SIX RETURNERS AND NINE NEWCOMERS GET SET FOR FIRST MEN’S BASKETBALL TEAM PRACTICE ON FRIDAY 10/13/2009 SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The Sacramento State men’s basketball squad, which enters its second season under head coach Brian Katz, will open its practice schedule this Friday, Oct. 16, at 5:00 p.m. Practice continues 5-6 days a week leading up to the team’s lone home exhibition game against Menlo on Thursday, Nov. 5, at 7:05 p.m. The Hornets’ season opener will take place on the road at Rice as part of a three-day, three-team tournament on Friday, Nov. 13. The team’s home opener is Wednesday, Nov. 18, against Bethany. Below are team notes heading into the 2009-10 season. TEAM NOTES • Coming off a season in which the team had a brand new coaching staff, 12 new players, and finished with a 2-27 overall record and a 1-15 conference mark, second-year head coach Brian Katz will look to firmly put his thumb print on the program in 2009-10. With their first full year of recruiting, Katz and his staff have put together one of the more impressive recruiting classes in recent memory. Among the seven signees that will be in a Hornet uniform are three all-state selections (center Alpha N’Diaye, point guard Sultan Toles-Bey and swingman Walter Jackson), the state tournament MVP (swingman David Norris) and the state player of the year (Toles-Bey). • Of the Hornets’ 15 players on the roster, seven are seniors, five are juniors and three are freshmen. However, only one of those players has more than one year of experience in a Sacramento State uniform – senior center Justin Eller is entering his third year in the Green and Gold. • Sacramento State returns six players from last year’s team, including three starters. Those three starters are senior center Justin Eller, senior shooting guard Antonio Flaggs and senior point guard Mike Marcial. Eller is the team’s leading returner in both points (10.0 ppg) and rebounds (6.7 rpg). Those three players will also serve as this year’s team tri-captains. • Each of the Hornets’ six returners are seniors, comprised of point guards Mike Marcial and Jared Stigall, shooting guards Antonio Flaggs and Jonathan Malloy, forward Michael Selling and center Justin Eller. The team also returns guard Domineek Daniel who did not play last season. Every non-senior on the roster is a first-year player. • Of the Hornets’ 15 players on the roster, 12 have transferred from a junior college. Last year, the team’s roster contained 15 junior college transfers which was easily the most among the 347 Div. I men’s basketball teams. This year’s three freshmen are comprised of center Dani Lopez (South Elgin High School in Illinois), swingman John Dickson (Fairfield High School) and walkon shooting guard Brad Johnstin (Richmond-Burton High School in Illinois). • Junior forward Duro Bjegovic, who was a member of the under-16 and under -18 Croatian national teams, will become the first Croatian-born player to appear in a Sacramento State men’s basketball uniform. • The long and athletic Alpha N’Diaye, who has a 7-foot-1 wing span and will redshirt this season, moved to the United States and began playing organized basketball two years ago where he helped lead Fremont’s Ohlone College to a combined 45-20 record over the last two years. • New to this year’s coaching staff is assistant Ajay Riding (pronounced A.J.), who played two years for Katz at Delta College (2003-05) before playing his final two seasons at Fresno State (2005-07). Riding joins second-year assistants Brady Bergeson and Dominique Bukasa. • With 153 more three-pointers last season, Sacramento State has knocked down at least one three-pointer in 433 consecutive games, a streak which dates back to Nov. 28, 1993. • Sacramento State has 30 games on its regular season schedule, including 13 at home, 15 on the road and two neutral-site contests. The Hornets begin the year at the Rice Basketball Challenge where they play Rice, Houston Baptist and South Alabama over a three-day span (Nov. 13-15). The tournament will mark the first time in school history Sacramento State has faced all three of those teams.