Yahoo! Sports looks inside Warhawk Basketball
The Warhawks literally limped to six league wins
and just 10 overall wins last season. The team
Advertisement
was besieged by injuries that left them
short-handed at several spots, particularly
point guard.
The team's top two backcourt
players were together for only the first three
games of the season. As a result, ULM ranked
near the bottom of the Sun Belt conference in
assist/turnover ratio and turnover margin and
assists.
However, optimism is high in Monroe.
All five starters return as does as the
team's sixth man, who may very well claim a
starting assignment.
A stout recruiting class and a favorable
decision by the NCAA hardship committee gives
the Warhawks their best roster of talent and
depth in the Orlando Early era.
NOTES, QUOTES
•Starters
missed a total
of 44 games due
to injury
including a
combined 43 from
junior point
guard Brandon
Roberts and
All-Sun Belt
guard
Tony Hooper.
•ULM
was one of five
Sun Belt teams
to have four
players average
in double
figures.
By The
Numbers:
-
88.5-Total
percentage of
the team's
scoring the
Warhawks return
for the 2009-10
season.
- 10- Number
of wins by ULM
in three of
Orlando Early's
four seasons.
STRATEGY
AND PERSONNEL
Key
Returnees:
Dynile Forbes
sprained an
ankle early last
season, but came
on strong down
the stretch by
averaging nearly
15 points per
game over the
final 10
contests. Forbes
is best at
attacking the
rim and getting
to the free
throw line.
Forbes moved
into the
starting line-up
late in the
season.
The team's
scoring leader
(12.3 per game),
steals leader
and 3-point
leader,
Malcolm Thomas,
also returns.
Thomas was ninth
in the league,
hitting at a 40%
clip from beyond
the arc, as he
landed the
conference
newcomer of the
year award.
ULM's top
rebounder and
shot blocker,
Rudy Turner,
is also back.
Turner averaged
ten points and
seven rebounds
last year.
The Warhawks
also get former
All-Sun Belt
performer Tony
Hooper back,
Hooper played in
just four games
last year
because of a
broken foot and
team suspension.
Scouting
The Newcomers:
Five
newcomers join
the squad, but
gaining
significant
minutes will be
tough. The most
intriguing new
face is junior
college transfer
the
Fabio Ribero
from New Mexcio
Junior College.
Ribero is a 6-10
center
originally from
Caetanopolis,
Brazil.
Key Early
Season Games:
Coach Orlando
Early hopes to
help himself on
the Cajun State
recruiting trail
with a number of
match-ups
against in-state
competition. The
Warhawks open
their season
November 13 in
Baton Rouge
against LSU,
followed by
Grambling State
visiting Monroe
for the first
time in ten
years. Louisiana
Tech visits the
Monroe campus
for the first
time in 20 years
on December 2.
Shreveport-based
Centenary will
host ULM on
November 27.
Program
Direction:
Early, a
former Alabama
assistant coach,
gets a pass due
to the injuries
that clearly
hampered his
team last
season. However,
the fact is the
ULM has only 20
total wins and
10 league
victories the
last two years
combined. With a
veteran squad, a
move up the
conference
hierarchy is
expected. School
administrators
are confident
the program is
turning the
proverbial
corner.
Probable
Starting Lineup:
G/F Malcom
Thomas, F
Lawrence Gilbert,
F Rudy Turner, G
Dynile Forbes, G
Jarvis Hill.
Roster
Report:
•Hooper
was granted a
fifth year of
eligibility.
•Reserves
Mitchell Hampton
and Reggie
Lassiter
transferred
after last
season.
•Fred
Brown joined
the ULM program
in July. Brown,
a Kansas State
transfer, will
have two years
of eligibility
after sitting
out this season.
Sykes was a
late spring
signee (June)
from Odessa
Junior College.