Jason Kidd…Oakland. GaryPayton…Oakland. DaShawn Freeman…Oakland. Get thepicture?”

Harris, who transferred from Washington State, has excellentcourt vision and knows how to get his scorers open shots. Accordingto his teammates, Harris is the type of player that can gounnoticed in the stat book, and still be the most valuable playeron the court.

Slogan: “You can’t spell pointe juard withoutE.J…. damn L.A. school district.”

Junior transfer, James Payne, from Detroit will round out theguards and will be a spark plug off the bench.

Slogan: “Detroit…spark plug…getit?”

Senior Tony Champion is one of the bigger centers in theconference. He worked hard in the off-season and has the capabilityof being the Shaq of the Big Sky.

Slogan: “Support your local big men.”

Sophomore big man Chris Lange has a perimeter game like TroyMurphy. The team comedian will look to improve on last year’sexcellent freshman season.

Slogan: “The biggest thing out of New Mexico since… uhhh…”

Senior forward/center Cedric Thompkins adds a powerful presencein the key on defense and on the boards, but lacks enough postmoves to contribute offensively.

Slogan: “The thinking man’s DennisRodman.”

Other big men include 6-foot-10 Frenchman Djibril Diop,”Internationally known, locally overlooked” and NickGooding, “the other white meat.” True freshman Alex”not affiliated with Charlie or his angels” Bausleywill be an excellent player down the road, but will struggle tofind minutes this year.

The Outlook: 15-12, 8-6 Big Sky Conference. Finish 3rd in BigSky.

Will you be at Stanford on Saturday? Do you have a betterslogan?

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