MEN’S BASKETBALL KICKS OFF NEW SEASON WITH FIRST PRACTICE ON FRIDAY 10/10/2007 SACRAMENTO, Calf. - Fresh off a season in which the team averaged better than 75 points per game and finished second in the nation in steals (11.03 per game), the Sacramento State men’s basketball team will kick off the 2007-08 season with its first practice on Friday night (Oct. 12). The Hornets return seven letterwinners (two starters) and two redshirts from a team that finished the 2006-07 season with its fifth consecutive double digit victory season. Many new faces will appear on the Sacramento State sidelines as the team welcomes five new players, and new assistant coaches Tarvish Felton (Southern Utah), Kenya Crandell (Nebraska-Omaha) and Scott Eitelgeorge (Diablo Valley College). Head coach Jerome Jenkins, who enters his eighth season with the Hornets and is the second longest tenured head coach in the Big Sky Conference, has led the Hornets to Big Sky Conference Tournament appearances four times in the last five years. College basketball teams can begin practicing Friday at 7 p.m. local time, and the Hornets will begin at that time. Beginning next Monday, the Hornets’ daily practices will usually take place either 2:00-4:30 p.m., or 4:30-7:00 p.m. throughout the week. The Hornets will have to deal with the loss of four of their top five scorers from last season who combined for over 62 percent of the team’s average of 75.6 points per game. Ready to assume some of the scoring load, among others, will be junior shooting guard Loren Leath, who has averaged 12.2 points per game during his two seasons in the Green and Gold while burying 127 three-pointers. Joining Leath, the other returning starter is senior combo guard Roderick Adams, who started all but one game last season. After scoring in double figures just once through the first 25 games of last year, Adams averaged 12.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 4.3 assists and 3.8 steals over his last four games. Also returning are senior shooting guard Clark Woods and junior forward Randy Adams, who both redshirted last season. Woods, who is returning from a knee injury, averaged 7.3 points and 1.2 three-pointers per game as a junior in 2005-06. Adams is a 6-8 forward who is one of the best defenders and most athletic players on the team. Other returners are senior forwards Justin Williams and Jason Davis, senior center Curtis Harrison, junior swingman Donald Thomas and sophomore point guard Alonzo Young. Among the newcomers are three sophomores (swingman Yannick Kasongo, forward/centers Justin Eller and Wandji Aboubakar) and two freshmen (point guard Vinnie McGhee, Jr. and swingman guard Darnell Ferguson). Sacramento State will play one home exhibition game - Nov. 5 against Cal State Maritime at 7:05 p.m. - before kicking off the regular season at Kansas State on Friday, Nov. 9. The team’s home opener will take place three days later on Monday, Nov. 12, against Simpson at 7:05 p.m. The Hornets will play 13 games at home (including a date with Santa Clara on Sunday, Nov. 25) and 16 games on the road. HORNET BRIEFS HEADING INTO THE NEW SEASON • With 187 more three-pointers last season, Sacramento State has now knocked down at least one three-pointer in 376 consecutive games, a streak which dates back to 1993. • The Hornets’ 320 steals, and 11.03 steals per game were both program records. In fact, the team’s 11.03 spg average was the second best mark in the nation. Sacramento State averaged nearly four more steals per game than any other team in the Big Sky Conference. The Hornets have now led the conference in steals every year since Jenkins took over the program, a span of seven consecutive years. • Sacramento State averaged better than 75 points per game (75.6), including three games where the team scored at least 100 points. One of those games was a 105-83 victory over eventual Big Sky Tournament champion Weber State in the regular-season finale. • Sacramento State forced teams into an average of more than 20 turnovers per game (20.3) last season, and the Hornets’ turnover margin of +6.0 was easily the best mark in the Big Sky Conference. • Of the Hornets’ 28 games this year, only 13 will come at home. Among those road games include dates at Kansas State, Stanford, Oregon and Marquette. Over the last six years, Sacramento State is a combined 50-29 at home, but just 20-69 on the road. The team has not finished below .500 inside the friendly confines since the 2000-01 season. • With 76 career victories, head coach Jerome Jenkins has the fourth most wins in Sacramento State program history, and is just two victories shy of moving into third place. Jenkins’ teams have averaged 10.9 wins per season during his tenure. This comes after the program averaged just 4.1 wins per season from the team’s first season of Div. I play (1991-92) until Jenkins’ hiring on March 14, 2000. • The program has graduated 11 players during Jerome Jenkins’ tenure, a dramatic improvement from the years prior to his arrival. Five additional players (Roderick Adams, Curtis Harrison, Justin Williams, Clark Woods and Chris Lange) are on pace to graduate this academic year. • Over the last two seasons, Sacramento State has set single-season Div. I era records in steals, wins (15), wins away from home (eight), longest winning streak (five), non-conference wins (nine), 100-point games (three) and Big Sky all-conference selections (three). In addition, the Hornets picked up their first-ever road wins at Weber State, Portland State and San Francisco.