Fans who dreaded the sometimes plodding Saluki offense of the past can look forward to an entirely different style of play on the court this season.

“I like to play fast,” new head coach Scott Nagy said. “I know the fans like to see it.”

Advertisement

“It’s constant movement offensively,” assistant coach Steve Hawkins said. 

This movement is essential in Nagy’s system, which he describes as a motion offense, which is more similar to a professional-style offense. Some of the common characteristics of such an offense are running sets with five men out, a heavy dose of ball screens. 

“We certainly play at a faster pace than most people do,” Nagy said. 

Advertisement*

In his prior stops, Nagy’s offense has been highly effective. During the 2023-24 season at Wright State in Dayton, Ohio, Nagy’s offense led the Horizon League by nearly five points per game, pouring in 86.5 points per game. 

This is a stark contrast to the Salukis’ offense last season, when the Dawgs averaged only 72.7 points per game. Kennard Davis, a returning guard said “getting used to the tempo” is the biggest change from last year.

Hawkins said that Nagy “gives the guys a lot of freedom” within the offense. Transfer guard Davion Sykes said he agrees.

“The offense kind of lets us play a little free, just being able to use our creativity and having each other’s back on offense and trusting each other’s shot… I think we’ll really succeed in that,” Sykes said.

The shots that players take won’t be crazy just because they’re playing fast either.

“Last year (at Wright State), we led the country in field goal percentage playing fast… our length of possession is very quick, we’re going to take good, quick shots,” Nagy said.

Learning the system hasn’t come without challenges for both players and coaches. Only one person on the coaching staff or roster, player development coach Tae Gibbs, had ever worked with Nagy prior to SIU.

Hawkins, who has nearly four decades of coaching experience within the college ranks, said that it took “a lot of hours” for the coaches to pick up Nagy’s system and small ripples to the point where they could teach it to the players while also contributing their own expertise to help out the team.

“He’s the lead singer, the rest of us are the band. We have to pick up on what he’s doing,” Hawkins said. “Everybody’s bringing their own little sets of experiences that are helping us.”

Part of the difference in how the offense runs is the personnel on the court. Nagy’s staff filled out a roster with seven players over 6 feet 6 inches and a lot of positional flexibility.

“There’s a lot of versatility,” Hawkins said. “The length, the athleticism, as long as they’re hustling, then it can cause problems.”

This length directly translates into a major ability to disrupt plays on the defensive side of the court. Jarrett Hensley, a returning, 6 foot 8 inch tall forward, spoke to how challenging it can be for a player of even his size to get to the basket.

“Just when I was driving, three or four dudes that kind of look like me, just long and athletic, it’s sometimes hard to get a shot up,” Hensley said. “I think it’s going to be a really big strength for us.”

Sykes talked about the emphasis that coaches put on guarding inside the arc and clogging the lane.

“We have to make sure we guard the ball, no paint touches,” Sykes said.

Nagy hasn’t coached a team that can make things this difficult for opponents on defense and said he is excited for the possibilities it opens up.

“Compared to most teams I’ve coached, it’s much harder to score a basket on us. We block more shots and (are) just more athletic,” Nagy said.

Hawkins said that “we can switch a lot more” because of the height and flexibility. This also opens the door to a lot of different players being on the floor.

“We can play big, we can play small, a lot of different positions our players can play, so there’s a lot for our coaching staff to figure out,” Nagy said.

The competition among the players has been so tight that even with the season about to begin, there isn’t a defined starting lineup or rotation yet. 

“We’re not close at all to figuring out who’s getting all the minutes,” Nagy said. “I expect it will be long into the season trying to figure out who’s going to compete for those minutes.” 

The players aren’t shying away from the competition though.

“We wouldn’t want it any other way,” guard Damien Mayo said. “I wouldn’t really say we fight for starting positions. We just fight for time to play… we all want to get out there.”

While players like Davis, Hensley, Sykes and familiar Missouri Valley Conference foe-turned-Saluki Mayo may be some of the players that fans think will be on the court a lot, several others are drawing praise and attention.

Davis immediately mentioned “hard worker” Rolyns Aligbe as a player he’s excited about. 

“Some people might underestimate him, but he’s a dog. He plays really hard,” Davis said. 

Hawkins also had high praise for the freshman forward. 

“He’s got a college ready body even though he’s a true freshman,” Hawkins said. “We went up and we scrimmaged Iowa this past weekend. He did not look out of place at all… he mixed it up with everybody he went in there with.”

Mayo also had high praise for Tyler Bey, who also transferred to SIU from Missouri State with Mayo. 

“(SIU is) getting a good player, a long, athletic guard who can defend the one through four when he puts his mind to it, and he can score the ball at all three levels,” Mayo said. “When you have all that, the sky’s the limit.”

“He’s going to be exciting for us,” Mayo added.

With all of the physical abilities and talent in mind, Nagy has one goal for the season. 

“We only have one goal here,” Nagy said. “That’s to win the league.”

The journey to winning the league will include 15 home games that according to Hawkins should be appointment viewing.

“You don’t want to miss it… the ball is going to be sprinting up and down the court,” Hawkins said. “I think they’re going to enjoy our style of basketball, we’re going to be a very up-tempo, exciting, hustling athletic team.”

Sports consultant Ryan Grieser can be reached at [email protected]. To stay up to date on all your southern Illinois news, be sure to follow The Daily Egyptian on Facebook and on X @dailyegyptian.

Advertisement