After a successful start to the season the SMU men’s basketball team (1-0) is gearing up for a pre-season appearance in California tonight against Colorado State.
“We’re ready to get everyone’s attention that we’re SMU and we’re here to make noise,” said Robert Nyakundi who is currently a senior on the team.
Nyakundi has recently been named by Head Coach Matt Doherty as a captain for the 2011-12 season along with teammates Jeremiah Samarippas and Shawn Williams.
As a junior, Nyakundi was selected for his third-team All-C-USA and named the team’s Most Improved Player. He averaged 14.3 points and set both Conference USA and SMU records from 3-point range, shooting 49.7 percent.
Nyakundi says the Mustangs have been training hard in preparation for the 2011 Dick’s Sporting Goods NIT Season Tip off, a tournament they were selected to participate in starting Nov.14 in Stanford, Calif.
The winners of the preliminary rounds will advance to the semifinals held in New York City’s Madison Square Garden Nov. 23.
The championship game will be played on Nov. 25. The event will be televised on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN3.com.
This will only be SMU’s second appearance in the Preseason NIT with the first being at the start of the 1998-1999 season.
When asked what he hopes to carry on from last season, Nyakundi’s response was winning.
“If everyone can come together every day, day in and day out, then we’ll keep winning,” Nyakundi said.
By the closing of the 2010-11 basketball season, the team had accomplished 20 wins, making it the most celebrated season in 11 years.
During last season, SMU had eight wins in Conference USA and finished its season at the CollegeInsider.com Tournament (CIT) semifinals, when they fell to Santa Clara. The Mustangs also graduated six seniors, three of those being starters, at the end of last season.
Mike Walker was one of the players who graduated last year. Now working as a Video Coordinator for the Mustangs, Walker is eager for the season to begin and to watch the new talent excel.
“I’m looking forward to seeing them develop and compete on a big stage. It’s going to be really exciting,” Walker said.
Apart from winning, Walker makes it clear it is important that the program continues to build on the SMU tradition of being a “true team that works together.” Success is one thing that every member of the men’s basketball program is working to make happen annually.
New to the SMU community is Kansas State transfer Nick Russell. Although Russell did not plant his roots here in the beginning, the Duncanville native feels as strongly about the Mustangs success as former players. Coming from another program, Russell believes that the Mustangs work harder than any other team in the nation.
“The only thing that is going to stop us is ourselves,” said Russell who has been playing basketball since before he can remember.
After hearing about his passion for the sport, it is no surprise that the first word he ever spoke was “ball.”
Russell’s goals for the season are to make it to the NCAA Tournament after winning the Conference USA championship in Memphis, Tenn. Unfortunately, due to the transfer in conferences, Russell will not be joining the
Mustang pack on the court until next season. In the meantime the point guard is working to improve all aspects of his game.
Although SMU has a lot of new faces on the team this year, one thing that has been determined by the SMU men’s basketball program is that the Mustang stampede is ready to hit the hardwood.
The men’s basketball team will take Western Region opponents, the Colorado State Rams tonight at 7 p.m.
