The early season absence of the Aggies' primary front courters, the play at center becomes of increasing importance for the Aggies. The Aggies entered last season with two freshmen centers, Hamidu Rahman and Chris Gabriel, who had hopes of replacing two year starters Martin Iti and Hatila Passos. One of the freshmen established himself as the Aggies' future center and as a result the other, Chris Gabriel, transferred out of the program.
CENTERS
Hamidu Rahman played in all 32 of the Aggies' games last season, starting 27 of them. The Aggies got fairly steady production from the big man all season long. He averaged 6.8 points per game and 4.6 rebounds per game, second on the team only trailing Wendell McKines. With the transfer of Chris Gabriel and the absence of Wendell McKines and Troy Gillenwater until at least December 13, Rahman will be heavily relied upon to hold down the fort in the post. "Hamidu is going to be our anchor in our post play, especially at the beginning of the year with his backups being inexperienced. He knows that and has worked on his body and done a fantastic job of putting himself in a position to be the guy we go on the block," said Coach Menzies.
Offensively, Rahman hit 53 percent of his field goals in his freshman season converting most of his baskets from close range. Rahman was a bit enigmatic at the free throw line. While he converted just 55 percent of his free throws on the season he showed that he was capable of being strong at the line. He hit nine of 10 free throws against rival UTEP in a hostile environment at the Don Haskins Center and then hit six of seven free throws in a loss to in-state rival New Mexico. Continue Reading This Post >>
Wendell McKines finished the 2008-2009 season as the only player in the WAC to average a double-double at 12.1 points and 10 rebounds per game. McKines' prowess on the boards is in large part a byproduct of his high energy play. McKines was a lone bright spot for an Aggie team that was rebounding-challenged. The Aggies averaged 34.6 rebounds per game last season and McKines' 10 rebound per game average was nearly one-third of that production while his average rebound total was over twice that of any of his teammates.
The point guard position was a revolving door during the 2007-2008 season with three different players manning the position. Last season a true freshman named Hernst Laroche laid claim to the starting job and provided stability for the Aggie offense. The 6'1" point guard's stellar freshman season saw him finish with an assist to turnover ratio of 2.48 which was good for second in the league and was also second nationally among all freshmen point guards. "I've said over and over again what a joy to have him on the team because of his stability and consistency," said Aggie head coach Marvin Menzies. "He's a very talented player with an improved offensive arsenal and I think he's got a little bit more confidence that comes along with that [added offense] and that will make him more productive at that position." Laroche's offensive production gradually increased as he finished the season averaging 5.8 points per game and set a career high with 13 points against Cal State-Fullerton. Laroche is also an efficient shooter hitting nearly 50% of his shots in his freshman season. "Based on what he did for us last year and you add the offensive arsenal and you're looking at a very solid, stable head on the body at the point guard position."